If you want to visit UCI campus public spaces without a student ID, you've got three dependable options this fall. The free galleries around Arts Plaza are one. The performance calendar at the Claire Trevor School of the Arts is another. The third is a self-guided walk centered on Aldrich Park. Two places people often expect to find are harder to reach right now. The UCI Arboretum isn't a drop-in stop, and the university's art museum has moved to Costa Mesa.
Irvine Life is an independent publication. We aren't affiliated with UC Irvine, and this isn't an official visitor guide. Hours, exhibitions and access rules change, so we link to the university's own pages throughout. Check them before you head out.
Where do visitors park at UCI?
Visitor parking at UC Irvine costs money, and it's run by UCI Transportation & Distribution Services, not by the arts school or individual venues. The official visitor parking page currently lists these rates (the page doesn't show an effective date):
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Hourly General: $4.00 per hour at permit dispensers and kiosks
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Hourly Pay-by-Space: $5.00 per hour
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One Day General: $16.00
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One Day Reserved: $20.00
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Anteater Recreation Center hourly: $2.00 per hour
Event one-day permits run from $16.00 to $50.00. If you're going to a specific event, follow whatever parking instructions the event coordinator gives you. Dispensers and kiosks take major credit cards. In some areas, UCI uses PARKbyPLATE, where your license plate is your permit. Where physical permits are used, the page says they must be displayed.
For the arts, the UCI Arts parking page sends most visitors to the Mesa Parking Structure. Irvine Barclay Theatre is the exception: it's served by the Student Center Parking Structure. The page makes clear that "UCI Arts does not control parking on campus." It also explains that "hourly permits can only be purchased on-site," while "flat-rate permits can be purchased online using code CTSAPARK." Parking questions go to UCI Parking at 949-824-PARK (7275) or parking@uci.edu.
Are the UCI art galleries free?
Yes. The University Art Gallery's visit page says plainly, "Admission is Free." UAG runs three spaces:
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University Art Gallery, 712 Arts Plaza, Irvine, CA 92697-2775
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CAC Gallery, in the Contemporary Arts Center (Building 721)
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Room Gallery, in Art Culture and Technology (Building 727)
The galleries are open Tuesday through Saturday, noon to 6 p.m., and closed Mondays and Sundays. They also close for the summer, and the site notes that "gallery hours are subject to change." The directions point visitors to the Mesa Parking Structure.
The current show is Before the Look of Law, on view October 3 to December 13, 2026, according to the UAG homepage.
Beall Center for Art + Technology
The Donald R. and Joan F. Beall Center for Art + Technology is also at 712 Arts Plaza. It keeps the same gallery hours: Tuesday through Saturday, noon to 6 p.m., closed Sunday and Monday. Ecotechnics runs from October 10, 2026, to February 6, 2027. Next up is an exhibition by Asma Kazmi, March 6 to June 12, 2027, with an opening reception on March 6, 2027, at 2 p.m.
Since both venues share an address and a schedule, one weekday or Saturday afternoon covers them both.
What's on the UCI Arts performance calendar?
The UCI Arts calendar lists both ticketed and free events, and you can filter it by Free or Paid. Listings for November and early December 2026 include:
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Continuity, Experimental Media Performance Lab (xMPL), November 6 to 14
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Titanic: The Musical, Irvine Barclay Theatre, November 21 and 22
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Transfiguration: Music of Herrmann, Bartók and Wagner, Irvine Barclay Theatre, November 24
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UC Irvine Wind Ensemble, Winifred Smith Hall, November 30
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Fall Jazz Concert, December 2
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Tenth Thursday Undergraduate Student Exhibition, December 3, 6 to 8 p.m.
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New Slate 2026, Claire Trevor Theatre, December 3 to 5
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UCI Opera Workshop, December 5
Start times, prices and who can attend vary from event to event, so open the individual listing before you go. The arts box office is at artstix@uci.edu and (949) 824-2787. If your show is at Irvine Barclay Theatre, plan to park in the Student Center structure rather than Mesa.
Can you walk around Aldrich Park?
Aldrich Park works well as the center of a campus walk. UCI Admissions describes it as a park "named after UC Irvine's founding chancellor and campus designer," covering 16 acres "in the heart of campus."
