Corrie Siegel 
Eric Evavold 
Arlene Vidor
The Museum of Neon Art is kicking off the year with digital tours of Los Angeles County neighborhoods, starting this month with Glendale, and then kicking off the Lunar New Year in February with a Chinatown Zoom tour.
These tours have been made specifically for the Zoom platform, and enable viewers to be transported back in time through vintage film clips and photographs.
“As we enter into 2021, MONA continues to pivot, and find creative and safe ways to serve our community,” MONA Executive Director Corrie Siegel said in a statement. “When our socially distanced in-person tours were no longer possible, our team brainstormed ways to provide a unique experience that we could not otherwise offer in person. We are looking forward to sharing the light and rare vintage photographs and film clips with our audience.”
The “Glendale, Illuminated” tour will be at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 29. Virtual attendees will join Siegel and MONA board member Arlene Vidor for an hourlong presentation that tracks the history of Glendale through its signage using archival photographs, present day images and film clips. The tour will follow the development of neon as technology and art form from the early 1900s through the present and highlight how it mirrors the growth of Glendale into a modern city.
“Tune in to see how Glendale shaped car culture, supermarkets, and even ice cream, as well as how Glendale fosters innovation in neon art today,” the tour’s promotion reads.
The “Chinatown Aglow” tour will be at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 12, and will pair Siegel with veteran L.A. tour guide and onetime MONA board member Eric Evavold in a virtual look at the history of the nation’s only planned Chinatown.
Tickets for Zoom presentations will be $5 per device for museum members and $10 per device for general audiences. They can be purchased at store.neonmona.org/collections/neon-cruises.
