Santa Monica Museum of Art

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Santa Monica Museum of Art
Established 1984
Location 2525 Michigan Avenue, G1
Santa Monica, CA 90404 United States
Type Art
Director Elsa Longhauser
Website www.smmoa.org

The Santa Monica Museum of Art (SMMoA) is an independent art museum located in Santa Monica, California. It exhibits the work of local, national, and international contemporary artists. SMMoA is the only kunsthalle, or non-collecting museum, in Southern California.

History

The Santa Monica Museum of Art was founded in 1984 by Abby Sher as part of the Frank Gehry-designed mixed-use center, Edgemar, which she developed on Main Street in Santa Monica, California between 1984 and 1988. In 1988, Thomas Rhoads was named the museum’s director, mounting that summer its first exhibition, Art in the Raw in the 8,000 square foot clear span, clerestory-rimmed 1908 Imperial Ice Company warehouse building. In 1997, after establishing an international reputation for first-rate exhibitions, SMMoA moved from Edgemar, reopening in Bergamot Station Arts Center in 1998.

SMMoA’s mission focuses on pivotal but under recognized moments and figures in the history of contemporary art and culture. In 2000, former Moore College Gallery Director Elsa Longhauser was appointed executive director.[1] Longhauser marked her arrival with a retrospective of feminist Austrian artist Valie Export, and has continued to champion the city of Los Angeles and the Museum as important players in the ongoing international art dialogue.[2] [2] She has dedicated SMMoA’s exhibition spaces—a Main Gallery and two Project Rooms—to advancing the work of contemporary local, national, and international artists whose work merits study and recognition.

Transformation

In 2010, Phase 2 of the Metro Expo Line light rail was approved, and land adjacent to the Bergamot Station Arts Center was allocated for a stop on the new line. The stop, 26th Street/Bergamot,[3] is scheduled to open in 2015.[4]

Exhibitions

From its inception, SMMoA developed a reputation for hosting groundbreaking exhibitions for future art world luminaries. Under the banner of the Museum’s Artist Project series, Director Thomas Rhoads and his team of curators organized shows for Andrea Bowers, Meg Cranston, Bruce and Norman Yonemoto, and Lynn Aldrich. They arranged the first solo shows for Daniel J. Martinez (1988), Jennifer Steinkamp (1989), William Leavitt (1990), and Allan Sekula (1996) among others. Upon the Museum’s relocation to Bergamot Station Arts Center, the Artist Project Series continued in the Museum’s two Project Rooms. The inaugural exhibition at Bergamot featured emerging artist Liza Lou and her dazzlingly beaded, full-size kitchen and backyard installations.

Since 2000, Executive Director Elsa Longhauser has set out to identify important artists—both local and international—before they reach mainstream consciousness. Longhauser has overseen exhibitions of work by Yoshimoto Nara (2000), Urs Fischer (2002), Terry Allen (2004), Michael Queenland (2012), and Mickalene Thomas (2012). Other important exhibitions at the Museum include The Book Show: Raymond Pettibon (2001), Cavepainting: Laura Owens, Chris Ofili, Peter Doig (2002), Michael Asher (2008 ), Allen Ruppersberg: You and Me or the Art of Give and Take (2009). Longhauser has also organized acclaimed shows by guest-curators, including Michael Duncan and Kristine McKenna's Semina Culture: Wallace Berman and His Circle (2005),[5] a Walter Hopps-curated George Herms exhibition (2005), and Jori Finkel's Identity Theft: Eleanor Antin, Lynn Hershman, and Suzy Lake (2007).

Programs

SMMoA offers a full-range of free public programs including lectures and panel discussions, and award-winning education programs for K-12 children. One of the Museum’s most immersive outreach programs is Park Studio, a free and intensive weeklong arts workshop series that coincides with academic spring breaks at SMMUSD and LAUSD public schools. Wall Works is SMMoA’s award-winning education program that links K-12 students directly with renowned contemporary artists.[6] Wall Works projects are carried out in the classroom, and culminate with a public exhibition of student work at Bergamot Station Arts Center.[7] Artists who have participated in Park Studio and Wall Works include Olga Koumoundouros, Elias Sime, Peter Shire, Karen Kimmel, and Laurel Broughton.

SMMoA’s A Collection of Ideas… is a public program and lecture series with innovative thinkers from all disciplines. Past A Collection of Ideas... events include a discussion around Mike Kelley’s final project, the Mobile Homestead (2013), and Crossfader: Listening Like a Sonidero, a hybrid musical-lecture with cultural polymath Josh Kun and Mexican DJ and producer Toy Selectah (2013). SMMoa's Cause for Creativity workshops : SMMoA’s Cause for Creativity (C4C) combines art, social action, and community partnerships to enhance the life of the mind and spirit. "Make art and make a difference" is the motto of this innovative program designed for participants of all ages. Workshops have been taught by The Echo Park Film center, BROODWORK and Cirque du Soleil’s OVO to name a few.

Management

Thomas Rhoads was the Museum’s first executive director. In 2000, former director of the Moore College of Art and Design galleries, Elsa Longhauser, was named executive director.[8]

Hours

  • Open: Tuesday-Saturday, 11 am to 6 pm
  • Closed: Sunday, Monday and all legal holidays

References

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External links

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