Admissions offers a self-guided walking tour as a downloadable PDF and as a YouTube playlist. Printed copies are handed out at a booth during Celebrate UCI. The same page links a Google Earth sustainability tour from the UC Irvine Sustainability Center, which is handy if you'd like to preview the route at home. Admissions also notes that the Arbor Day Foundation has recognized UC Irvine as a Tree Campus USA every year since 2010.
Don't plan on hiking the natural lands. Admissions describes the UCI Ecological Preserve as a 60-acre site of coastal sage scrub and grassland, and says the campus preserves are closed to the public and used for fieldwork.
Is the UCI Arboretum open to the public?
Right now, think of the Arboretum as a place to check on before you go, not one to drop into. The Arboretum's About page describes it as "a 12.5-acre botanic garden and research facility located one mile from the UC Irvine main campus," on north campus near Jamboree and Campus Drive. It grows plants of the California Floristic Province along with "an extensive collection of South African plants." It started in the late 1960s as a plant-growing facility for research and teaching in the School of Biological Sciences.
The official site lists no public visiting hours or admission details. Its homepage also warns that the Arboretum "may be closing its current location North Campus (Jamboree and Campus Drive)." It says "the timeline for closure of the Arboretum's North Campus gardens is uncertain" and that "UC Irvine is currently considering relocating the North Campus Arboretum to the main campus." If the garden is why you're coming, keep an eye on that homepage for updates and build your day around the galleries and Aldrich Park instead.
Where did the Langson art museum go?
It moved to Costa Mesa, so it's no longer in Irvine. UC Irvine finished acquiring the Orange County Museum of Art in 2025, UCI News reported on September 29, 2025. The combined institution is the UC Irvine Langson Orange County Museum of Art, with more than 9,000 works. At the time, the Office of the Chancellor described Irvine-site programming continuing through January 2027. That plan has since changed.
On May 24, 2026, Maggie Luy of the OC Art Blog reported that the museum "vacated its former Irvine gallery space on Von Karman Avenue" and moved its main site to Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa. The exhibition Breakdown/Breakthrough: Art and Infrastructure, originally set to close May 16, "ended early as the institution underwent a major relocation." The UCI Admissions Campus Highlights page still lists the old 18881 Von Karman Avenue address. Don't go there.
According to the museum's official site, the current address is 3333 Avenue of the Arts, Costa Mesa, CA 92626. It's open Wednesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., and closed Monday and Tuesday. Admission is free, with no reservation required. Phone: 714.780.2130. The current exhibition is Tokio Ueyama: The Hollows Between Mountains. It makes a reasonable side trip from campus, but keep in mind that it's in a different city with its own parking.
Campus etiquette for guests
UC Irvine is a working university, so be considerate around classrooms, labs and research areas. The ecological preserves are closed to the public. UC Irvine Libraries says its buildings are smoke and tobacco free, and that tobacco, smokeless tobacco and electronic smoking or vaping devices are "strictly prohibited" (policy page, last reviewed August 24, 2026). Not every campus event is open to outsiders, so read each listing before you plan around it.
A sample half-day at UCI
This is our suggestion, not an official itinerary. The galleries only overlap on Tuesday through Saturday afternoons, so pick one of those days.
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Park. Use the Mesa Parking Structure. Pay at a dispenser or kiosk, or by plate where PARKbyPLATE applies. If you're staying for an evening arts event, check whether the CTSAPARK flat-rate permit fits your plans.
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Galleries, from noon. See Before the Look of Law at the University Art Gallery (through December 13) and Ecotechnics at the Beall Center, both at 712 Arts Plaza. Stop by the CAC and Room galleries if you have time.
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Aldrich Park. Download the Admissions self-guided tour PDF ahead of time and follow it outward from the park.
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Evening show. Choose something from the UCI Arts calendar. One example: Titanic: The Musical plays Irvine Barclay Theatre on Saturday, November 21, and that venue uses the Student Center Parking Structure. Check the listing for times and tickets.
If you'd also like to see the Langson collection, plan it as a separate Wednesday through Sunday trip to Costa Mesa.
Related reading
Sources
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University Art Gallery: Visit (UCI Claire Trevor School of the Arts)
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UCI News: UC Irvine finalizes acquisition of Orange County Museum of Art (Sept. 29, 2025)
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UC Irvine Office of the Chancellor: acquisition announcement (2025)
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OC Art Blog, Maggie Luy (May 24, 2026)