The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is the largest art museum in the western United States, with over 100,000 objects in its collection. Located on 20 acres in Los Angeles, LACMA's seven-building complex is undergoing a 10-year expansion that will add new buildings designed by Renzo Piano. In addition to its permanent collection, LACMA hosts special exhibitions and educational programs.
3. With 100,000 objects dating from ancient times to the
present, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art
(LACMA) is the largest art museum in the western
United States.
LACMA’s seven-building complex is located on twenty
acres in the heart of Los Angeles, halfway between
the ocean and downtown. The campus is undergoing a
ten-year expansion and renovation known as the
Transformation and designed by the Renzo Piano
Building Workshop.
4. LACMA has its roots in the Los Angeles Museum of
History, Science and Art.
In 1961, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art was
established as a separate, art-focused institution. In
1965, the fledgling institution opened to the public in
its new Wilshire Boulevard location.
Over several decades, the campus and the collection
have grown considerably. The Anderson Building
(renamed the Art of the Americas building in 2007)
opened in 1986 to house modern and contemporary
art.
5. In 1988, Bruce Goff's innovative Pavilion for Japanese
Art opened at the east end of campus.
In 1994, the museum acquired the May Company
department store building at the corner of Wilshire
and Fairfax, now known as LACMA West.
Most recently, the Transformation project revitalized
the western half of the campus with a collection of
buildings designed by Renzo Piano Building Workshop.
6. These include the Broad Contemporary Art
Museum, a three-story 60,000 square foot space
for the exhibition of postwar art that opened in
2008.
In fall of 2010, the Lynda and Stewart Resnick
Exhibition Pavilion opened to the
public, providing the largest purpose-
built, naturally lit, open-plan museum space in
the world, with a rotating selection of major
exhibitions.
7. The LACMA campus continues to evolve in order to
present an encyclopedic collection of art, special
exhibitions, and music, film and educational programs.
8. Ai Weiwei: Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads August
20, 2011–February 12, 2012
Possible Worlds: Mario Ybarra, Jr., Karla Diaz, and
Slanguage Studio Select from the Permanent Collections
July 2, 2011–September 25, 2011
Gifts of the Sultan: The Arts of Giving at the Islamic
Courts June 5, 2011–September 5, 2011
Tim Burton May 29, 2011–October 31, 2011
Teresa Margolles October 31, 2010–October 2, 2011