Museum of Neon Art, Neon art museum in Glendale, United States.
The Museum of Neon Art occupies a Glendale building designed by Shimoda Design Group, adapted from a former pharmacy and video arcade. A public paseo cut through the site by strategic demolition leads across a landscaped deck toward Central Park and Central Library. Inside, galleries show historic neon signs, clocks, photographs and kinetic electric art, including signs from the Brown Derby and Grauman's Chinese Theatre.
MONA was founded in 1981 by Lili Lakich and Richard Jenkins. It moved to Universal CityWalk in 1993, to Grand Hope Park in 1996 and to Downtown's Historic Core in 2008, where the space proved too small. In 2016 it reopened in Glendale in a facility by Shimoda Design Group, adapted from a pharmacy and a video arcade.
The collection features restored neon signs from famous Los Angeles locations that bring back memories of the city's glamorous past. Visitors see how these glowing artworks shaped the identity of local landmarks.
The Glendale building, adapted from a pharmacy and a video arcade, is bisected by a public paseo that leads across a landscaped deck to Central Park and the Central Library. Introductory glass-bending classes take place in the museum's own studio. MONA also runs guided neon night walks through Glendale, Koreatown, Hollywood, the Broadway Theatre District and Chinatown.
In 2012 MONA declined the donation of an Arby's restaurant neon sign from Santa Monica because of its size, reported at 20 feet wide by 35 feet tall. Since 2013 a 2,500-square-foot warehouse in Pomona has stored more than 250 pieces of the collection.
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