Three of Los Angeles’s most closely watched art museums—the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (Lacma), the Museum of Contemporary Art (Moca) and the Hammer Museum—have formed a partnership to jointly acquire 260 works from the collection of the local philanthropists Jarl and Pamela Mohn. The jointly managed collection, dubbed Mac3, also includes 80 pieces the Hammer has acquired from past editions of its Made in LA biennial, plus another 16 works from the most recent edition, bringing the shared collection to a total of 356 pieces.
The Mohns’ collection, most of which they acquired over the past 19 years, comprises sculptures, paintings, photographs and mixed-media works by artists who are or were based in Los Angeles, including Diedrick Brackens, Karon Davis, rafa esparza, Samara Golden, Sayre Gomez, Mark Grotjahn, Lauren Halsey, Luchita Hurtado, Arthur Jafa, Tala Madani, Rodney McMillian, Cauleen Smith, Martine Syms, Kandis Williams, Brenna Youngblood and others. The Mohns have also been major supporters of the Hammer’s Made in LA biennial since its inaugural edition in 2012; its trio of prizes are named in their honour.
Guadalupe Rosales, smok’d, 2022 Courtesy of the artist and Commonwealth and Council; Photo: Paul Salveson
“Pamela and I are ecstatic to make this gift, not only to make these outstanding artworks by Los Angeles artists available to the public, but to do it in such a way as to foster collaboration among three of the city’s most extraordinary museums in the spirit of this tight-knit community of artists,” Jarl Mohn, a former president and chief executive at NPR and previously an executive at MTV and VH1, said in a statement. The Mohns are also supporters of several of Los Angeles’s smaller art institutions, including the Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles Nomadic Division and The Brick (formerly LAXART).
“Jarl and Pamela Mohn’s passion and generosity for the artists of Los Angeles is simply unparalleled,” Ann Philbin, the Hammer’s outgoing director, said in a statement. She added that “they have made a gift of their collection, as well as the resources for it to grow, as one more example of their commitment to Los Angeles artists in the form of this unprecedented collaboration between three great LA museums”.
Arthur Jafa, Bloods II, 2020 © Arthur Jafa; Courtesy of the artist and Gladstone Gallery
The three museums will be able to add to this shared collection of works by Los Angeles artists annually thanks to the Mohns’ gift, and every other year acquisitions from the concurrent edition of Made in LA will further add to the Mac3 collection. Works held jointly will also be made available for loans to institutions around the world.
“The collection reflects the dynamic creativity and innovation that define our city,” Johanna Burton, Moca’s director, said in a statement. “And this collaboration allows us to come together to continue supporting and showcasing the incredible talent within our local arts.”
Each of the three museums has partnered with the other two on previous acquisitions, though not as a triumvirate. Lacma and Moca jointly acquired Hell Gate (1998) by Chris Burden in 2007, for instance, and Moca and the Hammer jointly acquired Hito Steyerl’s 2015 video installation Factory of the Sun in 2017.