Hidden Treasure

‘Two things have amazed me since I’ve come here,” said Duane H. King, who became director of the Southwest Museum in October. “One is people who have lived here for a long time but have come to the Southwest Museum for the first time. When they see the exhibits, it’s as if someone just turned on a light. They seem so pleased that a museum of this quality is so close by and so surprised that they are just now discovering it. The other is people who came here as children and are astonished that it’s still here after all these years.”

If longevity and collections equaled fame, the Southwest Museum would be Los Angeles’ best-known visual arts attraction. Founded in 1907 and opened at its present site in Highland Park in 1914, the Southwest is not only the city’s oldest museum, it claims one of the nation’s top holdings of Native American art and artifacts, and the world’s most extensive collection of Native American textiles. The combined riches of the museum and its Braun Research and Joseph Amasa Munk libraries--including some 50,000 books plus vast troves of photographs, maps and documents--make the Southwest the world’s largest repository of California Indian culture.

Yet the venerable institution is in a perpetual state of discovery, particularly at home. “Los Angeles’ best-kept secret” is how the museum’s trustees describe it, and the cliche sticks because it seems to fit.

So what’s the problem? An off-the-beaten-track location, inadequate facilities and a chronic shortage of money.

Although perched on a pinnacle overlooking the Pasadena Freeway and quite centrally located, the Southwest is far enough from other major cultural attractions to seem remote. The museum’s distinctive Spanish-style building is a beloved relic, but it’s antiquated and ill-suited to a modern museum’s needs. Display areas are so limited that 98% of the 250,000-piece collection is kept in storage (much of it off-site); lacking an auditorium and classrooms, the museum must use overtaxed galleries for special programs; offices and work areas are rudimentary; and parking is inadequate. Completely dependent on private funds, the museum functions on an annual operating budget of $1.3 million and never seems to get beyond providing for its day-to-day survival.

None of these problems are new--nor are efforts to solve them.

Former Southwest Museum Director Thomas H. Wilson and the trustees considered 80 proposals to move the museum in 1992-94, during a period of exploring options to enhance the facilities and reach a larger audience. Under pressure from Mayor Richard Riordan, among others, they decided to stay put and expand on the present site. But Riordan’s promise of a blue-ribbon committee to spearhead the renovation and expansion never materialized, and Wilson resigned at the end of 1994, citing family commitments and professional frustration. Upon his departure, the museum appeared to settle back into a familiar state of limbo.

But now, once again, the Southwest seems to be on the move. The museum on May 18 reopened its historic tunnel entrance, containing 20 dioramas of Indian life made in 1921-43. And a new elevator has replaced the defunct 1919 model. Instead of driving or walking to the top of the hill, visitors can enter the museum through the street-level tunnel and take the elevator to the main floors, where two new exhibitions are on view.

One show, “Tunneling to the Acropolis,” consists of historic photographs and drawings of the tunnel and dioramas. The other, “Gifts of Power,” presents Native American art and artifacts from the plains, prairie and plateau regions. Conceived by chief curator Kathleen Whitaker, it addresses communal relationships and includes items that appeal to children.

More is going on behind the scenes. A renovation of the Plains Hall, where “Gifts of Power” is installed, is expected to begin next year. And--probably most important in the long run--a search is underway to find a high-visibility satellite site for the museum to stage exhibitions, make better use of its collection and raise its profile.

Behind all this action is King, 48, who left the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian in New York, where he was assistant director, to take on the Southwest’s challenges. Soft-spoken and reserved almost to the point of reticence, he nonetheless inspires confidence with a rock-solid presence as he conveys a strong belief in the museum’s historic importance and its potential.

“The big push right now is strategic planning to make sure there is a bright future for a museum that has a very proud past,” he said, during a conversation in his office. “Without a doubt, we have to reach a broader audience. One way to do it is to bring more people here. The other way is to find another location that appeals to casual visitors. We are looking for a site that would provide synergy with other attractions, primarily museums that have similar appeal. Any site close to another museum is a likely candidate, but we also are considering sites that don’t have museums next door but have other [attractive features] on major traffic arteries.”

Once a location is found, it will be necessary to “plan a facility that is appropriate for the site and put together a funding package to turn that into a reality,” he said. “We are probably looking at a three- to five-year project, at a cost of $12 million to $20 million.”

Another option under consideration, after launching a second site in Los Angeles, is to establish a satellite farther afield, he said. “One possibility is in Santa Barbara, where they are planning to build an aquarium and have two museums next to it. One of those spaces is reserved for the Southwest Museum. Feasibility studies indicate it would draw over 800,000 visitors a year, but that is probably at least five or 10 years down the road.”

