Hammer Museum acquires ‘Three Weeks in May’ by Suzanne Lacy

“Three Weeks in May,” the famous 1977 work by artist-activist Suzanne Lacy that mapped rape cases across Southern California, will now have a permanent home at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles.

The Hammer said Wednesday it has acquired the piece, which Lacy created with artist Leslie Labowitz over a three-week period in 1977 near L.A.’s City Hall. The museum said the piece was purchased through its acquisition fund.

Lacy created “Three Weeks in May” to raise awareness of rape cases. The artist updated the map with reports from the L.A. Police Department, printing the word “rape” on spots on a map of the greater L.A. area. The work was recently featured in the exhibition “Under the Big Black Sun” at the Museum of Contemporary Art.

Paul Schimmel, who curated the exhibition, told The Times last year that he had wanted to acquire the piece for MOCA but the money was not available.

This year, Lacy undertook a sequel of sorts to the 1977 project. “Three Weeks in January” took place near LAPD headquarters downtown and featured a similar map to the one created 35 years ago.

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