Caitlin Trude  | Editor-in-Chief

Saturday, Feb. 8, several museums and art galleries in the Los Angeles region offered free admission for intellectuals, creative thinkers and people looking for something – anything – to do to check out the variety of works on display.

The Museum of Contemporary Art was one such museum offering free entrance. MOCA, close to Little Tokyo and The Los Angeles Times’ headquarters, is located across the street from the Walt Disney Concert Hall. The MOCA actually has three different locations; Grand Avenue, The Geffen Contemporary and Pacific Design Center.

Through Feb. 15, Andy Warhol’s “Shadows” exhibition will be on display for visitors to enjoy at the Grand Avenue location. Featuring a vibrant color scheme, the MOCA website describes Warhol’s work as an “exceptional series of variously silkscreened and hand painted canvases” with a color range “in hue from an electric green to a somber brown.” Warhol first presented “Shadows” from 1978-1979, originally a segment of a 102-part painting.

Also on display for a limited time are compelling photographic stills from “The Social Landscape,” part of the Ralph M. Parsons Foundation Photography Collection.

But if you are not able to catch these temporary exhibitions before the 15th, MOCA hosts other incredible works in its permanent collection, such as installations and pieces by artists Kara Walker, Barry Le Va, Willem de Kooning and Cady Noland, to name a few. At the museum, there is something for every modern art appreciator to observe, from pop pieces to abstract art, from postmodern works to minimalist pieces.

The lowest level of the museum houses a reading room, a “sanctuary” of sorts for individuals tuckered out from a day of examining art, or those who are genuinely interested in perusing through the array of photography and art books available for museum visitors to read.

Although the day of free museum admission is long over, don’t let the relatively low $7 student ticket fee deter you. Just don’t forget to bring your student ID! However, MOCA offers free admission every Thursday from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. And don’t let tricky public parking deter you either; for a flat rate of $3, park your car in the Walt Disney Concert Hall parking garage for the day.