Museum of Neon Art

Last updated
Museum of Neon Art
Neon Dragon at Museum of Neon Art.jpg
Museum of Neon Art
Established1981
Location216 S. Brand Blvd.
Glendale, California
Coordinates 34°08′37.5″N118°15′17″W / 34.143750°N 118.25472°W / 34.143750; -118.25472
Type Art museum
DirectorCorrie Siegel
Public transit access LAMetroLogo.svg Metro
BSicon BUS3.svg Broadway/Brand (2027)
Bus-logo.svg 92 Bus-logo.svg 94 Bus-logo.svg 180 Bus-logo.svg 501 Bus-logo.svg 603
Glendale Beeline
Bus-logo.svg 1 Bus-logo.svg 3 Bus-logo.svg 4 Bus-logo.svg 5 Bus-logo.svg 6 Bus-logo.svg 11
Website www.neonmona.org

The Museum of Neon Art (MONA) is an institution that exists to encourage learning and curiosity through the preservation, collection, and interpretation of neon art. The first museum devoted to art that incorporates neon lighting, it exclusively exhibits art in electric media, including kinetic art and outstanding examples of historic neon signs. [1] The collection includes neon signs from the Brown Derby and Grauman's Chinese Theatre. [2]

Contents

For over 20 years Kim Koga was executive director, overseeing crucial moves of the institution and finding it a home in Glendale. In 2020 Corrie Siegel was appointed as executive director. [3]

In addition to exhibitions and tours, the museum offers introductory classes in glass bending held in the museum's state-of-the-art studio. [4]

History

Arts District (1981–1992)

MONA was founded in 1981 by Lili Lakich [5] and Richard Jenkins [6] in Downtown Los Angeles' Arts District.

Universal CityWalk (1993–1995)

In 1993, MONA moved to Universal CityWalk [7]

Grand Hope Park (1996–2007)

In 1996, MONA moved to Grand Hope Park, in the South Park district of Downtown Los Angeles. [8]

Historic Core (2008–2011)

In 2008, MONA moved to Downtown Los Angeles' Historic Core. [9]

Glendale (since 2016)

The Historic Core location closed in 2011, and the museum reopened in Glendale, California in 2016. [10]

MONA's Glendale facility was designed by Shimoda Design Group, and was adapted from two existing structures: a pharmacy and a video arcade. A public paseo, created through strategic demolition, bisects the site and draws visitors across a landscaped deck to Central Park and Central Library. [11]

Collection

The museum holds numerous items, including neon art, clocks, photographs, and neon signs. [12]

Some key objects in the Museum's collection include:

Exhibitions

Light in the Dark exhibition Light in the Dark exhibition at Museum of Neon Art.jpg
Light in the Dark exhibition

Memorial to Armenian Genocide (2021)

A window-based public display in honor of Armenian History Month, marking the 106th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. [15]

Light in the Dark: Queer Narratives in Neon (2023)

In 2023, as part of the One Institute's Circa: Queer Histories Festival, MONA organized "Light in the Dark: Queer Narratives in Neon", featuring signs from LGBT businesses. Programming included a panel discussion with filmmaker Rachel Mason, sex educator Buck Angel, and GALAS LGBTQ+ Armenian Society. [16]

Tours

Neon Night Walks

MONA offers guided walking tours through various Los Angeles County neighborhoods, including Glendale, Koreatown, Hollywood, the Broadway Theatre District, and Chinatown. [17]

Neon Cruise

MONA offers double-decker bus tours, which depart from Downtown's Historic Core and visit locations including Chinatown and Hollywood. [18]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glendale, California</span> City in California, United States

Glendale is a city in the San Fernando Valley and Verdugo Mountains regions of Los Angeles County, California, United States. At the 2020 U.S. Census the population was 196,543, up from 191,719 at the 2010 census, making it the fourth-largest city in Los Angeles County and the 24th-largest city in California. It is located about 10 miles (16 km) north of downtown Los Angeles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grauman's Egyptian Theatre</span> Movie theater in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California

