Los Angeles County Museum of Art (California, USA)

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, usually known as LACMA, is a large art museum on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles. Its holdings number about 155,000 objects and cover roughly 6,000 years of artistic production, while its campus combines permanent-collection galleries, temporary exhibition buildings, research resources, educational facilities, outdoor sculpture, and public gathering areas. Museum Associates operates LACMA under agreements with Los Angeles County, giving the institution both a nonprofit operating structure and a continuing county relationship.^[Ref-1]

From Exposition Park to the Wilshire Boulevard Campus

LACMA did not begin as a stand-alone art museum. Its institutional history reaches back to the Los Angeles County Museum of History, Science, and Art in Exposition Park. Art later became a separate institutional branch, and in 1961 the Los Angeles County Museum of Art emerged as an independent art-focused museum.

The move to Wilshire Boulevard followed in 1965. The original museum complex there was designed by William L. Pereira and included separate spaces for the permanent collection, temporary exhibitions, education, library functions, and public programs. Subsequent decades added buildings and new areas of collecting as LACMA’s holdings and exhibition program expanded.

1. 1910: The Los Angeles County Museum of History, Science, and Art was established, providing the institutional roots from which LACMA later developed.
2. 1961: The Los Angeles County Museum of Art became a separate art-focused institution.
3. 1965: LACMA opened its Wilshire Boulevard museum complex.
4. 1986: The Anderson Building opened for modern and contemporary art; it was later renamed the Art of the Americas Building.
5. 1988: The Bruce Goff-designed Pavilion for Japanese Art opened.
6. 2008: The Broad Contemporary Art Museum, designed by Renzo Piano, opened on the campus.
7. 2010: The Lynda and Stewart Resnick Exhibition Pavilion, also designed by Renzo Piano, opened.
8. 2026: The Peter Zumthor-designed David Geffen Galleries opened as LACMA’s new building for the permanent collection.

A 155,000-Object Collection Across 6,000 Years

LACMA’s collection database describes holdings of more than 155,000 objects spanning about 6,000 years. The scale matters less than the range of material represented: paintings and sculpture sit alongside ceramics, textiles, costume, furniture, decorative arts, photographs, prints, drawings, archaeological material, and other forms of visual and material culture. The online database also distinguishes whether a work is currently on view, an important feature because gallery installations change.^[Ref-2]

Curatorial responsibilities reflect the museum’s geographic and material breadth. Rather than functioning as a museum devoted primarily to European and American painting, LACMA maintains collecting and curatorial work across the Americas, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, the Pacific, modern and contemporary art, photography, works on paper, design, costume, and textiles.

• American and European art: Paintings, sculpture, decorative arts, and works associated with artistic production in Europe and the United States form part of the museum’s long-established holdings.
• Latin American and Ancient American art: Collections extend from archaeological and Indigenous material to colonial, modern, and later Latin American art.
• Asian collections: Chinese, Korean, Japanese, South Asian, and Southeast Asian art are represented through several curatorial areas and many object types.
• Middle Eastern art: LACMA collects and interprets art associated with cultures and artistic traditions across the Middle East.
• Modern and contemporary art: Twentieth- and twenty-first-century production is presented through dedicated curatorial departments and exhibition spaces.
• Photography, prints, and drawings: Works on paper and photographic material support both exhibition and research activity.
• Costume, textiles, decorative arts, and design: Clothing, textiles, furniture, decorative objects, and designed objects broaden the museum beyond painting and sculpture.

Only a fraction of the full collection can be displayed simultaneously. Stored objects remain part of the museum’s research, conservation, lending, publication, and exhibition work even when they are absent from the galleries. For a visitor searching for one particular object, the collection database is therefore more useful than assuming a well-known holding will always be installed.

The David Geffen Galleries and a New Permanent-Collection Display

The David Geffen Galleries were formally inaugurated on April 19, 2026. Member priority access followed the opening ceremony, and general admission began including access to the new galleries on May 4.^{[Ref-3][Ref-4]}

Peter Zumthor designed the building as a long, elevated structure that crosses Wilshire Boulevard. Approximately 110,000 square feet of gallery space occupy a single exhibition level, while the design creates about 3.5 acres of additional outdoor public space below and around the building. The entire structure totals about 347,500 square feet and includes education, retail, dining, theater, visitor-service, and operational areas in addition to the galleries.^[Ref-5]

The opening installation drew on dozens of curators and placed works from distant periods and regions in visual and thematic proximity. Works identified by LACMA for the inaugural presentation included Georges de La Tour’s The Magdalen with the Smoking Flame, Henri Matisse’s La Gerbe, Antonio de Arellano and Manuel de Arellano’s Virgin of Guadalupe, Francis Bacon’s Three Studies of Lucian Freud, and Vincent van Gogh’s Tarascon Stagecoach. Their inclusion at opening should not be treated as a guarantee of permanent display, since the building is intended for rotation.

