Academy Museum of Motion Pictures

Introduction - Academy Museum of Motion Pictures

Motion pictures are our most populist form of visual art and they captivate us in ways no other art form can.

For every generation they are the cultural, social and political diary. They inspire and challenge us to see each other and the world in different and meaningful ways—often crossing ethnic, political, geographic and socioeconomic lines to do so.

And yet, in Los Angeles–the movie making capital of the world–there is no museum dedicated to preserving, presenting, and celebrating this most influential art form... until now.

The Academy Museum will contain over 290,000 square feet of state-of-the-art galleries, exhibition spaces, movie theaters, educational areas, and special event spaces.

The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will be the world's premier museum devoted to exploring and curating the history and future of the moving image.

We wanted to share with you information about the future visitor experience anticipated for our new museum.

The nearly 300,000-square-foot Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will become a significant cultural landmark attracting visitors from across Southern California and around the world.

Among The Museum's Offerings:

-  Interactive family-friendly moviemaking labs, guided discussions and structured seminars on media literacy and industry-wide topics

-  Screenings of works by established and emerging filmmakers

-  Multidisciplinary presentations by artists, craftspeople and technologists illustrating the creative collaborations behind the movies

Designed by architects Renzo Piano and Zoltan Pali, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will be an environmentally sensitive, adaptive reuse of the historic 1939 May Company Building anchoring the west end of the city's Miracle Mile on the campus of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA).

It will feature six levels of exhibition and programming spaces.

Their design for the Academy Museum fully restores the historical Wilshire and Fairfax street-front facades and includes a soaring spherical addition at the northern end of the original building.

Designed to represent the marriage of art and technology, the addition will house the Museum's state-of-the-art premiere-sized theater as well as a spectacular roof terrace with expansive views of the city.

"It is vital for Los Angeles to celebrate and safeguard its architectural heritage, and by pairing the historic May Company Building with modern architecture, both take on new meaning and importance, advancing richness and diversity within the city's cultural landscape."

–Zoltan Pali

The Museum Design Includes:

-  More than 30,000 square feet of flexible exhibition galleries

-  A 15,000-square-foot landscaped public piazza that will serve as a gathering space for visitors and connect the museum with the LACMA campus

-  Special event spaces for groups of up to 1,000 people and a rooftop terrace with views of the Los Angeles basin and Hollywood hills

Slated to open in 2017, the museum will be located on two major bus lines and across the street from the upcoming Metro Purple Line subway station.

Summary - The Museum's Capital Campaign

To date, the museum's capital campaign has raised more than half of its goal of $300 million for building construction and exhibition development. The campaign is chaired by Bob Iger and co-chaired by Annette Bening and Tom Hanks.

For more information and a detailed look at the vision for the future Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, please visit: http://www.oscars.org/academymuseum/