El Segundo's Unmuseum Is Moving to Lawndale

New ESMoA site, 14929 Hawthorne Blvd., Lawndale

ESMoA, the storefront alternative space in El Segundo, is moving to Lawndale. A soft opening is planned for Dec. 2, 2023, with an open house and award ceremony for the annual Video Art and Film Festival. The new address is 14929 Hawthorne Blvd.

Collectors Eva and Brian Sweeney opened the El Segundo Museum of Art in 2013. The semi-facetious name was abbreviated as ESMoA. Early exhibitions often featured works from the Sweeney's wide-ranging collection of art by names famous and obscure. The institution has since collaborated with artists and with other institutions such as the Getty Research Institute, LACMA, the Museum of Latin American Art, and the Wende Museum.

The ESMoA website now expands its acronym as Experimentally Structured Museum of Art. The site says a long-term goal is "curate mobile shows to tour unconventional spaces across LA County."

Running a private museum isn't cheap in money, time, or stress. Witness the sudden closures of the Underground Museum, the Pasadena Museum of California Art, and the Main Museum. ESMoA was never really about El Segundo. It they can make it work in Lawndale or with a succession of pop-ups, all the better.