Bowers Museum

The museum is small, but has exhibits that rotate. I saw the mummies of the world and I like the way the exhibits were laid out, there were interactive games to play and videos that were informative.

I haven’t been to Bowers Museum since back in college which was ages ago. It’s really changed and for the better! Very nice and clean. When I went ages ago, it was dark and gloomy. Now it’s bright and inviting.
General admission is $ 15 on weekends and $ 13 on weekdays. We really wanted to see the Mummies exhibit but it was an extra $ 27 bucks!!! So expensive.
It’s not that big of a museum. I wish it was free like the Getty. The Getty is so 100x bigger but it’s free. I don’t know the politics but if you were to compare the two museums, the Bowers could easily be free.
They had a donation box on the way out which I thought was a bit crazy considering the admission fees. Aside from the price factor, we still had a good time looking at all the historical art. There is a whole lot but still a cool place to check out especially on a hot 100 degree day. Yes, air condition enticed us to go to the museum and Bowers just happened to be close by. Haha!
I liked the Polynesian room and the Chinese room (my apologies for not remembering the exact names).

I’m writing this review due to my recent visit during the mummies around the world exhibition. The exhibit was truly amazing and informative. It was interesting to learn about the mummies around the world, even though the first thing to come to mind are the Egyptian ones.
Adult tickets for the exhibition are $ 27, though that ticket also gets you into the rest of the museum. Once you get to the exhibit, you are handed a device that takes you through an audio tour of the exhibit.
The only reason I’m deducting a star was the closure of some of the exhibits while we were there. The upstairs was closed off and one of the wings was closed due to setting up the new California exhibit, but have no fear of you are there after June 11^th, you will be able to enjoy all those exhibits as that’s when the California one opens. Their other permanent collections are also very impressive.

Have now been to the Bowers a couple of times and always enjoyed our visits. If I was to comment on anything it would be that I wish the main exhibits changed a bit more often. Is a bit of a downer to go for a special exhibit (Like we did with the Mummies recently) and to have the same exhibits there from the last time we went a couple of years before. But otherwise is absolutely worth it and will be back!

I went here as part of a Unilocal event. The grounds are beautiful. Parking appears to be free (we were there after hours). The Mummies exhibit was quite different than I expected, meaning there was more than Egyptian mummies. The process of mummification was explained as was burial practices. Mummy parties were quite disturbing– go and find out what I’m talking about.

Very disappointing 3 of 5 exhibits for GA are closed for renovation and they didn’t even advise us shame on you Bowers $ 30.00 for 2 small exhibits

Came here today, Memorial Day, for the Mummies of the World exhibit. Fascinating! We lucked out and came right when the museum opened. Plenty of parking and only a few other people. It’s a rather small exhibit compared to some of the other mummy exhibits that I’ve been to at other museums. I guess you get spoiled living in Los Angeles and having some of the best local museums like LACMA and NHM just around the corner. LoL. Nevertheless it was truly fascinating. Loved the fact that they offer everyone audio devices upon entrance for free. Learned a lot of new stuff today. We only stayed to walk through the exhibit then leave. There were other exhibit rooms but we were about to turn into mummies ourselves from hunger, so we left. The museum was very clean and peaceful. They have several garden areas where you can sit and relax. Of coarse there’s no photography inside so obviously I couldn’t post any of the cool looking mummies we saw. Only con was that you have to pay $ 6 for parking. Boo! Specially if you’re only going for one exhibit, feels like you’re getting ripped off.

Great Museum, the Mummies exhibit is fascinating and creepy. Must check out their map and explore other sections of the museum. I had a great time with my family. I’ll definitely recommend this place to friend and family.

Took Mom on Mother’s day to check out the Mummies Exhibit.
That was cool.
Although tickets were a bit pricey. They’re $ 27 per adult. I had overheard a couple talking about a Groupon deal. Jumped on it! Purchased two for the price of one.
I’m giving this review three stars due to the price. Other than that the exhibit was pretty cool to check out. Especially the stuff from Egypt.

