A New Book Uncovers L.A.s Most Unique and Unexpected Museums - LAmag

Founder Tommy Gelinas in his element at the Valley Relics Museum
*Photo by Ryan Schude*

By day, Todd Lerew is the Director of Special Projects for the Library Foundation of Los Angeles. He curates exhibitions and programs, often drawing from the quirky collections accumulated by the dedicated librarians over the last 150 years. Charles Fletcher Lummis sent special stationery to stars and statesmen asking for autographs. Chefs and collectors donated vast archives of restaurant menus that the library has digitized.

Bureau of Street Lighting general manager Miguel Sangalang in the Street Lighting Museum
*Photo by Ryan Schude*

When he’s away from these curious objects, Lerew goes in search of even more curious ones at L.A.’s astounding collection of tiny museums. He has spent years rounding up hundreds of institutions dedicated to esoterica like 1980s personal computers or historic street lamps that once graced the city’s boulevards. His new website, Every Museum of Greater Los Angeles, takes a look at the more than 750 he has uncovered so far, from Echo Park’s 3-D Space to the Velaslavasay Panorama near USC. It’s an exhaustive survey that goes beyond our own massive county to include repositories throughout Ventura, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Orange Counties.

Author Todd Lerew at the Horace Heidt museum in Sherman Oaks
*Photo by Chris Nichols*

In Lerew’s new book Also On View: Unique and Unexpected Museums of Greater Los Angeles, out this month from Angel City Press at the Los Angeles Public Library, he and photographer Ryan Schude (a contributor to Los Angeles magazine) took a deep dive into 64 of their favorites including the Compton Art & History Museum, tucked into a corner behind a strip mall Popeye’s, to the sprawling Valley Relics Museum, which fills up several airport hangars in Van Nuys.

Karen Collins and Eddie Lewis in their living room, which doubles as the workshop for the African American Miniature Museum
*Photo by Ryan Schude*

The photos of the curators posing with their gathered treasures portray the dignity this eclectic group of determined storytellers bring to their collections and the significance of each treasure within, no matter how modest or magnificent. The sticker-covered childhood door of actress Eve Plumb, who played Jan Brady on The Brady Bunch is treated with the same awe and reverence as zillion dollar NASA spacecraft. Keep your mind and your camera open and book your next expedition using this invaluable guide.

Scroll to continue reading

Surfing Heritage and Culture Center museum founder Dick Metz at age ninety-four.
*Photo by Ryan Schude*