1000 Museums

Located on the Pacific Rim, LACMA is the largest art museum in the western United States, with a collection of more than 147,000 objects that illuminate 6,000 years of artistic expression across the globe. Committed to showcasing a multitude of art histories, LACMA exhibits and interprets works of art from new and unexpected points of view that are informed by the region’s rich cultural heritage and diverse population. LACMA’s spirit of experimentation is reflected in its work with artists, technologists, and thought leaders as well as in its regional, national, and global partnerships to share collections and programs, create pioneering initiatives, and engage new audiences.

A museum of international stature as well as a vital part of Southern California, LACMA shares its vast collections through exhibitions, public programs, and research facilities that attract over a million visitors annually. LACMA’s complex is located on twenty acres in the heart of Los Angeles, halfway between the ocean and downtown. Currently, the addition of the David Geffen Galleries, a magnificent new building for the permanent collection designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Peter Zumthor, is in porgress. The museum has recently added two buildings, the Broad Contemporary Art Museum (2008) and the Resnick Exhibition Pavilion (2010), both designed by another Pritzker Prize winner, Renzo Piano; enhanced outdoor programming with the installation of Urban Light (2008) and Levitated Mass (2012), and renovated a third building, the Bruce Goff-designed Pavilion for Japanese Art.

LACMA’s collections encompass the geographic world and virtually the entire history of art. Among the museum’s special strengths are its holdings of Asian art, Latin American art, ranging from pre-Columbian masterpieces to works by leading modern and contemporary artists including Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, and José Clemente Orozco; and Islamic art, of which LACMA hosts one of the most significant collections in the world.