Neighbors Have Issues With Destination Crenshaw
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| Maren Hassinger, An Object of Curiosity Radiating Love. Destination Crenshaw |
The Los Angeles Times reports that a June 30 community meeting on Destination Crenshaw turned into an airing of grievances. Crenshaw district residents complained that the unfinished "outdoor museum" is an eyesore that has eliminated parking spaces, slowed traffic, and caused cracks in neighboring buildings. Destination Crenshaw representatives did not attend the meeting.
Billed as an open-air museum of Black Los Angeles, Destination Crenshaw was to have opened in February 2024. It didn't, and no revised opening date has been announced.
The project's cost was put at $100 million. Reading between the lines, it appears that construction has been limited by the lack of big-money donors. The project has been more notable for gaining the support of artists. Destination Crenshaw is to include a monumental equestrian statue by Kehinde Wiley and works by Melvin Edwards, Maren Hassinger, John Outterbridge, Alison Saar, and Brenna Youngblood, among many others.
Comments
Improvements to the LA International Airport or things like rapid transit (eg, the subway going by LACMA) have time lines that shoot past their original completion dates by years,
There are frequent reports about how maintenance of public property in various cities in Europe or North America, much less specific ones like San Francisco or LA, has become a game of Whack-a-mole or IDGAF.
A new bridge in downtown LA designed by a major local architect and that is lots of gray concrete (just like the Geffen Galleries), is being hit by constant waves of vandalism and theft---the structure's lighting system's copper wire is being hacked and sold to recycling yards.
As to Destination Crenshaw, never got it. Less so after that Wiley statue was included.
I do find it curious that Cornell West was at the meeting mentioned in the post. He's an interesting thinker. For those who want to understand the American character, con men, and MAGA, I suggest reading West's dialogue "Metaphysics, Money & the Messiah."
--- J. Garcin
I admit I've been a hick. I didn't fully realize until relatively recently just how unsophisticated LACMA really has been and regrettably still is.
As for Cornel West, his judgment, honesty and integrity are really good.
I bet he thinks the Geffen Galleries would look better if they had even more barren concrete walls and even more barren concrete floors, And even more windows too. Lots more windows..And way more skateboarders and bicyclists.
Sooie, sooie.
It seems that news reporters on this story are asking aloud "Where did the money go that has already been pledged to this project?" from this article by Emilie St. John: https://2urbangirls.com/2026/06/tavis-smiley-blasts-100m-destination-crenshaw-art-project/
Tavis Smiley, a local radio and podcast personality has also been critical of the organizination behind Destination Crenshaw.
The LA City Council President and District 8 representative Marqueece Harris-Dawson who did not attend the community meeting centered on the delays, sent an email to help remind the residents that this project will be beneficial for them. However, a local resident said he has never seen this man in the neighborhood.
Many residents are asking for the organizers to be accountable and finish the project. The larger question is where did all the money raised for the project go?
One person to ask might be Jason Foster. "He oversees the organization’s administration, construction efforts, and finances, ensuring that every investment strengthens both the project and the neighborhood it serves".
> might be Jason Foster.
When the Geffen Gallieres were being planned, LACMA's director sure wasn't as transparent as he could have been. Questions of cost, layout and square footage were treated like, "go away, kid, you're bothering me."
If a very large government-supervised project like Zumthor's building (which polled at a lot of public opposition) was full of double talk or runarounds, I doubt smaller projects will be any better.
And in the case of LACMA, it was more ego, hubris and poor judgment than necessarily greed (or pure corruption) that were a factor. But throw in lots of money and, whoa, good luck with that.