Birthday cake, champagne and new art — the Museum of Latin American Art turns 20 this weekend and they’re celebrating in a big way.
The museum celebrates 20 years of serving the greater Los Angeles area with a weekend of birthday festivities, which includes the induction of a new exhibit.
MOLAA at 20: 1996-2016 will be MOLAA’s largest exhibition and will become a part of its permanent collection. Drawing over 1,600 works of art from more than 20 countries—the gallery is designed to not only present what the art museum has accomplished, but also reaffirm that it is here to stay.
“I want to see the look the people on people’s faces when they realize — Wow! MOLAA has been in the community for 20 years,” Edward Hayes, curator of MOLAA’s latest exhibit said. “I want folks to realize, hey, we’re still here. We’re in amazing shape; we just got accredited. We have a lot to celebrate.”
The Museum of Latin American Art was founded in 1996 in Long Beach and serves as the only museum dedicated to modern and contemporary Latino art in the nation.
The new exhibition will be divided into areas showcasing unique traditional and contemporary art. One section will feature a gallery with an abundance of Mexican artistry and another section will be filled with modern photographs spotlighting Latin culture. The remaining sections of the exhibit consist of all things Latin-American, from the values of its people to emotional realities many Latinos face.
One of the realities the exhibit features is immigration from Latin America to the United States.
“There is this focus on immigration. What it’s like to leave Mexico behind, what it’s like to leave Guatemala behind, what it’s like to leave everything behind,” Hayes said. “There are many things immigrants grapple with — in terms of their identity, what it’s like to coming to the U.S. They might’ve been a doctor in Latin America but they have to take on a new identity when they come to the U.S.”
Similar to how Latino immigrants must reinvent themselves when moving into a new country, MOLAA has also undergone serious changes.
The area where MOLAA stands today is filled with history. The first building that stood in the museum’s place was a movie studio pre-dating Hollywood, which later became a roller derby arena and then a senior healthcare service provider before Dr. Robert Gumbiner founded MOLAA in 1996.
Included in the exhibit is a look into the history of the museum and the part of Long Beach in which it stands today. Reinvention is the topic that runs through every part of this new exhibit, according to Hayes.
“This place has been a lot about reinvention — this block, this building. Even the story of our founder is about reinvention,” says Hayes. “He had three careers before he began opening museums. So this is what MOLAA is. It became his biggest project. I want people to be inspired by that.”
The exhibition opening reception will take place Saturday from 7 to 9 p.m. for members only. On Sunday, MOLAA will host its 20th Anniversary Free Family Festival where all are welcome from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.