Even though this is smaller compared to other museums, for the OC I find it still to be pretty good place to learn something new.
So far I have gone to 2 exhibits here where I have found myself getting lost in the knowledge and leaving with awe at what I have seen.
Both the terra-​cotta soldiers and the mummies where both amazing and eye opening on other cultures in which just blew me away.
Still even without a big exhibit, there is usually something in there that catches my eye and I find myself getting lost and loosing all track of time.
The people that work here are very friendly and helpful.
That and there are plenty of bathrooms!
I haven’t been there a whole bunch of times but the few times I have, they were nothing but positive.
I find the prices to get in aren’t too bad either.

We saw mummies of the world exhibit today. Wonderful learning experience for everyone. Also we got to see their Head Hunter exhibit as well as their China exhibit. Definitely worth coming here with families and friends. Plenty of parking $ 6 per car.

This is a great museum which showcases various cultures from around the world from different time periods. My only gripe is that Bower’s Museum is a little pricey and doesn’t offer student discounts for students older than 12. Plus the second floor was closed for renovations.
Originally visited for the mummies exhibit and paid $ 28. $ 6 parking. Tip: enter through the North side to avoid the long ticket lines. For the mummies exhibit, I really liked that the museum regulated how many people could enter per time period; it helped reduce crowding inside the 5+ rooms and I was able to enjoy every display and read each description. The tour also comes with an audio guide, which I didn’t find helpful because it pretty much said verbatim what was on the display cards. Besides that, there are various mummies from around the world, preserved by several methods, at different time periods, and some buried with unique accessory artifacts. There were also some interactive displays including how to analyze a body, examine Incan infant sacrifices, and look at excerpts from the Book fo the Dead. Coming from a mummy nerd, I found the exhibit very interesting and informative!
For the rest of the museum, I loved that for especially the Polynesian and Chinese wings showcased artifacts that spanned thousands of years, from many tribes/​dynasties, and from many aspects of daily life (marriages, warfare, dining, rituals, etc). Again, I liked how the placards are concise yet detailed; wonderful when you want to absorb every detail while keeping your museum visit under 4 hours.
Lastly, there are two beautiful courtyards to relax during your visit to the museum.

We came for the Egyptian mummies. I’ve been to Bowers before and always felt that it fell a bit shorter than I’d like. After going to the Natural History museums in NY, Chicago, and LA my expectations are a bit grander. However, if looking at pottery and baskets is exciting to you, Bowers does a nice job. The docents are well informed and engage you with trivia about the collections as you walk through. I always learn something new!
We liked the mummies exhibit, especially the interactive features about the «CSI» now done in the field of archeology. They have learned so much with new technology! I found the audio tape dull and appreciated reading and looking at the exhibit instead.
This was not made for children. We went because my son enjoys the idea of mummies, but most of the display was far over his head. It wasn’t nearly as large as I imagined either and it took about 30 minutes to walk through. If you read and listened to everything you might be there about an hour and a half. That being said, the real disappointment was spending $ 24 (we had a $ 3 off coupon) per person. The entire Bowers collection just isn’t big enough to warrant that price. There’s also a sense of urgency because there are no in and out privileges in that exhibit. I kept waiting for someone to have to go to the bathroom and truly waste the entrance fee.
Before you invest adjust your expectations.

