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Both the Autry's and the Huntington's semiquincentennial shows defy Trumpian whitewashing of history. Visitors taking the Autry poll have just been exposed to material on gunslinger lawlessness in 19th century Los Angeles (nicknamed the City of Demons, irony intended); the Chinese Massacre of 1871, which set a record (since exceeded) for a mass lynching; the 1931 raids on Mexican Americans, intended to send them back to Mexico so that native Americans (not that kind) could get jobs; the Zoot Suit riots; insurance redlining of Black L.A.; FDR's executive order incarcerating Japanese-Americans. The order was supported by L.A. mayor Fletcher Bowron.
It's not all about the dark side. Another hands-on display lets visitors tune into vintage drive-time radio. That includes filmmaker David Lynch's chatty weather reports for KCRW.
"Life, Liberty, and Los Angeles" is at the Autry through Jan. 31, 2027.
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> recent news coverage
> might lead you to
> expect.
When browsing the web for more information about the Lucas Museum, this caught my eye:
Joseph Khan, Hollywood Reporter:
If Paramount–Warner Bros. leaves L.A., it’ll be game over for Hollywood. But David Ellison’s newly merged studios will be fine. Better than fine. Nobody in Burbank actually likes Burbank anyway.
However, for L.A., it’d be a death blow. The infrastructure is already suffering with vendors going out of business and crew members quitting. If Paramount-Warners leaves, the built-in advantage of being a mecca for filmmakers with access to top talent, props and equipment disintegrates overnight. Studio stockpiles of props, wardrobe, cranes and cameras can truck over to Nashville or Austin. Crews can suddenly live in lower-cost states and afford homes and schools for their kids.
California already lost Tesla and SpaceX to Texas. McKesson, Oracle, Chevron, Charles Schwab, CBRE, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, AECOM, Public Storage. Palantir went to Denver. Yamaha left for Georgia. The fucking owner of In-N-Out now lives in Tennessee. When politicians treat business as the enemy, the question isn’t why Paramount would leave. It’s why would they stay. [End quote]
The development of the AMPAS Museum (after decades of no activity), and the Lucas Museum coincides with one of LA's signature industries increasingly saying farewell.
The most popular movie in the world right now wasn't made in LA but in Europe. I believe a majority of TV shows (or cable, streaming, online) are no longer produced in LA either.
Meanwhile, when the movie-TV business was bigger in LA, LACMA was experiencing its years of Brown/Donahue/Powell/Rich. Not sure if Govan is the flip side of that or parallel with current trends.
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The area around the sculpture seems excessive. And the Indiana-Jones figure isn't to the Lucas what the Mona Lisa is to the Louvre.
But a museum also won't want to give off the look of a cluttered attic or storeroom, However, a lot of blank space does give the vague impression a museum doesn't have enough items to exhibit. The Lucas has hallways in particular where even a banner or sign on a wall would be better than nothing.
LACMA has some artworks (both paintings and sculpture) that should be taken out of storage but aren't. In turn, the connoisseur (with his or her nose in the air) will say the Lucas has items on display better kept in storage.
Either way, too many blank spaces make a museum look like it's struggling to fill its square footage.