LACMA website now offers downloadable images

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art has retooled their online collection to include nearly 20,000 high-resolution images of artworks it “believes to be in the public domain”.  Those images known to be otherwise protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights must be requested. For more information on using of LACMA’s digital images, consult the museum’s Terms of Use.

LACMA offers to absorb MOCA

The LA Times reports that the Los Angeles County Museum of Art has put in an offer to take over both branches of the financially-struggling Museum of Contemporary Art. The offer letter, from LACMA Director Michael Govan and the two board co-chairs, was dated February 24 and in response to MOCA’s initial request for a merger of the institutions.

Read Michael Govan’s response to the LA Times article here and the final decision of the MOCA Board here.

Save the Date: Los Angeles Art Show 2013

It’s that time of year again to mark your calendars for the Annual Los Angeles Art Show, which will be held January 23-27, 2013 in the South Hall of the LA Convention Center. This year is even more comprehensive, with four distinct “fairs-within-a-fair” (last year there were three): Modern & Contemporary, Historic & Traditional, Vintage Posters, and the IFPDA Los Angeles Fine Print Fair. All this translates into 200,000 square feet of paintings, sculpture, works on paper, photography, installation, and video from around the world. Information has not yet been posted for events, so check the LA Art Show blog often!

Palm Springs Modernism Week and Docomomo US Tour Day

Palm Springs Modernism Week isn’t until 2013 (February 14-24, 2013, to be exact), but organizers are offering “an early taste” of the annual event when they announced they’re joining in the 6th Annual Docomomo US Tour Day Saturday, October 6, 2012. In fact, Modernism Week is holding four days of events the weekend of October 5-8, including the popular Double Decker Architecture Bus Tour. Docomomo US is dedicated to the “documentation and conservation…of the modern movement, ” and the tour day is a national event with participation throughout the country by local organizations and enthusiasts of American modern architecture.

Calisphere: A goldmine of California images and documentation

If you’re not already aware of Calisphere you should have a look at it.  A project of the California Digital Library and serving both the UC system and K-12 education, Calisphere is a gateway to a profusion of primary sources about… California!

The content comes from all UC campuses as well as non-UC institutions (including many specialized archives – see a list of contributors here), and represents California’s history and culture.  The material is organized thematically, and special subject groups have been set up to conform with K-12 content standards (e.g.  “Dust Bowl Migration”).  You can also search, or browse the collection from a list of keywords, e.g. “Agricultural laborers” or “Reagan, Ronald”.   In addition to images (scanned to archival standards) the collections include letters, newspapers, maps, and more.

Hammer Museum: “Made in L.A. 2012″ and new hours

The Hammer Museum will have new hours of operation starting Saturday, June 2. The museum will be open 11:00 am – 8:00 pm Tuesdays through Fridays and 11:00 am – 5:00 pm on Saturdays and Sundays (the museum is closed on Mondays). Both admission and parking fees will remain the same.

These new hours begin at the same time as the exhibition Made in L.A. 2012, the museum’s first large-scale biennial survey that features work by 60 artists from the L.A. region and exhibited in three venues (Hammer Museum, LA><ART, and the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery at Barnsdall Park).

Exhibitions conclude PST with free admission

Nineteen Southern California cultural institutions, including the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, will bid farewell to Pacific Standard Time with free admission on Saturday, March 31. (Note: The AD&A Museum at UCSB, included on the list, always offers free admission.) Click here for a flyer with links to all participating exhibitions.

AD&A Museum’s Cliff May exhibition opens February 26

UCSB’s Art, Design & Architecture Museum has been going through an inside-and-out renovation and is ready to open its doors with Carefree California: Cliff May and the Romance of the Ranch House. The exhibition is the first major retrospective of the designer who popularized the ranch house and made it an icon of casual California living in the post-war era. The exhibition previews with a “California-cool” Gala on February 25 and opens to the public Sunday, February 26 from 1-5 pm.

In conjunction with Carefree California, check out Catherine Opie Photographs Cliff May and a supplemental online exhibition.

Mike Kelley (1954-2012)

Contemporary artist Mike Kelley was found dead in his South Pasadena home on Wednesday.

Obituaries via CalArts (where he received his MFA) and LA Times (with slideshow).

Neutra’s Kronish House update: Beverly Hills’ new historic preservation ordinance approved

This past summer we mentioned that Richard Neutra’s Kronish House could be set for demolition — a move fought by Neutra’s son Dion among others. This week the Beverly Hills City Council voted not only to set new rules for demolishing or altering structures at least 45 years old and designed by a “city-recognized architect,” but also to create a landmark designation process through a Cultural Heritage Commission. We’ll have to wait and see if these measures will save the Kronish House.

via LA Times, with a slideshow of “noteworthy structures” both destroyed and mentioned for landmark designation