Los Angeles County Museum of Art facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Museum pavilion, April 2014
Established	1910
Location	5905 Wilshire Boulevard Los Angeles United States
Type	Encyclopedic, Art museum
Visitors	1,592,101 (2016)
Architect	William Pereira (1965) Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates (1986) Bruce Goff (1988)
Public transit access	Bus: 20, 217, 720 or 780 to Wilshire Bl and Fairfax Av Future Rail: Wilshire/Fairfax (service to begin in 2025)

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (often called LACMA) is a huge art museum in Los Angeles, California. It's located on Wilshire Boulevard in an area known as the Miracle Mile. You can find it right next to the famous La Brea Tar Pits, where ancient animal fossils are discovered!

LACMA started in 1961. Before that, it was part of a larger museum that included history and science. Four years later, it moved to its own special buildings designed by William Pereira. Over the years, the museum grew a lot, adding more buildings and amazing art collections.

Today, LACMA is the biggest art museum in the western United States. Nearly a million people visit it every year! It has over 150,000 artworks from ancient times to today. Besides showing art, LACMA also hosts cool film screenings and music concerts.

Discovering LACMA's History

LACMA officially became its own art museum in 1961. Before that, it was part of the Los Angeles Museum of History, Science and Art, which opened in 1910.

Wilshire Boulevard and the Art Museum in 1965

Some important people helped raise money to create LACMA as a separate art museum. One of the first big donors was Howard F. Ahmanson, Sr., who gave $2 million. In 1965, the museum moved to its new home on Wilshire Boulevard. It was the largest new museum built in the United States since the National Gallery of Art.

Original Buildings by William Pereira

The first buildings at LACMA were designed by architect William Pereira. They included the Ahmanson Building, the Bing Center, and the Lytton Gallery. The total cost for these three buildings was about $11.5 million. They opened in 1965.

Originally, the buildings were surrounded by reflecting pools. But tar from the nearby La Brea Tar Pits started to seep into them, so the pools were later filled in.

Growth in the 1980s

The 1980s were a time of big growth for LACMA. The museum added the Robert O. Anderson Building in 1986, which cost $35.3 million. This building was for modern and contemporary art. It added a lot more space for exhibitions.

In 1988, the Pavilion for Japanese Art opened. It was designed by the unique architect Bruce Goff. Also, the B. Gerald Cantor Sculpture Garden, featuring Rodin's bronze sculptures, was added.

In 1994, LACMA bought the old May Company department store building next door. This building, a great example of Art Deco style, became LACMA West in 1998. It made the museum 30 percent larger!

New Designs by Renzo Piano

In 2004, LACMA decided to transform its campus. Architect Renzo Piano was chosen to lead this big project. The first part of his plan, called Phase I, finished in 2008.

This phase included the BP Grand Entrance and the Broad Contemporary Art Museum (BCAM). The BCAM building added 58,000 square feet of exhibition space. It was named after Eli and Edy Broad, who gave $60 million to the museum. In 2010, the Lynda and Stewart Resnick Exhibition Pavilion also opened. It's a huge, naturally lit space for art shows.

LACMA West, the former May Company building on the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue, which is currently home to The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures

The Zumthor Plan

Later, in 2009, LACMA's director Michael Govan started working with Swiss architect Peter Zumthor on plans to rebuild the eastern part of the campus. This new design would replace the original Pereira buildings.

The plan was approved in 2019. It calls for a single, sand-colored concrete building with glass walls. Part of the building will even stretch over Wilshire Boulevard! This new design aims to create a more open and connected museum space.

Demolition of the old Pereira buildings began in April 2020 and finished in October of that year. The new Zumthor building is expected to open in 2024.

Amazing Art Collections

LACMA has over 120,000 objects! These are organized into many different departments based on where they came from, what they're made of, and when they were created.

Modern and Contemporary Art

The Modern Art collection is in the Ahmanson Building. It has works from the 1900s to the 1970s. You can see famous artists like Pablo Picasso, Paul Klee, and Wassily Kandinsky. There are also many sculptures by artists like Alberto Giacometti and Henry Moore.

