2008

ELIZABETH GOMEZ

Mother and LACMA Member

BROAD CONTEMPORARY ART MUSEUM

Art has always been important to me. As a lifelong Angeleno, I still remember my first field trip to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) and the emotional connection I felt with the artists and their work. When I became a mother, I knew it was something I wanted to share with my daughters. They’re five and nine years old now, and we’re at LACMA almost every weekend.

There’s always something to explore, from Michael Heizer’s giant rock to the Japanese Pavilion to the classes my nine-year-old is taking in sculpture and bookmaking. Some of the most memorable exhibitions we’ve visited have been in the Broad Contemporary Art Museum (BCAM). I love the building’s red beams and modern design, which make you sit up and pay attention even before you get inside. My girls love playing inside its Richard Serra sculpture. I think it’s fantastic that The Broad Foundation created this space for cutting-edge art to make LACMA even stronger.

My daughters’ favorite artwork at LACMA is Chris Burden’s Metropolis II (2010), the sculpture of an urban center teeming with speeding toy vehicles. It’s tucked in the back of BCAM, and there are always a ton of families and kids there. My girls have seen it a million times but always insist on going back each time we’re there. They walk all around it, look down on it from the catwalk above; they even want to go inside it, but of course we explain that they can’t. I think it’s had a big influence on their creativity. When they’re playing at home, my five-year-old will build little structures in the backyard that seem inspired by the sculpture.

I grew up in Gardena in a family of four siblings; my parents had to work a lot, and we didn’t have all the resources that I know how to access now for my daughters, like LACMA’s free membership for kids called NexGen. Even though we live all the way in Downey, I help coordinate visits to LACMA for my daughters’ schools. I think it’s important to expose kids and families—especially those who can’t drive all the way across town on their day off—to the rich cultural experiences at LACMA and spectacular exhibitions at BCAM. If anyone’s not sure about going, or if it’s their first time, I always tell them, “It’s amazing, you must go.” You might not think that going to a museum and looking at some artwork will impact your life, but it does. I’ve watched it happen for my daughters.