The first time I went to Bowers Museum I was 19 or 20 years old and I was attending Orange Coast College to get all my GE classes in before transferring to a four-​year-​university. At the time I came here for the sole reason to get extra credit to bump my B+ grade up to an A– in a History class I had to take. Needless to say, I wasn’t too enthusiastic about coming here because I wasn’t into museums at the time and found them to be a waste of time. I remember hurrying in-​and-​out of Bowers in less than an hour… I don’t even remember what the exhibit was about at the time (I do have a vague recollection of reading lots about Native Americans — so maybe the exhibit was about that.) Even though I don’t remember much about the museum the first time I came, I do remember that my report bumped my grade up to an A-​.
Fast forward over a decade later and now I actually enjoy going to museums ON MY OWN WILL. Hard to believe how just a few years can change your perspective, right?! Over the years I’ve seen ads for Bowers featured exhibits that looked interesting, but never made the time to come, mainly because the museum is only open 10am-​4pm Tuesday-​Sunday (closed Mondays). Last week I noticed they were having a Mummy Exhibit and I just had to go check it out because if you know me, you know I’m really into that kind of stuff — mummies really fascinate the hell outta me to say the least. Let me say, this exhibit is well worth your time and money!
The featured exhibit costs $ 25 for adults and $ 21 for seniors or students (I didn’t notice how much it is for the kiddos under 18). If you don’t want to go to the featured exhibit but want to check out their every day exhibits, the price is $ 13 for adults and $ 8 (I think) for seniors and students. They do charge for parking in their own lot ($ 6 I believe), but I easily found free street parking a block away. I’d block out at least two hours for the featured exhibit and I’d block out even more time if you want to look at the rest of the museum — but honestly, I was done after viewing the mummy exhibit.
Bowers Museums has about 15 real life mummies on display, all with a brief history on the person, how they died, when they died, their gender, their way of life, diseases they had, where they were found, etc. I found it interesting that about 60% of people hundreds of years ago died of TB! It was also very interesting learning how with with the help of CT Scans, DNA, and X-​Rays that we can learn so much about mummies and their way of life, even if they lived 500+ years ago! They had a shrunken head room, which was really fascinating learning how people actually shrunk the heads and that they were a prized tourist trinket at the time. There was a display about cats that were mummified and how the Egyptians actually bread cats for the sole purpose to kill and mummify them (how horrifying!). There were a handful of child mummies and they shared how most children hundreds of years ago died of either undernourishment, disease, or they were sacrificed to the Gods. One of the last rooms was how in the 1800’s a doctor mummified people to help teach students anatomy in Medical School — it was so fascinating seeing these mummified people and their mummified organs! There is an audio tour available if your heart desires — I’m honestly not too into audio tours because you usually have to listen to the whole thing and it takes forever, but I liked this one because you can pick and choose what exhibits you want to learn more about (instead of having to listen to the whole thing).
Overall, I’d highly recommend checking out this exhibit! I’ll for sure make the time to check out other featured exhibits in the future since this place is literally in my backyard!
Cheers!

This museum is fairly small and you can probably get through the whole thing in about an hour to an hour and a half. The bigger exhibits like China and headhunters are really interesting and have a ton of artifacts. The other exhibits and much smaller and there’s something to see in every corner of the museum. There are also special exhibits that come around every few months. Those usually attract more crowds. Currently there aren’t any but mummies is coming in next week.
The place is clean and there are docents that walk around and you can ask them questions if you have any. The gardens outside are pretty and a lot of wedding photography takes place there.

This is a cultural museum, not an art museum, so you’ll find artifacts, not portraiture.
$ 15 per adult weekends.
$ 12 per adult weekdays.
$ 6 parking.
The Bowers is not by any means a sprawling establishment, so if you’re looking for something comparable to the MOMA or the Getty, then calm your horses. You will need roughly 2 – 3 hours to completely explore the different wings in the Bowers, and the rooms are filled with empty space. This isn’t to say there isn’t anything to look at because there is, though not as much as one would hope given the square footage.
The Chinese wing has artifacts set up chronologically going clockwise once your enter the room. Panels explaining the dynasties take you around the exhibit which explores daily life, death, and rituals.
The Headhunter exhibit was interesting and had far more to look at than the Chinese exhibit. Morbid curiosity also played a role in my increased interest I’m sure, but the exhibit itself is interesting with great variety ranging from ceremonial tools to headdresses to hunting tools.
The mummy «exhibit» was severely disappointing. It was once small room with one mask and a few notes on the walls.
The California room was fairly plain and uninteresting, though I’m not particularly interested in California history so that’s just my take.
The temporary exhibit on the Popol Vuh caught my eye since I spent two years studying the myth and culture of Mesoamerica. Unfortunately, it was nothing more than a book report set up as an exhibit. It was nice and I enjoyed the retelling of the story, but I was hoping for more.
The courtyard is small with astroturf.
The restaurant is empty and expensive and part of the Patina group which is well known for its well-​placed, high-​priced, horrible tasting restaurants.
The staff are friendly and genuinely enjoy speaking with you about the exhibits.
All in all, I am happy with the Bowers and it was nice to see how the expansion added to the property. I’m looking forward to future exhibits traveling through.

