LACMA and mass transit

Measure R on today's ballot is the proposed half-cent rise in the sales tax to fund public transportation projects around the county. (It needs a hefty two-thirds of the vote to pass.) Bottleneck, our sister blog that charts the ebb and flow (but mostly ebb) of L.A. traffic, noted last week that $900,000 in support of Measure R had come from the folks over at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Presumably, the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue, where LACMA holds forth, would be ripe for a transit station for any subway-to-the-sea.

It's unusual, but not unheard of, for an art museum to fund a political campaign. In this instance the funds have not come from the county -- which would clearly be a problem -- but from Museum Associates, the private not-for-profit organization that operates LACMA. (Life trustee Eli Broad is also a Measure R supporter.) Having a subway stop out front would obviously be a direct benefit to the museum.

But mass transit is also a larger cultural issue. Last spring, Calendar published a round-table discussion with Times editors and writers and leaders of five major cultural organizations in the city. Here's the relevant part of that wide-ranging disucssion:

Q: What's the role of transportation when you are talking about serving the greater community?

Placido Domingo (L.A. Opera): When people want to go to places, they will go. It is very sad that every performance has to start in the rush hour. So it's hard for people. I really feel a lot of admiration for people who have been working all day, and then they have to start driving at 5:30, and they hardly make it at 8 o'clock to come here to the Philharmonic or to the opera, to the arts. I think this is amazing. This is one of the problems we have downtown, that would be fantastic to have transportation.

Deborah Borda (L.A. Philharmonic): Yes, the subway, the subway.

Michael Govan (LACMA): The subway.

Govan, LACMA's director, did also express one important caveat, alluded to by Domingo. Earlier in the discussion, he noted that wanting to go somewhere is a separate matter from being able to:

Govan: People talk about transportation, and they say, "Oh, no one can get here. That's why the attendance is so low." And I say, "How come, like, 13 million people a year go to the Grove, the shopping mall two blocks away [from LACMA]?" So it cannot be transportation. That can't be the issue, there has to be another issue. Maybe you have to restructure the experience in a different way.

I'm torn. If there were a subway stop at LACMA, I'd use it. But there are lots of productive ways for an art museum to spend nearly a million bucks. Should Measure R be a priority?

--Christopher Knight

Photos: Luis Sinco /Los Angeles Times; Mel Melcon /Los Angeles Times

Comments

[Brigham Yen]

Yes, absolutely Measure R was rightfully funded by LACMA to improve mass transit in LA. It's not just about people attending an event. It's about millions of people going to a random million different "events" throughout the city that creates the wonderful streets filled with pedestrians, which gives a city LIFE and PRESTIGE and RESPECT. Public transportation is absolutely necessary for great public spaces integrated with a great city. Without public transportation, a big city like LA can never be considered world-class.

[Judith Sobol]

The reasons why art museums are important is that they hone our visual and cultural acuity. They make us aware of people and places that are outside our ordinary realms of experience. They make us know ourselves better by how we react to opportunities they present. Where these reasons overlap with civic opportunities, museums have a civic obligation to speak up. Better public transportation in Los Angeles is such an opportunity. I applaud the support the LACMA private group gave to Measure R.