Annual museum attendance in the US is around 850 million, and that number is steadily increasing.

By Julian Lucas

Published 4/27/2023 6:00 AM PST
Illustration Rebecca Ustrell

To many of us museums are impactful, to others not so much, but museums provide a look into the past, which assist people in understanding and appreciating various groups and cultures. They promote dialogue, curiosity, and self-reflection in order to improve our understanding of our shared history which propel us into the future.

Many people feel, especially city leaders, and local developers, that museums are not very profitable. However, the city of Riverside felt the opposite - they understood that museums are even more important today as they can be an economic and cultural driver to the region. 

The Cheech, the brainchild of entertainer, Cheech Marin, and the City of Riverside, has been a game changer for the Latinx community, the art community, the city of Riverside, the Southland - and really, the international art world.

In 2017, when the nearby Riverside Museum of Art exhibited Cheech’s collection, “Papel Chicano Dos: Works on Paper,” over 1400 people attended the opening - the most attended reception RAM had ever hosted, Riverside’s City Manager noted the popularity and set the project in motion, and in the summer of 2022, The Cheech made its grand opening in the repurposed mid-century building of the old Riverside Public Library - located right next to the Mission Inn and the new Riverside Public Library. 

The Cheech, managed by the Riverside Art Museum under a 25-year partnership agreement with the city, will provide around $1 million annually for operating expenses.  An additional  $9.7 million state grant along with private donations helped the Riverside Art Museum finance  the $13 million renovation of the library building. In the Cheech’s first ten years of operation, admissions are expected to bring in $3 million. But that’s not the extent of it. It makes Riverside more of a destination and people will dine, spend the night, visit the local library and pursue local businesses.

After a recent visit to the Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena, I absorbed so much information from what I saw. I learned that seeing something in person is entirely different than seeing it within a book or on a computer screen.

Museums encourage and promote conversation to help build bridges, inquiry, and self-reflection, and provide context to build common ground between disparate groups of people. They help future generations understand their history and value the accomplishments of those who came before them. They provide context.

The city of Lancaster, CA with 170,000 people launched the Lancaster Museum of Art and History (formerly known as the Lancaster Museum/Art Gallery or LMAG) in 1986 to provide residents with a venue for enjoying the works of artists living in the area. Along with contemporary art, the museum exhibits the history of the Antelope Valley through its permanent collection of historical artifacts and records.

Their acquisitions of art objects have centered on early California landscape painting and figurative painting along with objects of historical significance, including Native American artifacts, geological specimens and other artifacts related to the history of the Antelope Valley. The Museum's two locations reflected its twofold mission. During its first 24 years, the Museum's modest exhibition space for visual art was located on Sierra Highway not far from the new facility while a second location, the historically significant Western Hotel Museum, provided exhibition space for historical artifacts from the permanent collection.

In 2022,  the Los Angeles County Museum of Art LACMA made mention that  it is at the halfway point in constructing its new, Peter Zumthor-designed building, the David Geffen Galleries. The museum is said to be complete construction by late 2024. The museum also stated that a $700 million of $750 million fundraising target had been raised. The public-private partnership received $125 million in government support from Los Angeles County. 80% of the expenses will be covered by individual donations, the museum announced in a press release.

Meanwhile the Lucas Museum, a billion dollar project of the famed director George Lucas and his wife Mellody Hobson, has been challenged with delays due to the pandemic and is set to open in 2025, will be a nice, beautiful addition to south Los Angeles with its spaceship-like structure.

The Lucas was designed by prominent Chinese architect Ma Yansong. Mia Lehrer, a landscape architect, conceptualized the gardens and parks.The building's facade is made up of more than 1,500 uniquely curved fiberglass-reinforced polymer panels. 281 seismic base isolators support the building to prevent a catastrophic earthquake from destroying it and its priceless art collection. It also boasts three elevators that resemble starships, two 299-seat movie theaters, an elliptical oculus, a rooftop garden with old trees, and more.

Lastly, Pomona, the city of the forgotten. The city with architecture designed by Welton Becket. The city that never completed a museum during the construction of city hall, the library, and civic center in 1969. The city known as, having lots of potential, but can never seem to advance.

But, lets think of space in terms of Pomona. Space is the most valuable asset a city can have, well, space and money. Space to imagine, space to create something imaginable. Pomona has a surplus of space. So, what does it take? Many would say a vision, creativity, an imagination with others to jump on that bandwagon and agree. How about confidence and vision instead of meekness. How about audacity instead of trepidation?

Julian Lucas, is a photographer, a purveyor of books and writer in training, but mostly a photographer. Julian is the founder of Mirrored Society Books. Julian was once called a “bitter artist” on the Nextdoor app. Julian embraces name calling, because he believes when people express themselves uncensored, they are their most creative self.