LACMA welcomes the California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH) University Art Gallery; the Millard Sheets Art Center at the L.A. County Fair; and the Ontario Museum of History & Art as the newest members of LACMA’s Local Access program. Supported by Art Bridges Cohort Program, the museums join four partner institutions in bringing exhibitions sourced from LACMA’s permanent collection to communities across Los Angeles County and beyond. The program’s latest exhibition, Act on It! Artists, Community, and the Brockman Gallery in Los Angeles, opens at the Vincent Price Art Museum at East Los Angeles College on September 27.
Announced in 2021, Local Access was the first iteration of Art Bridges Cohort Program in the Western United States. The nationwide collection-sharing initiative builds on Art Bridges’ mission to expand access to American art across the country and to empower museums to broaden traditional definitions of American art. For each cohort, a lead museum collaborates with regional partners to create exhibitions that inspire and deepen engagement with local audiences. Sharing artworks and resources, cohort partners generate exhibitions that are relevant to their particular communities and enriched through shared interpretation and educational materials.
LACMA’s cohort is distinguished by its intra-local scope and mission. Alongside this year’s new museum partners, the Local Access network comprises the California State University, Northridge Art Galleries; the Lancaster Museum of Art and History; the Riverside Art Museum; and the Vincent Price Art Museum. This unprecedented partnership looks to establish a new model for accessible and inclusive community engagement in Southern California. Its exhibitions are the result of a years-long exchange and collaboration between staff at each institution. Thematically, the shows spotlight California’s unique artistic heritage, including myths, iconographies, and realities that have formed a regional identity and the state’s rich tradition of arts-based activism.
Local Access continues LACMA’s long history of working with communities to establish new channels for accessing artwork and programs, such as the museum’s gallery at Charles White Elementary School in MacArthur Park. Additional partnerships have been developed in Compton, East L.A., North Hollywood, South L.A., Van Nuys, Watts, and Willowbrook, with exhibitions that bring works from LACMA’s collection to these neighborhoods as well as ongoing public programs and resources.
Learn more about LACMA’s Local Access partners and exhibitions.