LOS ANGELES—The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) and the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center (CSRC) have joined forces to launch a Latino Arts Initiative. The collaborative effort capitalizes on the strengths of both institutions to create a greater understanding of Chicano and Latino arts and cultures for the wider public. A reception, with interview opportunities, is scheduled from 6-8 pm on Wednesday, October 27, in LACMA West.

The initiative starts with a five-year agreement between LACMA and CSRC that includes development of exhibitions, publications, educational activities, research projects, artistic collections, and community relations.

“We are taking a comprehensive and collaborative approach,” said President and Director Andrea L. Rich. As the premier encyclopedic visual arts museum in the western United States, LACMA is dedicated to presenting outstanding artwork from all time periods and cultures. “LACMA is an institution that takes very seriously its role in a diverse community,” added Rich.

The initiative has been set in motion with the appointment of Chon Noriega, Director CRSC, as Adjunct Curator of Chicano and Latino Art in the Center for the Art of the Americas, at LACMA. Dr. Noriega has played a pivotal role nationally in scholarly research focused on Chicano-Latino visual and performing arts and artists. He has published numerous books and essays on the subject and has been active locally in establishing artistic partnerships with the Chicano-Latino community. Dr. Noriega serves on the Los Angeles Mayor’s Council for the Arts as well as an ad-hoc advisor for Latino arts organizations in Los Angeles. “We look forward to the impact Dr. Noriega’s wealth of knowledge of both the community and the field of Chicano art will have at LACMA,” said Rich.

“What is most exciting about this initiative,” said Noriega, “is that it places Chicano-Latino art in an encyclopedic context of world art. LACMA's Center for Art of the Americas provides a natural starting point to explore Chicano-Latino art within a hemispheric context that includes U.S. and Latin American art.”

LACMA is building on its established Latin American Initiative by extending its programs and acquisitions to address the Chicano Latino communities in Los Angeles. “This alliance with the UCLA CSRC is part of a 5-year plan to ensure that Chicano and Latino art play a consistent role in our encyclopedic program. It looks ahead to the next five years and beyond,” said Rich.

Seven years ago, LACMA announced the acquisition of the Bernard and Edith Lewin Collection of Mexican American Art. Since then, LACMA has worked strategically to develop a program that brings Latin American art to Los Angeles. Earlier steps in presenting a consolidated program include installations from LACMA’s permanent collection of pre-Columbian art and Latin-American Modernism, along with special exhibitions Diego Rivera; Road to Aztlan: Art from a Mythic Homeland; Inventing Race: Casta Painting and Eighteenth-Century Mexico; and the upcoming Lords of Creation: The Origins of Sacred Maya Kingship. A staff comprised of Virginia Fields, curator of pre-Columbian art; Ilona Katzew, associate curator of Latin American art; and Rita Gonzalez, assistant curator, manage the collection and program under the umbrella of the Center for the Art of the Americas.

The UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center was founded in 1969. It has become one of the leading research centers for Chicano and Latino art and culture. The Center plays a critical role in the development of scholarly research and community partnerships with respect to the Chicano-Latino population—now the largest minority in the United States and a group with disproportionately low levels of access to higher education. UCLA CSRC currently produces monograph series on important artists, as well as sponsoring summits, fellowships and residencies in the visual and performing arts. With the LACMA alliance, CSRC has established a broader platform to increase access to its innovative program.

On the Horizon
The Latin American and Latino Arts Initiatives include several efforts already underway:

• In September 2005, LACMA will present Lords of Creation: The Origins of Sacred Maya Kingship organized by LACMA curator Virginia Fields. Lords of Creation: The Origins of Sacred Maya Kingship explores the development of divine kings and their roles in the emergence of complex urban society 2,000 years ago in the Maya region.
   

• LACMA continues to foster long term planning relationships with the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City, Mexico’s Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores, and the Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes. Guided by these state agencies, LACMA has approached several public and private institutions in Mexico to form collaborative programs. In the near future, LACMA will host a group of Mexican museum officials at a Los Angeles seminar on exhibition development as well as send LACMA education and marketing staff to Mexico for consultation.
   

• In 2008, LACMA will present Remix: Today's Chicano Art (working title) organized by LACMA curators Howard Fox, Chon Noriega and Rita Gonzalez. The exhibition and its catalogue will be co-produced by LACMA and UCLA's Chicano Studies Research Center. Remix will comprise work by Chicano artists in all of today's media, including painting, sculpture, installation, conceptual, video, and performance art, as well as inter-media works that incorporate film, digital, and sound art.
   

• Working with LACMA curators, actor and collector Cheech Marin will loan highlights from his personal collection of Chicano art to a unique exhibit which will be part of a series of exhibitions of Chicano art at LACMA.
   

• LACMA will continue its efforts with other local institutions which promote Latino and Latin American art. For example, LACMA has committed its resources and expertise to support La Plaza de Cultura y Arte, a Mexican-American cultural center in downtown Los Angeles. Under the directorship of Jonathan Yorba, the Center is expected to open in 2007 and will include performance, gallery, and entertainment space.
  
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