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Alex Capriotti, 213-232-6236, acapriotti@thebroad.org

The Broad Celebrates Civic Dedication With State, City County Officials

Philanthropists Eli and Edythe Broad Release 88-Foot Double Fabric Drop From Roof of Museum

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Exterior during the Civic Dedication for the opening of The Broad museum on Friday, September 18, 2015, in Los Angeles, Calif. (Photo by Ryan Miller/Capture Imaging)

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 18, 2015—With a dramatic release of two 88-foot-long fabric ribbons that wrapped the front of The Broad museum from the skylit roof to the expansive sidewalk below, philanthropists Eli and Edythe Broad were joined today by California Governor Edmund G. Brown, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, California Senate President pro Tempore Kevin de Leon, Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis, Los Angeles City Councilman Jose Huizar and other state and local officials for the civic dedication of Los Angeles’s new contemporary art museum.

More than 500 civic, business and community leaders cheered as the Broads pushed a large red button to release the ribbons that flanked the signature oculus on the Grand Avenue side of the honeycomb-clad museum.

“Edye and I love collecting contemporary art, not for our own enjoyment, but because we want to share that experience with the public,” said Eli Broad. “That’s why we’re pleased to have general admission. We want as many people as possible to have access to the arts. This museum and the collection within is our gift to Los Angeles. We hope you enjoy it.”

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The Broad will open Sept. 20 with over 250 works exhibited in the inaugural installation, showcasing more than 60 artists and reflecting Eli and Edythe Broad’s five decades of collecting. Offering free general admission, The Broad expects that thousands of visitors in coming weeks will take advantage of the city’s newest cultural and educational resource.

“This is a time when science, math and technology dominate attention when it comes to education,” said Governor Edmund G. Brown. “But the arts have a place equally as strong.”

After the ribbon drop, attendees toured the galleries on the third floor, a chronological tour of contemporary art from the 1950s through the 1990s, and the first floor, where more recent works appear, such as Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Mirrored Room – The Souls of Millions of Light Years Away and an 82-foot-long painting by Takashi Murakami.

“By building this building right here in downtown Los Angeles,” said Kevin de Leon, California Senate President pro Tempore, “you will allow working families to go across town to view art. So you have provided them access. And accessibility to art is fundamental to a great society.”

The museum marks the Broads’ latest philanthropic gift to Grand Avenue and their adopted home city of Los Angeles. Along with other civic and cultural leaders across the decades, the Broads have supported the founding of the Museum of Contemporary Art, the building for Walt Disney Concert Hall, the creation of the Arts High School and the development of Grand Park.

“Two thousand works by 200 artists make up the art collection housed at The Broad, but the collection’s story is very far from over—this is truer today, as we open a new dynamic museum, than ever before,” said Joanne Heyler, founding director of The Broad. “We have no intention of slowing down, especially now that we have a public home.”

The Broad’s central location on Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles adds to the city’s growing cultural center, and Los Angeles’s rising profile in the art world. With the Museum of Contemporary Art across the street, galleries throughout downtown and beyond, and several art schools in the region, The Broad joins a rich contemporary art field.

“You have not just marked history with this collection and building,” said Mayor Eric Garcetti. “You are making history and ensuring the arts are not just something you reflect back on but that we feel and make every day here in the greatest city on Earth.”

For hi-res images, click the following links:
The Broad Museum—Civic Dedication_Image set 1
The Broad Museum—Civic Dedication_Image set 2 (Photos by Ben Gibbs for The Broad)

For b-roll, click here

About The Broad
The Broad is a new contemporary art museum founded by philanthropists Eli and Edythe Broad on Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles. The museum, which is designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro in collaboration with Gensler, will open Sept. 20, 2015 with free general admission. The museum will be home to the 2,000 works of art in the Broad collection, which is among the most prominent holdings of postwar and contemporary art worldwide. With its innovative “veil-and-vault” concept, the 120,000- square-foot, $140-million building will feature two floors of gallery space to showcase The Broad’s comprehensive collection and will be the headquarters of The Broad Art Foundation’s worldwide lending library.

For more information on The Broad and to sign up for updates, please visit www.thebroad.org.

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