"The five institutions below are not the obvious ones, though some are well known. What they share is a specific ambition-a sense that art can do something beyond decorate a wall or raise a neighborhood's property value: a Pop Art nun who argued for beauty's relationship to love; a UNESCO World Heritage Site that reimagined what California living could look like; two downtown museums that supported local artists long before the city filled with blue-chip galleries; a botanical garden cultivating ecologically conscious art alongside its camellias."
"Daylight has long been considered the ideal illumination for viewing art, which presents a significant challenge for museums also tasked with protecting their collections from sun exposure and the damage it causes. This is part of the marvel of the habitable light box that design studio Diller Scofidio + Renfro built to house Eli and Edythe Broad's expansive collection in downtown L.A., a hundred yards from MOCA's Isozaki building, which the couple helped rescue from financial insolvency in 2008. The honeycomb-shaped veil produces a soft, diffuse luminosity in which to view the more than 2,000 postwar and contemporary works in the museum's holdings."
Los Angeles contains more museums per capita than any other American city, distributed across its sprawling geography. These institutions share a specific ambition: demonstrating that art serves purposes beyond decoration or property value enhancement. Notable examples include museums supporting local artists before major galleries arrived downtown, a UNESCO World Heritage Site reimagining California living, and botanical gardens integrating ecological consciousness with art. The Broad museum exemplifies this innovation through its honeycomb-shaped veil designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro, which produces soft diffuse light ideal for viewing over 2,000 postwar and contemporary works while protecting collections from sun damage. Art Week provides an optimal visiting time when hills remain green and Los Angeles light shifts dramatically throughout the day.
#los-angeles-museums #contemporary-art-institutions #museum-architecture-and-design #art-collection-curation #cultural-institutions
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