Modern Art galleries

Gallery of works by Alberto Giacometti

The Contemporary Art collection is in the Broad Contemporary Art Museum (BCAM). It opened in 2008 and shows art from the late 1950s to today. This collection includes works by Jasper Johns, Jeff Koons, and Chris Burden.

American and Latin American Art

The Art of the Americas Building features art from North, Central, and South America. This includes American, Latin American, and pre-Columbian collections.

Diego Rivera, Flower Day (Día de Flores), 1925

LACMA's Latin American Art galleries were updated in 2008. They have art from different periods, including Spanish Colonial and modern works. The pre-Columbian galleries were designed by artist Jorge Pardo. His unique display cases are made from stacked wood, creating cool wavy shapes.

The museum has one of the largest collections of Latin American art in the world. This is thanks to a huge gift of over 2,000 artworks from Bernard and Edith Lewin in 1996.

Asian Art

The Hammer Building holds the Chinese and Korean art collections. LACMA has one of the most complete collections of Korean art outside of Korea and Japan. The Pavilion for Japanese Art shows a special collection of Japanese art.

LACMA also has a rich collection of art from India. This includes sculptures of Jain Tirthankaras, Buddha, and Hindu gods. Many beautiful paintings from India are also on display.

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  Elephant with Riders, Uttar Pradesh, India, 3rd-2nd century B.C.

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  Shrine with Four tirthankaras, 6th century

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  A Jain Family Group, 6th century

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  Jina Mahavira, circa 850 CE

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  Jain Altarpiece with Parshvanatha, Mahavira and Neminatha, 10th century

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  Cosmic Form of the Hindu God Shiva, Nepal, 11th-12th century

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  Dancing Ganesha, Lord of Obstacles, Nepal, 16th-17th century

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  Buddha Shakyamuni or the Bodhisattva Maitreya, Nepal, 8th century

Art from Ancient Greece, Rome, and Etruria

On the second floor of the Ahmanson Building, you can find galleries with art from ancient Greece and Rome. A large part of this collection was given to the museum by William Randolph Hearst, a famous newspaper publisher, in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

Islamic Art

The museum's Islamic galleries have over 1700 artworks. These include beautiful ceramics, metalwork, glass, and carved wood. You can also see amazing examples of Islamic calligraphy and illuminated manuscripts. The collection is especially strong in pottery, tiles, and glass from Persia and Turkey.

Cool Outdoor Art Installations

LACMA has many impressive artworks outside the buildings that you can explore.

Urban Light sculpture by Chris Burden

• Urban Light: One of the most famous is Chris Burden's Urban Light (2008). It's a collection of 202 antique cast-iron street lights from around Los Angeles. They turn on every evening and are powered by solar panels!
• Smoke: Inside the Ahmanson Building's atrium, you'll find Tony Smith's huge sculpture Smoke (1967). This massive black aluminum artwork is 45 feet long, 33 feet wide, and 22 feet high!
• Levitated Mass: Another incredible outdoor artwork is Levitated Mass by Michael Heizer. It's a giant 340-ton boulder that sits on top of a 456-foot-long trench. You can walk underneath and around this massive rock! It was moved to LACMA in 2012.

Exciting Exhibitions

LACMA often hosts special exhibitions that bring in huge crowds.

• In 1978, the "Treasures of Tutankhamun" exhibit was the most popular show ever at LACMA, attracting 1.2 million visitors!
• More recently, exhibits about famous movie directors like Tim Burton and Stanley Kubrick have been very popular. These shows combine art with pop culture, which many visitors enjoy.

Photography Collection

The Wallis Annenberg Photography Department started in 1984. It has over 15,000 photographs, from the very first photos taken in 1839 to modern works.

In 1992, Audrey and Sydney Irmas gave their entire collection of artists' self-portraits to LACMA. This unique collection includes photos by artists like Andy Warhol and Edward Steichen. In 2008, the Annenberg Foundation gave $23 million to help LACMA buy the Marjorie and Leonard Vernon collection, which has 3,500 master prints from the 19th and 20th centuries.

Film Programs

LACMA has a long history of showing films. In 2011, LACMA and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced plans to open a movie museum in the former May Co. building. This Academy Museum officially opened in 2022.

