Also on View

Unique and Unexpected Museums of Greater Los Angeles

by Todd Lerew, photography by Ryan Schude

The African American Miniature Museum. The Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology. The Skid Row History Museum. The Finnish Folk Art Museum. The First Original McDonald’s Museum. The Museum of Jurassic Technology…

Also On View: Unique and Unexpected Museums of Greater Los Angeles celebrates LA’s most fascinating and underappreciated collections, from the deeply culturally significant—such as the Garifuna Museum—to the highly specific and unusual, like the City of Los Angeles’s Streetlight Museum. There are more than 750 museums in the greater Los Angeles area, many of which lie beyond the beaten path and may not be familiar to even the most seasoned explorers. With striking photographs and a staggering range of critical, curious, and incredible histories, Also On View presents an unparalleled survey of all the diversity and wonder that Los Angeles has to offer.

288 pages
10"h x 8"w; 200+ images
hardcover; ISBN 978-1-62640-119-8; $40.00

[publication date: Tue 10/08/2024]

Todd Lerew is Director of Special Projects for the Library Foundation of Los Angeles, curating eclectic exhibitions and programs in support of the Los Angeles Public Library. He is a composer of experimental music and inventor of acoustic instruments such as the Quartz Cantabile, which converts heat into sound. He was winner of the 2014 American Composers Forum National Composition Contest and has had his work performed across the US and Europe. He received the 2022 National Outstanding Eagle Scout Award, and has served as a volunteer fire lookout at Keller Peak in the San Bernardino National Forest since 2016. He holds a BFA from Hampshire College and an MFA from CalArts, and collects library cards, pictorial maps, and all-black postcards that claim to depict a certain location at night.
Ryan Schude is an editorial, advertising, and fine art photographer. Had it remained viable, he might still be working at the rollerblade magazine that shaped his formative years, but a pivot into commercial photography happily funded his personal projects for the past two decades. Often employing a staged narrative approach akin to theatrical tableaux, environmental portraiture remains integral to his work, connecting him with artists, educational institutions, and just about any character willing to engage in the process. He recently moved to a small town just outside of Los Angeles with his wife, Agatha, daughter Antonia, and mother-in-law, Jessie. Ryan teaches photography and media arts at the Ojai Valley School.