November 15th, 2007
Slightly bigger and even better - remodeled Long Beach Museum of Art - Brief Article
In an art world where monumental museums and megaexhibitions are counted on to generate a buzz, the recently reopened Long Beach Museum of Art proves that less is still sometimes more.
This has long been a uniquely California museum. For one thing, it’s housed in a 1912 Craftsman house that was designed by the firm that improbably went on to create Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, now Mann’s Chinese Theatre. What’s more, it boasts a blufftop location that looks out on the beach, Catalina Island, the Queen Mary, and the camouflaged oil-producing islands of Long Beach Harbor. Its regional sensibility is also reflected in a collection strong on Southern California plein air paintings and modern art.
The original museum has long occupied the Craftsman house, which was built as a summer residence during Long Beach’s resort heyday When the museum began to ponder expansion plans in the early 1990s, it considered a move to a larger downtown site. In the end, funding problems prevented the move–as did a general sense that the site and house were integral to the institution’s identity, according to museum director Hal Nelson.
“I’ve always thought that the building was one of the finest works of art in our collection,” he says.
As part of the museum’s $6.5-million renovation and expansion, a new 12,500-square-foot pavilion that echoes the Craftsman design eases the burden on the original building. This added space will showcase paintings and sculpture in the context of the decorative arts of the period. In the California modernism gallery, for example, a late-20th-century abstract is displayed alongside an Eames chair.
The new building will also provide additional space for a wide range of collections the museum has accumulated since opening in 1950, including early-20th-century European art, 18th-century American decorative arts, and California ceramics.
Great art, of course, remains the focus of the experience, but the facility will play other roles in the community as well. During the planning stage, it was discovered that people came to the museum for more than the art–be it to take in the view or to stroll the gardens. As a result, the museum decided to improve amenities such as the store and restaurant, and to host events including poetry readings, recitals, and concerts. “We’re trying to make the museum the community’s living room,” Nelson says.
In fact, the museum has long been close to the hearts of Long Beach residents. “A man involved in lobbying for the museum back in the 1940s stopped by,” recalls Nelson. “He looked around at what we were doing and said how proud he was that the dream he and others had for the museum would be realized.”