How LACMA Gets Art and Support

LACMA receives art and support from many different sources.

Generous Donors

In 2014, a businessman named Jerry Perenchio promised to donate $500 million worth of art to LACMA. This amazing collection includes works by famous artists like Paul Cézanne, Edgar Degas, and Pablo Picasso. This gift will happen if the new Zumthor building is completed.

Lime Spoon with cast picaflor, 1250–1470, Peru, Inca.
Purchased with funds provided by Lillian Apodaca Weiner (M.2003.77).

Eli and Edythe Broad, who the BCAM building is named after, have also given a lot of money to LACMA. They helped fund the BCAM building and bought art for it.

The Ahmanson Foundation has also helped LACMA buy many masterpieces, including paintings by Georges de La Tour and Rembrandt.

Art Councils

LACMA has ten special art councils. These are groups of art lovers who help the museum buy new artworks for specific collections. They raise money and help bring nearly 5,000 artworks into the museum's collection over the years.

Collectors Committee

Every year, a group of important donors called the Collectors Committee meets at the museum. They listen to curators explain why certain artworks should be bought for the museum. Then, they vote on which artworks to purchase. This event has helped bring about 170 artworks into LACMA's collection since 1986.

Art + Film Gala

Since 2011, LACMA has hosted an annual Art + Film Gala dinner. This event brings together Hollywood leaders and artists to support the museum. It helps raise millions of dollars for the museum's operations and collections. Famous people like Martin Scorsese, George Lucas, and Guillermo del Toro have been honored at this gala.

Museum Management

LACMA is managed by a nonprofit group called Museum Associates. The Los Angeles County government also provides about $29 million each year to help cover the museum's operating costs.

LACMA usually raises around $40 million from donations and memberships. This helps pay for almost half of the museum's yearly expenses.

Attendance

LACMA's attendance has grown a lot. In 2011, over 1.2 million people visited the museum, which was the first time it passed the one million mark! By 2015, attendance reached 1.6 million visitors.

Museum Directors

LACMA has had several directors over the years who have guided its growth and vision:

• Richard (Ric) F. Brown – 1961 – 1966
• Kenneth Donahue – 1966 – 1979
• Earl A. Powell III – 1980 – 1992
• Michael E. Shapiro – 1992 – 1993
• Graham W. J. Beal – 1996 – 1999
• Andrea L. Rich – 1999 – 2005
• Michael Govan – 2006–present

Board of Trustees

LACMA is guided by a board of trustees. These are people who help set the museum's goals and plans. Joining the board costs $100,000, and each member promises to donate or raise at least another $100,000 each year. Many famous people are on the board, including Elaine Wynn, Nicole Avant, Lionel Richie, and Ryan Seacrest.

Selected Paintings

Selected Objects

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  Ashurnasirpal II and a Winged Deity, Northern Iraq, Nimrud, gypseous alabaster, 9th century BC

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  Dog with Human Mask, Mexico, Colima, slip-painted ceramic sculpture, 200 BC–AD 500

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  Standing Warrior, Mexico, Jalisco, Slip-painted ceramic sculpture, c. 200 BC–AD 300

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  Funerary Sculpture of a Horse, China, Sichuan Province, Eastern Han dynasty, molded earthenware sculpture, 25–220

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  Hindu God Vishnu, Cambodia, Angkor, Pre Rup, sandstone, circa 950

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  Kannon Bosatsu, Japan, carved wood, 12th century

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  Jar (Ping) with Dragon and Clouds, China, Hebei or Henan Province, Yuan dynasty, Cizhou ware, 1279–1368

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  Maruyama Ōkyo, Cranes, Japan, pair of six-panel screens; ink, color, and gold leaf on paper, 1772

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  Ancestor Figure (moai kavakava), Easter Island (Rapa Nui), wood, bird bone, obsidian, and traces of pigment, circa 1830

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  Michael Heizer, Levitated Mass, 2012

See also

In Spanish: Museo de Arte del Condado de Los Ángeles para niños

• La Brea Tar Pits and George C. Page Paleontology Museum, next door to Los Angeles County Museum of Art