Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is the largest art museum in the western United States.
LACMA shares its vast collections through exhibitions, public programs, and research facilities that attract nearly a million visitors annually.
The campus is undergoing a ten-year expansion and renovation known as the Transformation and designed by the Renzo Piano Building Workshop. The first phase of the project opened in early 2008, introducing an open-air pavilion called the BP Grand Entrance as well as the Broad Contemporary Art Museum at LACMA, featuring 60,000 square feet of exhibition space on three floors.
One of my favorite is the The museum's Pavilion for Japanese Art, designed by maverick architect Bruce Goff, opened in 1988, as did the B. Gerald Cantor Sculpture Garden of Rodin bronzes.
Here are the main features of the LACMA:
- LACMA's more than 100,000 objects are divided among its numerous departments by region, media, and time period and are spread amongst the various museum buildings.
- The Modern Art collection is displayed in the Ahmanson Building which was renovated in 2008 to have a new entrance featuring a large staircase, conceived as a gathering place similar to Rome's Spanish Steps.
- The Art of the Americas Building has American, Latin American and pre-Columbian collections displayed on the second floor and temporary exhibition space on the first floor. The Hammer Building houses the Korean and Chinese collections.
- The Pavilion for Japanese Art displays the Shin'enkan collection donated by Joe D. Price.
- The Contemporary Art collection is displayed in the 60,000 square foot Broad Contemporary Art Museum (BCAM), opened on February 16, 2008. BCAM's inaugural exhibition featured 176 works by 28 artists of postwar Modern art from the late 1950's to the present.
- Surrounding the BCAM building and LACMA's courtyard is a 100 palm tree garden, designed by artist Robert Irwin and landscape architect Paul Comstock. Some of the 30 varieties of palms are in the ground, but most are in large wooden boxes above ground.
Location of LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art):
5905 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles CA 90036
1-323-857-6000
Hours:
LACMA is open every day except Wednesdays, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.
Monday 12 noon - 8 pm
Tuesday 12 noon - 8 pm
Wednesday CLOSED
Thursday 12 noon - 8 pm
Friday 12 noon - 9 pm
Saturday 11 am - 8 pm
Sunday 11 am - 8 pm
sources:
http://www.lacma.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_County_Museum_of_Art
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