BCAM, Resnick Pavilion, and Art Outside the Galleries

The Geffen Galleries do not replace every exhibition space at LACMA. The Broad Contemporary Art Museum and the Lynda and Stewart Resnick Exhibition Pavilion remain important parts of the campus, allowing temporary exhibitions and modern or contemporary presentations to operate alongside the rotating installation of the permanent collection.

Outdoor artworks also form part of the museum experience rather than serving merely as decoration around the buildings. Two large installations demonstrate how LACMA uses its grounds as exhibition space.

• Chris Burden, Urban Light: Installed at LACMA in 2008, the work consists of 202 restored cast-iron street lamps formerly used in communities around Los Angeles. The installation stands along the museum’s Wilshire Boulevard entrance.^[Ref-6]
• Michael Heizer, Levitated Mass: Conceived in 1969 and realized at LACMA in 2012, the work combines a 340-ton granite megalith with a 456-foot concrete passage that descends beneath the stone. It is installed on the Resnick North Lawn.^[Ref-7]

This combination of conventional galleries, outdoor sculpture, changing exhibition buildings, and open public space is one of LACMA’s clearest institutional traits. The museum campus functions as more than a single enclosed building, and the 2026 redevelopment strengthened that arrangement rather than consolidating every activity into the Geffen Galleries.

Balch Art Research Library and the Museum Archives

LACMA also serves researchers through the Mr. and Mrs. Allan C. Balch Art Research Library. The library is available to museum staff, scholars, students, and members of the public, while the associated archives preserve institutional records connected with LACMA’s exhibitions and administrative history. Public access is free but requires an appointment, and material requests must be submitted at least one full business day in advance.^[Ref-8]

The research holdings extend beyond ordinary art-reference books. They include material useful for studying individual artists, exhibition histories, collecting practices, California art, and the museum itself.

• General collection: Exhibition catalogs, catalogues raisonnés, auction catalogs, periodicals, reference books, and artist files.
• Special collections: Artists’ books, rare publications, portfolios, exhibition posters, fine editions, and special-format ephemera.
• Museum archives: Institutional records documenting exhibitions and LACMA’s administrative history, along with selected collections related to artists and other people connected with the museum.
• Digital resources: Digitized exhibition catalogs, recorded programs, selected artist files, e-books, and other electronic research resources; some subscription databases are available only on site.

This research function is particularly useful when an artwork is not currently displayed. A museum visit and an archival research appointment are separate forms of access, and researchers should not assume that material held by the library or archives can be requested directly in a public gallery.

Hours, Admission, Transit, and Accessibility

LACMA maintains regular public hours and paid general admission, with several county-resident and free-admission provisions. The operational details below affect an ordinary museum visit and are best checked against the museum’s own visitor pages before travel.

• Museum hours: Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday from 11 am to 6 pm; Friday from 11 am to 8 pm; Saturday and Sunday from 10 am to 7 pm. The museum is closed Wednesdays, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.^[Ref-9]
• Adult general admission: $25 for L.A. County residents with valid identification and $30 for visitors residing outside the county. L.A. County residents receive free general admission on weekdays after 3 pm with valid ID, and general admission is free to all visitors on the second Tuesday of each month. County-resident children and teenagers also have free-admission provisions listed by the museum.^[Ref-10]
• Accessibility: LACMA states that its galleries, restrooms, dining services, and outdoor spaces are wheelchair accessible. Complimentary wheelchairs are available from the Ticket Office on a first-come basis. The museum also offers sensory resources, accessible-format information, seating, and free admission for a professional personal care attendant accompanying an eligible paying visitor.^[Ref-11]
• Parking: The Pritzker Parking Garage is entered from Sixth Street east of Fairfax Avenue. LACMA lists a flat self-parking charge of $24, with a lower charge for entry after 8 pm; parking availability is not guaranteed.^[Ref-12]
• Metro access: The Wilshire/Fairfax Station on the Metro D Line now provides rail access directly beside the museum district. The station opened as part of the D Line Extension’s first section in May 2026.^[Ref-13]

Using the Collection Online Before a Visit

For a museum of LACMA’s scale, checking the collection database can materially change how a visit is planned. Records identify object titles, artists or makers, dates, materials, dimensions, credit lines, accession numbers, collecting areas, and, where available, gallery locations. Many records also state explicitly when an object is not on public view.

This distinction is especially important after the opening of the David Geffen Galleries. LACMA’s permanent collection is now presented through rotating installations, so the museum is better understood as a large collection with changing public selections rather than a building in which the same canonical objects occupy permanent rooms indefinitely.