The Broad facts for kids
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The Broad museum, 2024
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| Established | September 20, 2015 |
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| Location | 221 South Grand Avenue, Downtown Los Angeles, California, US |
| Type | Art museum |
| Collection size | Almost 2,000 |
| Founder | Eli Broad and Edythe Broad |
| Architect | Diller Scofidio + Renfro |
| Public transit access |  Los Angeles Metro Rail E Line A Lineat Grand Avenue Arts/Bunker Hill |
The Broad is a contemporary art museum located on Grand Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles. It is named after Eli and Edythe Broad, who are philanthropists. They paid $140 million to build this museum.
The museum is home to the Broad art collections. It usually offers free entry to see its main collection. However, some special events or exhibits might have a fee. The Broad first opened its doors on September 20, 2015.
Contents
Discovering The Broad's History
Since 2008, Eli and Edythe Broad looked for a place to build a museum for their art collection. They considered different spots in Los Angeles. In 2008, they thought about a location in Beverly Hills.
By 2010, they were also looking at land near West Los Angeles College. The Santa Monica City Council even offered them a lease for $1 a year. This was for a piece of land next to the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium.
Choosing Downtown Los Angeles
In August 2010, Eli Broad officially announced his decision. He would build the museum in Downtown Los Angeles. He agreed to pay $7.7 million for a 99-year lease. This money helped to build affordable homes nearby.
Several famous architects were asked to design the museum. These included Rem Koolhaas and Herzog & de Meuron. In the end, the firm Diller Scofidio + Renfro from New York was chosen. They designed the 120,000-square-foot museum.
Opening Day Celebrations
In February 2015, the Broads held a special preview of the new building. About 3,500 people came to see it. The museum officially opened on September 20, 2015. Many famous people attended the opening. These included Bill Clinton and Reese Witherspoon.
Exploring The Broad's Architecture
The Broad museum building was designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro. They worked with Gensler and Leslie E. Robertson Associates. The building cost about $140 million to construct. It stands next to the famous Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Unique Building Design
The museum's design is called "the veil and the vault." "The veil" is the outer layer of the building. It looks like a honeycomb and lets sunlight into the museum. This skin is made of 2,500 special concrete panels.
"The vault" is the solid concrete core of the building. This part holds the museum's art storage. It also has offices and special rooms for art care.
The museum has three floors. It offers 50,000 square feet of space for art exhibits. The third floor alone has 35,000 square feet of open gallery space. The roof has 318 skylights. These skylights bring soft, natural light inside.
Visitors enter a unique lobby without a traditional front desk. Staff greet guests using mobile devices. A long escalator and a glass elevator connect the lobby to the exhibit areas.
Future Expansion Plans
In 2024, The Broad announced plans for a new addition. This new part will be 55,000 square feet. It will be built behind the current museum. This expansion will increase the gallery space by 70 percent.
Diller Scofidio + Renfro also designed this new section. It will connect to the original museum on the third floor. The new galleries will show art from current and new artists.
The Museum Plaza
A public plaza of 24,000 square feet is next to The Broad. The museum manages this plaza. It was designed by the museum's architects and Walter J. Hood. The plaza cost about $18 million. It features a grove of 100-year-old olive trees.
Building Challenges
The museum's unique outer "veil" was difficult to build. This caused some delays during construction. The museum even had a legal dispute with the company making the facade. However, they later agreed to continue working together.
Structural Engineering Details
Nabih Youssef Associates Structural Engineers worked on the building's structure. The museum and its parking garage are 6 stories tall. They cover about 250,000 square feet. The building uses strong concrete walls for support.
Special features include:
- The Veil: This outer layer is made of fiber-reinforced concrete. It spans 70 feet from the roof to the lobby.
- The Vault: This is a thick concrete slab. It extends 45 feet over the lobby area. This creates a large, open space without columns.
- The Roof: The roof is 190 feet long. It provides a column-free gallery space on the top floor.
The Veil is not meant to be a main support for the building. It is more like a decorative covering. Each panel of the Veil weighs about 1,100 pounds. At the top, the Veil wraps over a roof that extends 40 feet over Grand Avenue.
The Veil is supported at three points. A special beam on Grand Avenue allows the entire Veil to move slightly. This movement helps the building stay safe during an earthquake.
The Broad's Art Collection
The Broad museum has almost 2,000 pieces of contemporary art. These works are by about 200 different artists. Famous artists like Cindy Sherman, Jeff Koons, and Andy Warhol are featured. One notable piece is Warhol's "Single Elvis" from 1963.
Notable Artworks to See
Other important artworks include:
- Yayoi Kusama's Infinity Mirrored Room – The Souls of Millions of Light Years Away (2013). This is a very popular mirrored room.
- Ragnar Kjartansson's The Visitors (2012). This is a large video installation with nine screens.
- Julie Mehretu's Beloved (Cairo) (2013). This is a huge painting, 24 feet wide.
- Goshka Macuga's Death of Marxism, Women of All Lands Unite (2013). This is a photo-tapestry.
The museum also has the largest collection of Cindy Sherman's works. It owns 129 pieces by her. The building also serves as the main place for the Broad Art Foundation's lending library. This library shares contemporary artworks with other places.
Exhibitions at The Broad
The first exhibition at The Broad showed over 250 artworks. These included paintings, sculptures, and photographs. All the pieces came from the museum's own collection. Artists like John Baldessari, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Keith Haring were part of this show.
Other artists featured included Damien Hirst, Jasper Johns, and Yayoi Kusama. The exhibition also displayed works by Roy Lichtenstein, Takashi Murakami, and Andy Warhol.
Dining at The Broad
The museum has a separate restaurant on its plaza called Otium. The name Otium means "leisure time" in Latin. Eli Broad helped create this restaurant. It features Timothy Hollingsworth as the executive chef.
In September 2015, a large photo mural was put on the restaurant's side. It is called Isolated Elements, 2015 by artist Damien Hirst. The mural is almost 84 feet tall and 32 feet wide.
Managing The Broad Museum
Funding the Museum
As of 2014, The Broad had an endowment of $200 million. An endowment is money set aside to help run the museum. This was a larger endowment than most other museums in Los Angeles. The museum's yearly budget is $16 million. This money comes from the established funds.
The museum offers mostly free entry to the public. However, it might charge for special temporary exhibitions.
Museum Leadership
The Broad's Board of Governors includes Eli and Edythe Broad. Other members are art dealer Irving Blum and Los Angeles Philharmonic CEO Deborah Borda. The museum's director is art historian Joanne Heyler.
Visitor Numbers
In its first year, The Broad welcomed 753,000 visitors. By 2019, more than 900,000 people had visited the museum.
