Lacma West

After nearly five years of constant construction and much more still to go, leaders of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art have resolved not to continue until they have socked away an additional $100 million in donations on top of the $320 million in cash and pledges given so far. A mixed review of LACMA's recession-buffeted finances issued Wednesday by Moody's Investors Service lays out the reasons why the museum that opened the Broad Contemporary Art...

Last year, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced it was abandoning a pricey plan to build a movie museum in central Hollywood designed by French architect Christian de Portzamparc. Instead the academy struck a deal with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art to lease the old May Co. building, known as LACMA West, at Wilshire Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue. It turns out the academy isn't just using LACMA's building; it's also going to use LACMA's architects. Renzo Piano and L.A architect Zoltan Pali, the academy announced Wednesday, will team up to turn the 1939 May Co. structure, one of L.A.'s classic Art Deco landmarks, into a museum celebrating the history of the film industry.

I was so happy to read about the newest harebrained scheme to revamp LACMA ("A New Design With a Spine," May 2). In the new plan, Renzo Piano "re-imagines LACMA as a potent blend of new and old buildings, each reflecting the value of its age." Blend? While we're at it maybe we could retouch the artwork so they blend better. When is blend a good thing, especially when talking about art? In the drawings the re-imagined LACMA blends so well it looks like a shopping mall. Architecture is an art form, and at LACMA we have the beginnings of a great collection.

When Michael Govan was named director of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 2006, there was reason to hope that LACMA's campus — in its jumbled, sprawling form something of a microcosm of Southern California urbanism — might finally gain some architectural coherence. Govan arrived at the museum with an impressive architectural track record, having overseen the construction of a terrific satellite campus for the Dia Art Foundation, designed by artist Robert Irwin and the architecture firm Open Office, in Beacon, N.Y. Before that he worked alongside Thomas Krens as the Guggenheim director plotted a program of global expansion starring the world's leading architects.

"We wanted to look at what's gone on in California through a multiplicity of lenses," said Stephanie Barron, senior curator of 20th century art and vice president of education and public programs at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. She was talking about "Made in California: 1900-2000," an enormous project that has been in the works for three years.

Why on Earth does the Los Angeles County Museum of Art need to tear down the existing buildings and replace them with a "tent" ("L.A. Art Museum Decides to Radically Reshape Itself," Dec. 6)? Are the current buildings in danger of collapsing? Are they seismically unsafe? Does the roof leak? Is the plumbing clogged? And what will happen to the great collection during the three- to four-year demolition and construction period? If the collection has grown so much that more exhibit space is needed, why not open up a few more of the floors of LACMA West, or even build a new satellite building, perhaps on top of the existing parking structure?

Tear down LACMA? Is that any way to treat Los Angeles' primary art museum? The one that occupies a prime piece of property on mid-Wilshire Boulevard, houses a 100,000-piece art collection and offers the public everything from blockbuster shows to scholarly lectures, film series, jazz nights and family days? A lot of folks seem to think so.

When Michael Govan was named director of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 2006, there was reason to hope that LACMA's campus — in its jumbled, sprawling form something of a microcosm of Southern California urbanism — might finally gain some architectural coherence. Govan arrived at the museum with an impressive architectural track record, having overseen the construction of a terrific satellite campus for the Dia Art Foundation, designed by artist Robert Irwin and the architecture firm Open Office, in Beacon, N.Y. Before that he worked alongside Thomas Krens as the Guggenheim director plotted a program of global expansion starring the world's leading architects.

These days, one of Michael Govan's private pleasures, flying a single-engine prop plane, gives him a useful perspective on the challenges of his public role: piloting the Los Angeles County Museum of Art during a time of economic turbulence. "I know head winds when I see them or feel them," he says. With the 1979 Beechcraft Bonanza he keeps at Santa Monica Airport, Govan has the option of waiting out bad weather. With LACMA, he has to keep airborne and on course no matter what: The museum is about midway through a multipronged, multimillion-dollar "Transformation."

Why is that big bunch of colorful plastic stuff on the plaza at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art? Is it a Tupperware party gone awry? A 99-cent Only Store sidewalk sale? Neither, but the second guess is close. The eye-popping assembly is "HappyHappy," an artwork by Choi Jeong-Hwa. The artist purchased his raw materials -- a slew of bright colored plastic bins, tubs, funnels, pitchers, strainers and bowls -- at the nearby 99-cent Only Store. Choi, an internationally recognized figure known as the father of South Korea's Pop art movement, designed the piece as an introduction to "Your Bright Future: 12 Contemporary Artists From Korea," a major exhibition opening Sunday in LACMA's Broad Contemporary Art Museum.

