LOS ANGELES, CA.- Rob Hollman, Board Chair of Save LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art), has announced that the organization successfully filed a ballot measure initiative with the Los Angeles County Clerk’s office, which calls for much greater accountability with museum leadership and the L.A. Board of Supervisors, which has approved a controversial plan to demolish the existing museum complex and replace it with a $750 million building, designed by Swiss architect Peter Zumthor. The filing took place on Tuesday, March 31st.

The measure contains four addendum items for the L.A. County Municipal Code as it relates to LACMA, including allowing public representation on the museum’s private Board of Trustees; limiting the amount of L.A. County funds to 20% of the total estimated and real costs(s) for the museum’s present and future building construction projects; holding an open design competition to be reviewed and approved by both the museum’s board and other design professionals; and prohibiting the sale and/or use of any and all artwork in the museum’s permanent collection. A comprehensive rundown of the four items can be found on the Save LACMA website: ourlacma.org.

Hollman and his organization are particularly concerned that the demolition and other construction activities continue to proceed at LACMA, even amidst the COVID-19 outbreak, which has impacted the city particularly severely.

“L.A. is shut down from the pandemic, but LACMA’s workers are on site,” said Hollman. “Post pandemic, the city will struggle to recover from unprecedented unemployment, displacement of renters and homeowners, and the ongoing issue of homelessness that has plagued L.A. since long before the pandemic took hold. Imagine if that $450 million in funds was applied to our county’s dire needs, instead of to a new museum, one that does not reflect the wishes of the majority of the public.”

Save LACMA was co-founded in July of 2019 by preservationists Kim Cooper, Richard Schave, and Miki Jackson, who is part of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation Healthy Housing Foundation. Images below available in high resolution format.