Collectors Committee

Each spring, the Collectors Committee assembles to acquire major works of art proposed by LACMA curators for the permanent collection. This distinguished group of donors gathers for a weekend full of art, food, and wine, culminating in the Collectors Committee Gala where members vote on which artworks will join the collection.

Since the first Collectors Committee in 1986, the event has made more than 230 acquisitions for every area of LACMA’s collection. These include important artworks by George Bellows, Dorothea Lange, Glenn Ligon, Christian Marclay, Agnes Martin, Roberto Matta, and Pablo Picasso, as well as masterpieces of African, colonial and modern Latin American, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean art. In the last ten years, the Collectors Committee has made significant additions to LACMA’s collection of contemporary art of the Middle East, and acquired major works by Ruth Asawa, Beauford Delaney, Luchita Hurtado, Julie Mehretu, Betye Saar, Jesús Rafael Soto, Antonio de Torres, and Anne Truitt. Learn more about the most recent Collectors Committee acquisitions on Unframed.

Collectors Committee members begin the weekend at one of several private dinners in the homes of LACMA trustees and patrons, prepared by celebrity chefs and paired with wines from renowned vintners. Past chefs have included Josiah Citrin (Mélisse), Cassidee Dabney (The Barn at Blackberry Farm), Timothy Hollingsworth (Otium), Christopher Kostow (The Restaurant at Meadowood), Ori Menashe and Genevieve Gergis (Bestia), Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo (Jon & Vinny’s), Gregorio Stephenson (Nobu Malibu) and many others. Past vintners have included Colgin Cellars, Accendo Cellars, BOND, Harlan Estates, Screaming Eagle, Spottswoode Estate Vineyard & Winery, Vérité Winery & Estate, and more.  

The following day, members attend a private viewing and curator presentations on the artworks proposed for acquisition at LACMA. At the Collectors Committee Gala that evening, members vote on which artworks will be acquired with funds pooled from membership dues, a live auction held at the gala, and any additional funds members wish to contribute.

Collectors Committee memberships are available at $17,500, $35,000, and $75,000 levels. Join now or contact collectorscommittee@lacma.org for further information.