My friend had his wedding here and it was quite beautiful. Although it was outdoor and chilly, we were provided heat lamps and fleece blankets. The reception was held inside. The appetizers were pretty good but the speed of the staff bringing out the food was slow and they ran out before getting through to all of the guests (about 170).
The food was served buffet style and the staff were keen to make sure any dishes that were low were immediately refilled. They served chicken, beef, and grilled vegetables. The bread was so-​so. We were able to watch a slideshow with a projector and two screens. The only downside was lack of space for an adequate dance floor but there was a small space.

Pretty cool museum. The setting is nice. I’m not really museum person, but it has a nice layout to it. Easy to navigate. However, I am appalled by how deep it goes! Seems like it’s just one open area for the displays and then you just keep walking in deeper to the next exhibit! Wish they had more egyptian artifacts, but the mask underneath is still cool. Loved the Chinese exhibit. They’re featuring the color red and that’s pretty cool. I’ve actually when to Peru and experienced a live preview of how the Peruvians used the cochineal as lipsticks!
Not bad for a Sunday morning stroll.

The most enjoyable part of the museum was the art/​artifacts from the Pacific. I found this section of the museum the most fascinating. They have an interesting collection of local LA/​OC impressionism art, but definitely the stand out for me was this headhunters exhibition. I could have spent more time in this section reading more about this region of the world. I would have loved if I was able to catch the Terra Cotta Warriors exhibition when it was at this museum. I would try to visit on a free day next time. I don’t think the cost of admission is worth it if there’s a corporate sponsored free day.

They get 5-​stars for their Target Free First Sundays, because admission is free and they have a different themed festival every month (e.g. International Mask Festival, Kwanzaa Family Festival, Day of the Dead Festival, Celtic Family Festival). It’s definitely worth going on the first Sunday of the month for that. Their regular adult admission is $ 13 weekdays, $ 15 weekends, children under 12 are free. If I went on a regular day, I wouldn’t rate the Bowers Museum as highly though.
I took my parents in February for the Asian Lunar New Year Family Festival. It was a great day! The festival included a lion dance, a children’s string ensemble, traditional dances of Vietnam, Chinese folk dances, free fortune and almond cookie tasting, some craft projects, and more.
Bowers Museum has a strong focus on Asian and Pacific art and history, but includes many other cultures and areas as well. I made sure to visit the exhibitions at the museum. The main one was China’s Lost Civilization: The Mystery of Sanxingdui. We had to stand in line for this one, but it only took about 10 minutes to get in. China seems to have so many lost civilizations that are later found. I’ve been to the site of the Terracotta Warriors, but this was a whole different kind of exhibit.
I really enjoyed the Sacred Realms: Temple Murals by Shashi Dhoj Tulachan exhibit. It’s small, but all the works are so beautiful. The intricate mandalas are so large and colorful.
We also went around to their permanent collections. I thought the Art of The Pacific was really unique. The grounds including the sculpture garden and courtyard are pretty and very well maintained.
The entire museum is definitely doable in one day. It’s actually quite small, but it packs a punch. There are so many things to look at and learn about. I would love to visit for another festival, it was really entertaining and jam packed when we went.
There is paid parking in their lots, but plenty of meters on the street too.