Los Angeles art museum re-launches after recession-era rescue

“MOCA's First Thirty Years” marks the museum's 30th anniversary — a milestone that might not have happened had Eli Broad not come to the rescue. Many U.S. museums have fallen on tough times in the worst economic downturn in decades, some forced to sell works to survive.

“We were among the first institutions to be hit very hard and very early, and we are among the first to be saved in this process,” said MOCA chief curator Paul Schimmel.

Broad, a renowned modern art collector and philanthropist who created KB Home homebuilders, offered US$30 million to get MOCA out of financial straits if others came forward. In just 10 months, an additional US$30 million was raised. “This is the biggest turnaround of any art institution, whether it is performing arts or the visual arts, if you think of all that has happened in the last year,” Broad said Thursday as he admired a 1939 Mondrian, MOCA's earliest work.

Whereas a year ago there was talk that MOCA would be merged with another museum, or even closed, after its budget went well beyond annual income, it has now balanced its budget, eliminated debt and begun the search for a new director.

Ambitious Exhibitions Ahead

Warhol Foundation President Joel Wachs, who sits on MOCA's advisory board, said the comeback, while impressive, is “not yet complete.”

“It can't rest on its laurels and it can't rely on a very few people to rescue it,” said Wachs, adding that MOCA must continue “the kind of exhibitions it has become known for.”

Indeed, MOCA has won national and international praise for its exhibitions of art from around the world, like the recent retrospective of the work of Takashi Murakami.

Broad wants MOCA's own works — including what he calls the best Rothkos of any museum — to be more visible. But he also prizes the exhibition legacy and gave half his gift — US$15 million, or US$3 million a year — to fund exhibitions.

Schimmel, MOCA's chief curator since 1990, said he is working with “smaller budgets and a more restricted financial landscape,” like most art institutions these days.

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