Grauman's Egyptian Theatre is a historic movie theater located on Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. Opened in 1922, it is an early example of a lavish movie palace and is noted as having been the site of the first-ever Hollywood film premiere. From 1998 until 2020, it was owned and operated by the American Cinematheque, a member-based cultural organization.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chinatown, Los Angeles</span> Neighborhood of Los Angeles

Chinatown is a neighborhood in Downtown Los Angeles, California, that became a commercial center for Chinese and other Asian businesses in Central Los Angeles in 1938. The area includes restaurants, shops, and art galleries, but also has a residential neighborhood with a low-income, aging population of about 7,800 residents.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hollywood Boulevard</span> Street in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, United States

Hollywood Boulevard is a major east–west street in Los Angeles, California. It runs through the Hollywood, East Hollywood, Little Armenia, Thai Town, and Los Feliz districts. Its western terminus is at Sunset Plaza Drive in the Hollywood Hills and its eastern terminus is at Sunset Boulevard in Los Feliz. Hollywood Boulevard is famous for running through the tourist areas in central Hollywood, including attractions such as the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the Ovation Hollywood shopping and entertainment complex.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alex Theatre</span> United States historic place

The Alex Theatre is a landmark located at 216 North Brand Boulevard in Glendale, California, United States. It is currently owned by the city of Glendale and operated by SAS. The theater's capacity is 1,400.

The Glendale Unified School District is a school district based in Glendale, California, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Los Angeles LGBT Center</span> Community center in Los Angeles, California

The Los Angeles LGBT Center is a provider of programs and services for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. The organization's work spans four categories, including health, social services, housing, and leadership and advocacy. The center is the largest facility in the world providing services to LGBT people.

Outfest is an LGBTQ-oriented nonprofit that produces two film festivals, operates a movie streaming platform, and runs educational services for filmmakers in Los Angeles. Outfest is one of the key partners, alongside the Frameline Film Festival, the New York Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, & Transgender Film Festival, and the Inside Out Film and Video Festival, in launching the North American Queer Festival Alliance, an initiative to further publicize and promote LGBT film.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Broadway Theater District (Los Angeles)</span> United States historic place

The Broadway Theater District in the Historic Core of Downtown Los Angeles is the first and largest historic theater district listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). With twelve movie palaces located along a six-block stretch of Broadway, it is the only large concentration of movie palaces left in the United States. The same six-block stretch of Broadway, and an adjacent section of Seventh Street, was also the city's retail hub for the first half of the twentieth century, lined with large and small department stores and specialty stores.

Margi Scharff was an American artist. Among her better known pieces were The Night Room, Pillar of Warmth and A Series of Miscellaneous Connections. Scharff was given to using found objects in her art.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vista Theatre (Los Angeles)</span> Movie theater in Los Angeles

Vista Theatre is a historic single-screen movie theater in Los Angeles, California, located in Los Feliz on the border with East Hollywood.

Laura Aguilar was an American photographer. She was born with auditory dyslexia and attributed her start in photography to her brother, who showed her how to develop in dark rooms. She was mostly self-taught, although she took some photography courses at East Los Angeles College, where her second solo exhibition, Laura Aguilar: Show and Tell, was held. Aguilar used visual art to bring forth marginalized identities, especially within the LA Queer scene and Latinx communities. Before the term Intersectionality was used commonly, Aguilar captured the largely invisible identities of large bodied, queer, working-class, brown people in the form of portraits. Often using her naked body as a subject, she used photography to empower herself and her inner struggles to reclaim her own identity as “Laura”- a lesbian, fat, disabled, and brown person. Although work on Chicana/os is limited, Aguilar has become an essential figure in Chicano art history and is often regarded as an early "pioneer of intersectional feminism” for her outright and uncensored work. Some of her most well-known works are Three Eagles Flying, The Plush Pony Series, and Nature Self Portraits. Aguilar has been noted for her collaboration with cultural scholars such as Yvonne Yarbo-Berjano and receiving inspiration from other artists like Judy Dater. She was well known for her portraits, mostly of herself, and also focused upon people in marginalized communities, including LGBT and Latino subjects, self-love, and social stigma of obesity.

