Photo: Wikimedia Commons — see author and license on the file page.

Velveteria

Museum
In Los Angeles, California
0.4 mi from Route 66

Velveteria was a museum devoted to paintings on velvet, last located in Chinatown in Los Angeles, CA, less than a mile off the old road. It has closed permanently: the doors shut for good around 2020 or 2021, in the COVID-19 pandemic. In its day it was said to be the only museum of its kind, drawing on a private collection of more than 2,000 velvet works.

What is Velveteria?

The museum showed hundreds of velvet paintings from the personal collection of Carl Baldwin and Caren Anderson, who founded it. In Los Angeles it went by a longer official name that promised an epicenter of art battling cultural deprivation, which gives a sense of its playful spirit.

History of Velveteria

Velveteria began in Portland, Oregon, in 2005. It closed there in January 2010, after money troubles and the founders' move to Southern California. In 2013 it reopened in Los Angeles's Chinatown, where it stayed until the pandemic years brought it to a permanent close.

Visiting Velveteria: tips

There is nothing to visit now. If you are in the area, three museums of the historic downtown core are each about 0.3 miles away: the Italian American Museum of Los Angeles, LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes and the Chinese American Museum. Together they make a good walking loop of an hour or two.

Practical info

Address: 711 New High St, Los Angeles, CA 90012
Phone: +1 626-714-8545
Website: velveteria.com
Hours: Closed permanently
On site & nearby

Sources: OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) · Wikidata · official site — may be outdated. Suggest a fix

Where to eat near Velveteria

All diners →

Diner & restaurant
Philippe's
Los Angeles, CA · 0.1 mi from Velveteria
A downtown Los Angeles restaurant running since 1908 that claims to have invented the French dip sandwich.
Diner & restaurant
Musso & Frank Grill
Los Angeles, CA · 6.2 mi from Velveteria
Hollywood's oldest restaurant, operating on Hollywood Boulevard since 1919 and named for its two founders.
Diner & restaurant
Pink's Hot Dogs
Los Angeles, CA · 6.2 mi from Velveteria
A Los Angeles hot dog stand on North La Brea Avenue, serving since 1939 at the edge of Hollywood.