California African-American Museum

Address:600 State Dr.
Los Angeles, California
Tel: (213) 744-7432

The California African-American Museum is filled with beautiful exhibits and galleries that document the African American contribution to the settlement of the American West. Free admission gets you into three full-size galleries, a theater gallery, a sculpture court, and more. You'll find exhibits featuring traditional African art, contemporary art, and art from the African Diaspora. A fascinating history collection is also on display.

The permanent collection - African American Journey West - chronicles the African American journey from the west coast of Africa, to the west coast of America, with displays of artifacts that demonstrate the art, culture, and history of the regions. In the Academic and Naturalistic Landscape of the Nineteenth Century exhibit, are works by Edward M. Bannister, Robert Scott Duncanson and Grafton Tyler Brown.

For modern and contemporary art, you'll be treated to the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s, filled with sculpture based on 20th century cubism. You'll find works of Charles White, Beulah Woodard, Noah Purifoy, John Outterbridge, Betye Saar, John T. Riddle and David Hammons.

In the traditional African art collection you'll find wooden masks from Congo and Cameroon. These one-of-a-kind ceremonial masks are simply stunning. They were used for religious rituals that encompassed the mythological and cosmological beliefs of the region.

The history exhibit is most unique in that it highlights the history, heritage, and culture of early African-Americans in California. Items from legendary jazz performer Ella Fitzgerald, theater programs featuring Katherine Dunham, Dorothy Dandridge, Duke Ellington, and Janet Collins, and artifacts from this culturally rich era can be found on display.

Temporary exhibits change a few times a year and include A Woman's Journey: The life and Work of Artis Lane. This magnificent collection is loaded with a variety of works from painted portraits of Oprah Winfrey, to works representing Lane's metaphysical and sculptural sides.

You can get to the museum by exiting onto Exposition Boulevard off the Harbor Freeway North (110). Make a left onto Flower Street followed by another left onto Figueroa. Enter the park a ½ block down to the right and follow the signs for parking.

The California African American Museum has a substantial collection of nineteenth century academic and naturalistic landscape paintings including the works of Edward M. Bannister, Robert Scott Duncanson and Grafton Tyler Brown. Studying works by these artists and their lives help us to broaden our understanding of the participation of African Americans in American life and culture and help us to understand the prevailing tastes and attitudes of a period when African Americans were viewed as inhuman and incapable of educational and aesthetic pursuits in life.