The Los Angeles metropolitan area has a significant Armenian American population. As of 1990, this single area holds the largest Armenian American community in the United States as well as the largest population of Armenians in the world outside Armenia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conservation and restoration of neon objects</span> Preservation and maintenance of tangible objects

The conservation and restoration of neon objects is the process of caring for and maintaining neon objects (artworks), and includes documentation, examination, research, and treatment to ensure their long-term viability, when desired.

Rafael Esparza is an American performance artist who lives and works in Los Angeles. His work includes performances affecting his physical well-being and installations constructed from adobe bricks. Esparza often works with collaborators, including members of his family.

Lisa Schulte is an American artist, also known as "The Neon Queen", who is best known for her work in expressive neon sculpture. Schulte started bending neon in the early 1980s, creating custom neon signs and neon prop rentals to the entertainment industry under her Los Angeles-based neon studio, Nights of Neon. She is recognized for working with light as an artist and designer, and owner of one of the largest neon collections in the world.

Michael Robert Flechtner is an American artist known for his work in neon art. In 2009 he was commissioned by the United States Postal Service to create the first-ever neon postage stamp for the Forever Stamp series. The "Celebrate" stamp was released in 2011. The stamp was reissued in 2015, and the original 33” x 44” neon is on exhibit at the Smithsonian National Postal Museum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GALAS LGBTQ+ Armenian Society</span> LGBTQIA+ rights non-governmental organization

GALAS LGBTQ+ Armenian Society is one of the first LGBTQIA+ rights non-governmental organizations founded by Armenian Americans. GALAS was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in West Hollywood, California. Its mission is to serve and support the needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer individuals of Armenian descent, to promote their human rights protection, and to advocate for the change of public policy around LGBTQ+ issues.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Man's Country (bathhouse)</span> Gay bathhouse chain in Chicago and New York

Man's Country was a chain of bathhouses and private clubs for gay men in Chicago and New York City.

References

  1. "The Museum of Neon Art". Museum of Neon Art. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
  2. Cooper, Arnie (September 3, 2008). "Neon Museum Casts Its Otherworldly Glow". The Wall Street Journal. p. D9.
  3. Seidman, Lila (April 10, 2020). "Museum of Neon Arts' new director works to electrify attendees from a distance". Glendale News Press/ LA Times. Retrieved 2022-07-08.
  4. Womack, Catherine. "After Decades of Decline, L.A.'s Neon Light Industry Is Experiencing a Resurgence". L.A. Weekly. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
  5. Lawrence O'Toole (February 4, 1990). "Where Neon Art Comes of Age". The New York Times .
  6. Lewis, Louise (February 17 – March 31, 2001). "Sirens and Other Neon Seductions". Catalog essay, Art Galleries, California State University, Northridge .
  7. Smith, G. Bruce (14 May 1993). "Bright Lights, Big CityWalk: The vintage neon signs at MCA's new entertainment/shopping complex could breathe life back into a one-of-a-kind museum". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 6 November 2023.
  8. Muchnic, Suzanne (23 February 1996). "Museum of Neon Art Will Light Up Downtown Again". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 6 November 2023.
  9. "HAPPY NEW YEAR OF THE TIGER!". 2010. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
  10. Ahn, Abe (February 3, 2016). "The Museum of Neon Art Switches Back on in LA". Hyperallergic. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
  11. Fitzgerald, Rebecca (May 23, 2016). "Shimoda Design Group builds L.A.'s Museum of Neon Art a new home in Glendale". The Architect's Newspaper. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
  12. "Collection". CatalogIt . Retrieved 2023-10-29.
  13. "Man's Country". hub.catalogit.app. Retrieved 2023-12-02.
  14. "Queer narratives in neon presented by The Museum of Neon Art". Los Angeles Blade . 2023-10-27. Retrieved 2024-02-11.
  15. "Memorial to Armenian Genocide" . Retrieved 2023-11-01.
  16. "Light in the Dark: Queer Narratives in Neon" . Retrieved 2023-10-29.
  17. "LA TOURS".
  18. "LA TOURS".