That Magic Glow - Page 5

"Someone we knew in Glendale with historic preservation knew that people on the city council liked neon," Koga says. "They looked at the Alex, and said we wish we had more neon. And they always wanted a museum. It was a city mandate for more art and culture in the city."

Lynxwiler says Glendale once forced the removal of neon. Now the museum is bringing a couple of neon signs back to town.

"There is a kind of circle going on here," he says.

"I really don't know what the future of neon will be," Koga says. "I don't know if it will ever come back in a big way. So far, nothing has been absolutely able to replace neon."

"We want to keep alive the ability of people to learn how to do neon," she says, adding, "That's our goal, to teach everything about neon that we can."

• For more on the two neon museums profiled here, find the Museum of Neon Art (Glendale) at neonmona.org and The Neon Museum (Las Vegas) at neonmuseum.org.

Photography: Thomas Hawk, Carter Young, Adriene Biondo, Museum of Neon Art, The Neon Museum, Al Barna, Randall Ann Homan, Larry Lytle, Matt Wyatt, Kim Ulmanis Photography, Robby Virus, Adam Smith, Mark Peacock Photography, Mary Phoenix, Debra Jane Seltzer of RoadsideArchitecture.com, Toby Hancock, Patrick Boury, Chris Saulit, Dave Dinwiddie, Sascha Danielsen, Myat