The open road and its seemingly infinite, flat expanses are irresistible to lead-footed dreamers — for about five hours. Nearly 2,500 miles long, Route 66 was the main cross-country route between Chicago and Los Angeles and boasted hundreds of opportunities to answer the neon sirens' call, or maybe just move permanently. For much of the 20th century, Route 66 was romanticized by conquerors and vagabonds, and some of them documented their experience. The Autry's exhibition “Route 66: The Road and the Romance” features many of those artifacts, including Kerouac's famous, feverishly typed On the Road scroll, a 1960 Corvette and an early Jackson Pollock painting. All of it will mingle with more than 200 pieces of “Mother Road” ephemera, a tribute to an era when gas was cheap and a lot more people could find Joplin, Missouri, on a map. The Autry, 4700 Western Heritage Way, Griffith Park; Tue.-Fri., 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; Sat.-Sun., 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; thru Jan. 4. $10, $6 students and seniors, $4 children, free for members, veterans and children younger than 2. (323) 667-2000, route66.theautry.org.

Tuesdays-Sundays. Starts: June 8. Continues through Jan. 4, 2014
(Expired: 01/04/15)

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