Downtown LA has a new museum on the horizon

2016-07-01T17:16:00-04:00

It may not seem as if downtown Los Angeles is in need of yet another arts space. But it is coming nonetheless — and it’s aiming to fill a more locally minded role than some of the institutions around it. The Main Museum will be a non-collecting institution housed in a series of historic early 20th century structures in the Old Bank District. Helmed by Allison Agsten, who previously served as the curator of public engagement at the Hammer Museum, the curatorial focus will be resolutely local.

The Main Museum is being designed by Tom Wiscombe Architecture and will have some 40,000 sq. ft. of exhibition space. There will also be a rooftop sculpture garden and amphitheater.

The opening is still a way off though: the ground floor spaces are expected to open in 2018 an the rooftop should be finished in 2020.

For more on the Main Museum and Tom Wiscombe Architecture, check out these links:

Take a peek at Tom Wiscombe's "underground" Old Bank District Museum scheme for L.A.

2015-03-09T15:19:00-04:00

The Broad Museum might not be the only new museum to be built in Downtown Los Angeles. Announced last year, L.A. property developer Tom Gilmore and Tom Wiscombe seem to be making progress towards the Old Bank District Museum, a new contemporary art and design museum that will house the works of locally based artists. Located in the Old Bank District, the OBDM will interweave through three interconnected buildings along Main and Fourth Streets: the Bank House Garage, the Farmers and Merchants Bank, and the Hellman Building.

According to previous reports, Gilmore and his business partner Jerri Perrone will fund the initial construction, and start construction documents by this year. Completion of the project is currently slated for 2017.

Read on for more project info we received from Tom Wiscombe:

"The OBDM is a contemporary art and design museum located in the heart of the Old Bank District of Downtown Los Angeles. The project is part adaptive re-use and part new construction, capitali...

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Downtown LA has a new museum on the horizon

Take a peek at Tom Wiscombe's "underground" Old Bank District Museum scheme for L.A.