A homestretch greeter’s guide

Enthusiastic crowds have gathered along The Rock's route, with many more expected for its arrival at LACMA.

Fresh coffee? Belgian waffles? A 25-foot-long portable restroom? Does this town know how to greet an art world heavyweight or what?

If you’re planning on braving the elements to watch The Rock arrive at its new home at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art sometime in the wee hours of Saturday morning, here are a few pointers to make the experience unforgettable (in a good way.)

Check in before you set out. Updates on The Rock’s progress will be posted on Twitter and on LACMA’s Gawker’s Guide blog. If you’d like to catch it at an earlier point in its pilgrimage, The Rock is expected to start moving from Figueroa and Florence around 10 p.m. Friday. It will travel north on Figueroa, west on West Adams and north on Western, turning west onto Wilshire toward the museum, which is located at 5905 Wilshire Boulevard. It’s expected to arrive at LACMA sometime between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. Saturday. Be aware that Wilshire Boulevard will be closed from the area west of the Broad Contemporary Art Museum (BCAM) on the LACMA campus to Fairfax. And Fairfax will be closed from Wilshire to Sixth.

Dress warmly. OK, it’s not Minnesota but overnight temperatures in the 50s can still feel chilly when you’re waiting around for the arrival of a 340-ton megalith. The museum and grounds will be closed, so bundle up and feel free to bring along blankets, a lawn chair and maybe some board games to while away the wait. Think Rose Parade, minus the floats and New Year’s revelers.

Know where to park.  The LACMA lot at Wilshire and Spaulding will be open and free. If that’s filled up, you can park at the Petersen Automotive Museum for $10.  Please note that LACMA’s Sixth Street parking garage will not be open to the public.

Better yet, ride your bike or walk there. What an earth-friendly way to greet one of our planet’s more spectacular chunks.

Follow the foodies. Just because you’re having breakfast outdoors with a rock doesn’t mean you have to settle for trail mix. Some of the popular food trucks that regularly feed crowds outside LACMA will be on hand starting at 11 p.m. Friday in the Wilshire and Ogden lot at LACMA’s southwest corner. They include No Tomatoes and Waffles de Liege. A Patina coffee cart will be stationed near Chris Burden’s Urban Light in front of the museum, also starting at 11 p.m. Friday. Don’t count on grabbing a drink and a bite at the Stark Bar, though; it will be closing at 11 p.m. Friday.

Find the facilities. Portable restrooms will available in a 25-foot-long trailer that will be parked in the same Wilshire and Ogden lot as the food trucks.

Look for the people with red bags. These LACMA volunteers will be out and about to answer questions and hand out literature about The Rock, which when installed will become the star of Michael Heizer’s “Levitated Mass.”

Don’t forget your camera. Sometime after its arrival, The Rock will be posing for a “photo op” with Urban Light, in front of the museum on Wilshire Boulevard. Send us your favorite shot and get ready to tell your grandchildren you were there to see L.A. art history in the making.

Read LACMA’s own list of how-tos for experiencing The Rock’s final leg here.

Posted 3/8/12