LACMA’s New David Geffen Galleries Are Finally Here
After nearly two decades of planning, fundraising, demolition, construction, and more than a few heated arguments about whether any of it was a good idea, LACMA’s David Geffen Galleries open to the public on April 19. The 100,000-square-foot building designed by Pritzker Prize–winning architect Peter Zumthor stretches 900 feet across Wilshire Boulevard, and it might be the most significant new cultural building Los Angeles has seen in a generation.
We’ve been watching the construction from the 10 freeway for what feels like our entire adult lives. The cranes are finally gone. The scaffolding is down. And what’s left is a building that looks like it was poured from a single piece of concrete and glass — hovering above the Miracle Mile like a bridge between Wilshire’s past and whatever comes next.
“LACMA didn’t just build a new museum. It built the argument that Los Angeles is an art city, not a city that happens to have art.”
What’s Inside
The inaugural installation spans 26 galleries arranged on a single level — no stairs, no confusing wayfinding, just one continuous path through 5,000 years of art. The collection has been reinstalled to encourage movement across cultures and time periods, meaning you might walk from ancient Egyptian sculpture directly into a room of contemporary photography. It’s the kind of curatorial choice that either excites you or drives you crazy, and we think it’s brilliant.
The natural light alone is worth the trip. Zumthor designed the galleries with skylights and glass walls that pull in Southern California daylight without the glare. The art isn’t fighting the architecture for attention — the building recedes, the work breathes, and you find yourself standing in front of pieces you’ve seen dozens of times feeling like you’re seeing them for the first time.
How to Visit
Here’s the timeline: April 19 through May 3 is members-only access. If you’re a LACMA member, you’re in immediately. If you’re not, memberships start at $75 for individuals and $125 for households — and honestly, this is the year to pull the trigger. The grand public opening begins in early May, and if you thought LACMA was crowded during the Urban Light era, you haven’t seen anything yet.
On May 3, LACMA is hosting a free day for NexGenLA members — that’s their free youth membership for LA County residents 17 and under. If you’ve got kids and haven’t signed them up yet, now’s the time.
Why This Matters for the Westside
We already had the Hammer, the Getty, the Broad, Hauser & Wirth in the Arts District. But LACMA has always been the Westside’s museum — the one you drove past on Wilshire, the one with the lamppost installation that launched a million Instagram posts, the one where you took out-of-town visitors when they asked what to do. The Geffen Galleries don’t just reopen LACMA. They reposition it as one of the most important museums in the country, and they do it ten minutes from the beach.
On April 22, Zumthor himself will be in conversation with LACMA director Michael Govan on the East West Bank Commons. If you care about architecture, design, or just want to hear two people who spent 20 years building something talk about what it meant, this is the event to attend.
