Changes at the L.A. County Museum

Art in America, May, 2005 by Stephanie Cash

Shortly after the Los Angeles County Museum of Art revealed new details of a renovation and expansion plan, this time by Renzo Piano, it was announced that Andrea Rich, president and director for almost 10 years, is resigning. She will step down on Nov. 7, the tenth anniversary of her arrival at LACMA, but will continue to consult with the museum for two years to ease the transition during the building project. In addition to strengthening the permanent collection, Rich has helped bolster the museum's endowment, which rose more than 125 percent over the past nine years, from about $49 million to the current $111 million.

The expansion and renovation news comes two years after LACMA scrapped its ambitious overhaul by Rem Koolhaas [see "Front Page," Feb. '03], which had an estimated price tag of $200-300 million. Last year, benefactor Eli Broad announced that he would build a namesake museum, the Broad Contemporary Art Museum (BCAM), on the LACMA campus, and that he had hired Piano to design it, with the museum's approval [see "Artworld," May '04]. Broad had initially offered $50 million toward the Koolhaas plan, plus another $10 million for acquisitions. When that project fell through, he committed to entirely funding a new $50-million building himself, and jump-started the museum's current plans.

Piano's scheme takes a more measured approach than Koolhaas's design, which entailed demolishing four of the museum's six current buildings. The new plan will unite the various buildings and create new galleries, public spaces and gardens, including BCAM. The bulk of the project has an estimated cost of $130 million, though totals for a future reconfiguration of LACMA West (the former May Company building) have not been determined. The museum hasn't released hard numbers for its capital campaign, which also aims to double the endowment and so far has raised $156 million. This includes Broad's $50 million, $25 million from an anonymous donor, $10 million from L.A. County, and the rest from various sources.

Phase one of the project includes construction of the 80,000-square-foot BCAM (three quarters of which will be gallery space), a piazza and a new glass-enclosed pavilion that will serve as the main entrance, and a covered concourse to link the east and west sections of the campus, as well as the refacing of buildings along Wilshire Boulevard to create a unified facade. In addition, parking will be moved underground, allowing for expansion of Hancock Park, as will the elimination of Ogden Street, which currently divides the campus and the park.

Once work is completed, LACMA will reorganize its holdings as part of phase two. Each of four art centers will have its own building--European, Asian, art of the Americas and contemporary. Eventually, LACMA West will house spaces for new media and photography, costumes and textiles, and galleries for special exhibitions, among other things. Construction of the initial phase begins this fall and should be completed in 2007.