LACMA's New Director Calls the Museum "A Sleeping Giant"

Michael Govan

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art's new director Michael Govan called the museum "a sleeping giant" in the Los Angeles Times.

After a period of intense recruitment, which included a phone call from Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Michael Govan signed on last week.

In LACMA's official press release Michael Govan expressed:
“I am so honored to lead LACMA at this great time of transformation. Tremendous opportunities exist to build upon the successes of the past four decades."

"Already, LACMA plays an important role in the region’s unique and vibrant communities. Many extraordinary artists are based here. They are both members of the larger community and great resources for it. I champion their deeper involvement with the museum. Working with them, and others, we’ll make it possible for our visitors—from the region or from around the world—to experience art in fantastic new ways.”


LACMA Underground

Christopher Knight in today's Los Angeles Times sees the addition of Govan as a bid to position LACMA "as the only major encyclopedic art museum in the United States to make a full commitment to contemporary art."

Knight goes on to explain that the quality of LACMA's diverse collections is "far better than is usually acknowledged. But because the museum has been without effective artistic leadership since the departure of Earl A. Powell III in 1992 — an extraordinarily long time — the depth and breadth of those collections might be the museum's best-kept secret."



More on LACMA's new director:
Artblogging L.A. on Michael Govan