After nearly five years of constant construction and much more still to go, leaders of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art have resolved not to continue until they have socked away an additional $100 million in donations on top of the $320 million in cash and pledges given so far. A mixed review of LACMA's recession-buffeted finances issued Wednesday by Moody's Investors Service lays out the reasons why the museum that opened the Broad Contemporary Art...

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art saw its investment portfolio lose nearly a quarter of its value during its 2008-09 fiscal year, which coincided with the worst worldwide financial debacle since the Great Depression. The $254.7-million pile of cash and investments shrank to $196 million, a 23% drop, according to figures in the audited financial statements that LACMA recently posted on its website. The most worrisome development for LACMA -- as for many nonprofits -- has been the recession's effect on fundraising.

Why is that big bunch of colorful plastic stuff on the plaza at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art? Is it a Tupperware party gone awry? A 99-cent Only Store sidewalk sale? Neither, but the second guess is close. The eye-popping assembly is "HappyHappy," an artwork by Choi Jeong-Hwa. The artist purchased his raw materials -- a slew of bright colored plastic bins, tubs, funnels, pitchers, strainers and bowls -- at the nearby 99-cent Only Store. Choi, an internationally recognized figure known as the father of South Korea's Pop art movement, designed the piece as an introduction to "Your Bright Future: 12 Contemporary Artists From Korea," a major exhibition opening Sunday in LACMA's Broad Contemporary Art Museum.

These days, one of Michael Govan's private pleasures, flying a single-engine prop plane, gives him a useful perspective on the challenges of his public role: piloting the Los Angeles County Museum of Art during a time of economic turbulence. "I know head winds when I see them or feel them," he says. With the 1979 Beechcraft Bonanza he keeps at Santa Monica Airport, Govan has the option of waiting out bad weather. With LACMA, he has to keep airborne and on course no matter what: The museum is about midway through a multipronged, multimillion-dollar "Transformation."

In the last decade or so, we have learned to think of new museum buildings as a form of architectural entertainment -- the more easily understandable, the better. The architecture itself may be elaborate (Libeskind in Denver, Herzog & de Meuron in Minneapolis) or refined (SANAA in New York, Gluckman in San Diego), but the aesthetic statement is almost always straightforward, the authorship of the buildings impossible to miss.

One of Los Angeles' most public landmarks has come to the rescue of one of the city's most private ones. A one-of-a-kind Modernist high-rise office designed by acclaimed architect John Lautner will be reassembled in the historic former May Co. building on Wilshire Boulevard's Miracle Mile after being evicted from the 20th story of a Century City tower.

Last year, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced it was abandoning a pricey plan to build a movie museum in central Hollywood designed by French architect Christian de Portzamparc. Instead the academy struck a deal with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art to lease the old May Co. building, known as LACMA West, at Wilshire Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue. It turns out the academy isn't just using LACMA's building; it's also going to use LACMA's architects. Renzo Piano and L.A architect Zoltan Pali, the academy announced Wednesday, will team up to turn the 1939 May Co. structure, one of L.A.'s classic Art Deco landmarks, into a museum celebrating the history of the film industry.

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art saw its investment portfolio lose nearly a quarter of its value during its 2008-09 fiscal year, which coincided with the worst worldwide financial debacle since the Great Depression. The $254.7-million pile of cash and investments shrank to $196 million, a 23% drop, according to figures in the audited financial statements that LACMA recently posted on its website. The most worrisome development for LACMA -- as for many nonprofits -- has been the recession's effect on fundraising.

I was so happy to read about the newest harebrained scheme to revamp LACMA ("A New Design With a Spine," May 2). In the new plan, Renzo Piano "re-imagines LACMA as a potent blend of new and old buildings, each reflecting the value of its age." Blend? While we're at it maybe we could retouch the artwork so they blend better. When is blend a good thing, especially when talking about art? In the drawings the re-imagined LACMA blends so well it looks like a shopping mall. Architecture is an art form, and at LACMA we have the beginnings of a great collection.

Tear down LACMA? Is that any way to treat Los Angeles' primary art museum? The one that occupies a prime piece of property on mid-Wilshire Boulevard, houses a 100,000-piece art collection and offers the public everything from blockbuster shows to scholarly lectures, film series, jazz nights and family days? A lot of folks seem to think so.