Norton Simon Museum — Attraction in Pasadena

Do not take kids to this museum. We had a truly awful experience here today where I was repeatedly lectured by the aging staff about my parenting. Evidently they have a rule about kids under 12 being required to “hold hands” with there parents, although there are no signs to this effect and we were not told of this. At some point my 9 year old who is trying his best to be interested walks in front of someone taking a picture. Someone who I assume is part of the large security staff comes up to us and proceeds to express concern that the back of my sons head had been photographed and that we should be concerned as this is dangerous. This confused me and managed to scare my son. We are also now told about this rule of hand holding for the first time. In the coming minutes the same staff mentions again there concern about his photo being taken and now my son is locking up and getting scared. He collapses in a ball and decides he is in trouble and won’t move. After more than five minutes of me trying to console him I finally get him up and try again to get him to at least tell me anything about any painting in the room. I am trying to get him to snap out of things but I fail. The rest of our family is gone in some other part of the museum. So I carry him out front and sit him on a bench trying to get him to come back to life. While sitting there what I assume to be the head of security shows up and starts lecturing me. Now my kid is upset, and thinks he is in trouble, and now it appears so am I which I say as much to this “old dude.” I tell him we are leaving and carry my son to the car, call the rest of my family and we leave.

Now I have a kid who is scared of museums and hates art. Why? He did nothing wrong. And never did any of the 40 staff try at all to get him interested in the art or try and help me in any way. This is a snobby place and you can tell it’s a “privately run” gallery. In my opinion they only care about security and not about passing on the “arts” to kids. If they don’t want kids there, DON’T LET THEM IN, especially for free. We are never going back despite my wife being an art major in college… Worst vacation day...

Family Review of the Norton Simon Museum

Our visit to the Norton Simon Museum was such a wonderful experience! As a family on a budget, we really appreciated that admission was free with our EBT card as it made the museum accessible for us and took away the stress of cost.

We happened to go on Family Day, which was the highlight of our visit. A staff member led an engaging session where kids sat down and discussed what they saw in the artwork. She met their energy perfectly, asked thoughtful questions, and made them feel excited to share. Afterward, kids and adults got to create their own art (making pieces of a picnic) with lots of hands-on support from the staff. It was creative, fun, and made the museum feel welcoming for children.

The rest of the museum was just as enjoyable. Thanks to what he learned in the guided activity, my son was able to stay engaged for our entire four-hour visit. This is big considering he is a 6-year-old with ADHD. He walked through the galleries using the same prompts (“What do you see? How do you think they were feeling?”) and connected with the art in such a meaningful way.

The only small drawback was the café, which didn’t have many kid-friendly food options beyond fruit. Not a dealbreaker, but something to note if you’re bringing little ones.

Pro Tip: Pick up the family guide at the entrance! It has activities that make exploring the museum extra fun for kids!

Overall, the Norton Simon Museum exceeded our expectations, and we will definitely be back. It’s a gem for families looking for an affordable, engaging, and art-filled day together.

P.S. the security guard outside was super nice and greeted us as we walked up. Then on our way out, he remembered my kiddo and asked how it went and what his favorite piece was. My son was so excited he...

PROS & CONS Mostly Pros. The collection is FANTASTIC, really a gem on the west coast and comparable to the great American museums. Not too crowded, well-displayed and curated. Excellent breadth. Basically a full on Art history course in one day. The paintings are unspeakably wonderful and the Asian Art section is VERY good. ConsThe only big con is that almost 100% of the paintings have glass over them. This is rare. Most major museums only do this for a few of the big ticket items. It's a big bummer to look at every painting with the glare and the reflection of the lights and people behind you messing up the experience. I can imagine this is for security, but so far all of the sociopaths who throw liquids on paintings have actually done so on paintings with glass, so it may actually even make it MORE likely. Either way, it's a diminished experience with all the glazing and glares. It's too bad because these paintings are incredible! I wish there was another solution. In today's digital age where we are stuck looking at glass screens all day, it's such a treat to look at actual brushstrokes on a canvas as they were meant to be seen. So that's the only major con. A small con is the whole exterior is under construction and some of the sculptures can't be seen right now. But the inside is...