The Fine Arts Can Draw In Citizens of Indifference : A Resilient L.A. and Its Arts Benefit Each Other

As Los Angeles continues to dig itself out from the Jan. 17 earthquake, this latest in an apparently endless series of calamities, we again confront the question: Can the arts help to heal L.A.? Or, as Times Art Critic Christopher Knight put it (Calendar, Jan. 17), “Can L.A. Help Heal the Arts?”

I submit that the answer to both questions is a resounding “Yes!” Despite a series of disasters that would have forced most communities to their knees, the residents of Los Angeles County are demonstrating an impressive and resourceful resilience. And nowhere has this been more true than in their renewed commitment to supporting the arts.

Throughout history, the power of artistic expression has nourished the spirit, illuminated the human condition, exalted our creativity, bound together communities and helped build mighty civilizations. Even in troubled times--especially in troubled times--we must maintain our support for the arts.

Within days of the earthquake itself, for example, the County of Los Angeles resolved a longstanding funding dispute with Museum Associates, the private, nonprofit support group formed to manage the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, which will pave the way for an aggressive new expansion program to revitalize Wilshire Boulevard’s Miracle Mile as a new Miracle Mile and Museum District.

The County and the Museum Associates have enjoyed a long and close cooperative relationship, wherein the county donated public land and agreed to maintain and operate an art museum, while the associates agreed to raise funds to build facilities and acquire artworks to display. This model public-private partnership has established a museum of world-class stature and prestige.

This once-harmonious arrangement has been sorely tested by the lingering recession and related county budget woes. But, as the proverb says, in crisis there is also opportunity, and we have seized it. When the chance arose to purchase and preserve the classic Streamline Moderne May Co. property adjacent to the museum, I was able to bring the parties together and mediate a resolution of the ongoing funding dispute aimed at ensuring a measure of stability in museum funding.

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This agreement made it possible for the county to assist in the purchase of the May Co. on favorable terms for the museum with no cost to the taxpayers.

The resulting expanded County Art Museum will eventually join the Natural History Museum’s soon-to-open Peterson Automotive Museum (formerly Ohrbach’s, directly across Wilshire Boulevard), its George C. Page Museum at the La Brea Tar Pits, and the Craft and Folk Art Museum in reinvigorating L.A.’s Miracle Mile as a premier museum destination.

Our cultural attractions enrich the lives and ennoble the spirits of millions of residents and visitors annually. I do no disservice to our arts community in asserting that they are also important and valued contributors to our local economy.

As I’ve noted before, unless we maintain and improve our arts institutions and cherish the civilizing contributions they make to our quality of life, there is little reason for many people to come to and remain living in Los Angeles County.

Knight notwithstanding, we should support art for art’s sake, as well as for our sake.