In the meantime, life goes on at the Southwest’s historic home. “We have a very strong commitment to this site and this building, so even when we find another exhibition facility, we will retain this building as the corporate headquarters, the research branch and the library. We are only planning to develop exhibitions elsewhere,” King said.

Reopening the tunnel and installing the new elevator--a $300,000 project--reflects the board’s intention to maintain and improve the existing building, he said. And he’s hoping the change will bring a 20% to 30% jump in annual attendance, which stands at about 70,000. Nostalgia may entice return visitors who remember going through the tunnel as children, he said, but that wasn’t the primary reason for restoring the old entrance.

“We haven’t allowed buses to come up the hill because of the [narrow, winding] driveway, so the only groups we have been getting since the elevator closed have been from schools. About 45,000 schoolchildren visit each year, but not too many senior citizens and adults. With the reopening of the tunnel and elevator, we should see an increase in the attendance of older groups,” King said.

The museum will also launch a drive to boost its membership from 26,000 to around 30,000 within a couple of years. “But I think that growth would be directly related to what we are able to offer,” he said. And it’s only an interim goal. To be more or less self-supporting, the museum and its satellites ultimately must attract several hundred thousand visitors a year. Even then, fund-raising efforts would still be needed, he said.

King and the Southwest trustees have their work cut out for them in a metropolis where most museums struggle for economic vitality but several have larger audiences. UCLA’s Fowler Museum of Cultural History--which appeals to a similar crowd--drew 140,000 during the past year. The much larger Los Angeles County Museum of Art had 672,190 visitors in 1995, while the more specialized Museum of Contemporary Art attracted 295,000 in the same period.

The ambitions of the Southwest’s leaders are fueled by a desire to cultivate a major cultural resource. “The Southwest Museum has one of the top collections of Native American material in existence,” King said. “It is very important to Los Angeles because there are very few other museums with collections that can compare to ours.”

Those that are in the same league have a distinct advantage. “If you look at the four other major collections [of Native American material] in the United States, they are all east of the Mississippi and they are all government-supported museums,” he said, referring to the National Museum of the American Indian and the American Museum of Natural History in New York, the National Museum of Natural History in Washington and the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. “The Southwest Museum is the only one of the top five that is a private institution.” About half the museum’s $1.3-million annual operating budget is derived from gifts; the rest comes from gift shop sales, memberships and admissions.

But if the Southwest must raise its funds privately in a town that is largely unaware of its existence, King appears undaunted. “I am very encouraged by the people who are associated with the museum and committed to it,” he said. “We have a dedicated board of trustees, a hard-working staff who are willing to spend their off-time at the museum, a very enthusiastic group of volunteers and a loyal membership. So many people care so passionately and deeply about the museum that it’s easy to be optimistic about the future.”

Museum activities seem to support his view. “Spirit of ‘96,” a fund-raising gala held on April 27 at the Beverly Hills Hotel, grossed $131,000 for the annual operating fund. The guest of honor was television mogul Ted Turner, who received the museum’s Corporate Cultural Award for a series of programs on Native Americans, produced by the Turner Broadcasting System, and special reports on CNN that have enhanced public understanding of Native American history and culture.

The museum’s mid-May opening of the tunnel and elevator brought crowds of well-wishers, curious first-timers and politicians. Among long-lost associates who returned to the museum was Helen Rearwin, who helped build scenes of Indian life for the dioramas during the 1920s. “The dioramas are so old they are artifacts now,” King said. “They have all been conserved and renovated. We have done some modification to the housing of the dioramas to make it easier to get them in and out, but they still have the oak frames around them, so the tunnel still has its historic appearance.”

The museum draws strength from local history and personal connections, King said. One group of volunteers worked feverishly into the wee hours a couple of nights before the tunnel and new exhibitions opened. “I love it here. I do anything the staff needs,” said Pamela Hannah, who was working on labels for the “Tunneling to the Acropolis” show. A civil engineer at Parsons Corp. who has flexible hours, she spends about three-quarters of a day each week at the museum.

Southwest volunteers do “just about everything,” King said. “Children work in the Ethnobotanical Garden. Adults work with the collection, with off-site storage, cataloging artworks, in the library, as aides to the staff. They stuff envelopes, do telephoning and help with special events. One man does nothing but horticulture; he spends a lot of hours planting and pulling up weeds.” Scheduling difficulties are more than offset by the volunteers’ reliability, he said.

Furthermore, King said he has noticed “an increased interest in being volunteers and supporters.” He attributes this to “the enthusiasm and commitment of people already working at the museum,” but also to “the overall economy or a perception of the economy being stable. People are feeling secure and looking for something outside their jobs, a fulfilling avocation or community service.”

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The Southwest Museum, 234 Museum Drive, (213) 221-2164. Hours: Tuesdays-Sundays, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Admission: adults, $5; seniors and students, $3; youths 7-18, $2; children 6 and under, free.