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The museum has gained a reputation for celebrating Black artists and working-class communities over the past decade, but is now pausing that work. this Underground Museum Los Angeles unexpectedly announced it is closing this week until further notice.
Nearly a decade after the beloved cultural organization began, it has grown to become one of the nation’s premier Black arts venues, its two directors split, and the Arlington Heights location shuttered. The decision was announced Tuesday by sculptor Karon Davis, one of the museum’s founders. He posted his message on Instagram. “We have no answers at this time,” he wrote in his letter, which was later posted on the museum’s website.
It was unclear from Davis’ message when the Underground Museum would reopen or how the sudden closure would affect the staff and board of trustees. Davis declined to comment through his Los Angeles dealer, Wilding Cran Gallery.
The museum had recently returned from a two-year pandemic period, an uncertain period when the organization hired Meg Onli of the Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia to be its curator and one of its two directors, alongside director Cristina Pacheco.
“Noah’s way of performing was in line with mine, big, bold and non-constraining demonstrations,” Onli said. meeting with The New York Times last year. “What Noah did was take a really Black lens, not just in Black art, but in all kinds of different art.”
Onli and Pacheco did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
In 2012, Davis started the museum with his wife, painter Noah Davis. died in 2015 one rare cancer He was 32 years old and the Underground Museum became a vehicle for his legacy. The curators are working on a list of 18 curatorial proposals that Noah Davis prepared before his death. Lorna Simpson, William Kentridge and Deana Lawson.
Even if the museum’s reputation exceeded its limits size and modest budgetThe staff remained committed to serving working-class neighborhoods through community events, poetry readings, yoga classes, and film screenings. Some businesses nearby attributed An increase in local tourism and restaurant sales to the museum’s popularity.
The attention, however, may have been more than the guards of the Underground Museum could handle.
“As soon as Noah passed, each of us immediately jumped into the job of running the museum to realize his vision,” Ms Davis said in her message. “As a result, we were unable to mourn his loss privately or take the time he needed to recover.”
Ms Davis noted in her Instagram post that it was difficult to let someone else run the museum, especially after pictures of her husband returned. Viewing underground this year. “It’s clear how difficult it was for our family to let Meg and Cristina go long enough to let them do their jobs. They were phenomenal and we are so grateful for the work they’ve done with us.”
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