On Oct. 2, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art will open the doors to the new Lynda and Stewart Resnick Exhibition Pavilion; a $53 million dollar building dedicated to philanthropists Lynda and Stewart Resnick.
The Resnicks, who own companies such as POM Wonderful, Fiji Water, and Wonderful pistachios, are private art collectors and business entrepreneurs who have donated up to $45 million to LACMA.
Their charitable donation also included a promise of $10 million worth of art from their own private collection.
“We love Los Angeles, and that is why we are so happy to give this gift to the city.” Lynda said on the Resnick’s donation of art to LACMA.
“This is a great glimpse of the Resnick Collection which has never before been presented to the public like this. We are so grateful to them.” said Michael Govan, CEO and director of LACMA at a press preview last week.
Terry Semel, Chairman of the board at LACMA, says the new building is part of LACMA’s “Transformation,” a three-part plan to improve and advance the museum in hopes of making LACMA a landmark location in Los Angeles.
“When the train gets here in another couple of years, it will be a very easy accessible way to come here from all parts of Southern California. Our dream is to make this the town square of Los Angeles.” Semel said.
LACMA has raised over $320 million overall in their recent “Transformation” campaign.
Govan states “The idea is to establish this place as a gathering space for Los Angeles.”
“We want to continue this master plan, which hopefully in our lifetime, will be realized,” LA county supervisor, Zev Yaroslavsky states.
Lynda believes the new exhibition building is a great addition to LACMA’s “Transformation” project.
“Michael and others call this the town square of the city but I believe it is our cultural heart,” Lynda stated.
The new building is the largest open-plan museum space in the world.
Designed by Pritzker Prize-winning Italian architect Renzo Piano, the pavilion was designed as a blank canvas to allow the art to stand out.
It features a saw tooth roof that allows natural light to shine through the building and an open floor plan.
“We now have the space to see every must see exhibition, with no permanent interior walls and you’ll see the flexibility of this magnificent building,” Lynda said.
The LACMA magazine states “The Resnick Pavilion is absolute function. It is brutally honest. It has no façade. It is light and air and space.”
Currently on display at the pavilion thanks to the Resnicks are three exhibits, including Eye for the Sensual, Fashioning Fashion, and Olmec: Colossal Masterworks of Ancient Mexico.
To thank the LA community for its continued support, LACMA is opening its doors to the public for free on Oct. 2-3 to debut the opening of the Resnick Pavilion.
Tickets can be reserved online at lacma.org
