A major grant from the Art Bridges + Terra Foundation Initiative supports a dynamic exhibition partnership through 2024
(Los Angeles-January 15, 2021) The Los Angeles County Museum of Art
(LACMA) is pleased to announce Local Access, a partnership with four Southern California institutions made possible by a grant of nearly $2 million from the nationwide Art Bridges+ Terra Foundation Initiative. Established in 2018, Art Bridges and the Terra Foundation for American art created the Art Bridges+ Terra Foundation Initiative (ABTFI) to expand access to American art across the United States. LACMA is the first institution in the Western United States to receive a grant from Art Bridges+ Terra Foundation Initiative.
Local Access will bring special exhibitions drawn from LACMA's collection to four institutions in greater Southern California: California State University, Northridge, Art Galleries; Lancaster Museum of Art and History; Riverside Art Museum; and Vincent Price Art Museum at East Los Angeles College. Over the next several years, each partner will present up to three exhibitions that reframe and broaden traditional ideas about American art. This unprecedented partnership is centered on sharing collections and museum resources to establish a new model for accessible and inclusive community engagement. The exhibitions are the result of a years-long exchange and collaboration among the staffs of the institutions.
"LACMA is working to redefine what 'outreach' and 'collaboration' mean for a 21st century art museum," said Michael Govan, LACMA CEO and Wallis Annenberg Director. "Over the next several years, we will share our collections and resources with partner institutions to spread exhibitions and programs beyond the museum's Wilshire campus. Local Access brings together a community of ambitious, forward-thinking institutions that are developing lasting relationships, experimenting and learning as a collective, and engaging new audiences. LACMA has always aimed to serve the widest possible audience. The generous support of Art Bridges and the Terra Foundation for American Art offers an unprecedented opportunity to make our programming accessible throughout the region."
Local Access's inaugural exhibition, opening this winter, is. It will be presented at the Lancaster Museum of Art and History (February 7, 2021-May 9, 2021); Riverside Art Museum {June 5-September 26, 2021); Vincent Price Art Museum (October 16, 2021-February 5, 2022), and California State University, Northridge, Art Galleries (February 19, 2022-April 30, 2022).
Golden Hour features works by more than 70 artists and three photography collectives, offering an aesthetic approach to understanding the complexities and histories of California. These images from LACMA's collection have come to define the myths, iconographies, and realities of this unique state. Pairing masters of photography with experimental practitioners in a range of lens-based media that includes photo sculpture, vernacular, and video work, the selection blurs the boundaries of the tropes that formed a California identity. With works ranging from the early 1900s to present day, Golden Hour is neither a didactic history of the state nor an inclusive tale of photographic history, but rather artists' impressions of the state of being in, and being influenced by, California.
The second exhibition, slated for 2022-2023, will explore progressive design and political activism and examine the creative means that California designers and artists have used to advocate for civil rights, oppose wars and unjust policies, and press for change. A third exhibition will be announced at a later date.
"Art Bridges partnership with LACMA is built on our shared belief in collaboration and the mission to expand access to treasured artworks," said Paul R. Provost, CEO, Art Bridges. "Countless visitors will be introduced to LACMA's collection via Local Access and it is our hope that this will deepen engagement with their respective communities among all five partner organizations. We are proud to support Local Access and are eager to see the inspiring exhibitions and programs come to life."
Local Access joins other multi-year, multi-institutional partnerships supported by the initiative across the nation, including those organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Detroit Institute of Arts; Philadelphia Museum of Art; and Smithsonian American Art Museum.
"Bringing together LACMA with partner museums in Southern California illustrates the rich collaboration that is a hallmark of this project," said Sharon Corwin, President and CEO of the Terra Foundation for American Art. "Central to this initiative is the belief that community engagement through experiencing works of art first-hand connects audiences in fresh and exciting ways."
With Local Access, LACMA is building on its long history of working with communities to share programs and artworks, as it does through its ongoing partnership with Charles White Elementary School in MacArthur Park. Since 2007, LACMA has presented exhibitions drawing on its permanent collection and commissioned work by contemporary artists at its satellite gallery at the school. Recently, the museum has expanded its public programming there to include hands-on workshops and experiences for the local community on Saturdays. Additional partnerships have been developed in Compton, East Los Angeles, North Hollywood, South L.A., Van Nuys, Watts, and Willowbrook, including exhibitions from LACMA's collection and ongoing public programs and resources.
This exhibition was organized by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in collaboration with the Lancaster Museum of Art and History; Riverside Art Museum; Vincent Price Art Museum at East Los Angeles College; and California State University, Northridge, Art Galleries.
Local Access is a series of American art exhibitions created through a multi-year, multi-institutional partnership formed by LACMA as part of the Art Bridges + Terra Foundation Initiative.
