Breaking the Art Museum Mold

The Santa Monica Museum of Art, known for its offbeat contemporary art exhibits, applies the same approach to its fundraising.

Christmas is coming early to art lovers on the Westside. The gift is courtesy of the Santa Monica Museum Art, which is staging its second annual fundraiser, “Incognito.” At the event taking place this Saturday, December 10, over 600 works of art will be for sale, and the price is the same for each piece: $250. “We really pride ourselves on being revolutionary,” says executive director Elsa Longhauser, referring to the nonprofit museum’s always-cutting-edge exhibitions of contemporary art. “We wanted to create a benefit that would reflect that same spirit.” Following last year’s model, the museum has invited hundreds of well-known and emerging artists to donate original works, all created in an 8″ by 10″ format. The fun of “Incognito”‘beyond the bargain-basement pricing’is the anonymity of the artist. It’s only after purchase that the identity of the artist is revealed. All works are signed on the back. Participating artists run the gamut from luminaries of the art world, people like Ed Ruscha, John Baldessari, Sol LeWitt and Yoko Ono, to major new talent, including Bari Ziperstein and Suzan Woodruff. Although this year’s invitation list grew to over 500 artists (many submit more than one work), the selection process is rigorous, according to Longhauser. The museum hopes to top the success of last year’s event, when $150,000 was raised, the largest sum ever collected from a fundraising party. The sold-out event attracted 600 people, most of whom bought at least one work; one patron scooped up 12. “Our byline for ‘Incognito’ is ‘trust your instincts,'” explains Longhauser. “In addition to being able to buy a masterpiece for $250, the great thing is the fact that you can really trust your eyes. It gives everyone the chance to be both a collector and curator.” The VIP ticket, at $75 ($100 at the door), allows first entry to the museum at 7 p.m.; $25 ($35 at the door) buys a ticket for the general reception at 8:30 p.m. The exhibition and sale continues with no admission fee from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday, December 11. “There’s no need to think the best work is gone immediately, because there is so much,” says Longhauser. “Last year, people still got incredible work the next day, and entry was free.” The museum will host another creative benefit, The Joe Goode Fire Sale Raffle and Party, on December 15 to help the well-known L.A. artist recover from a devastating studio fire this past summer. A large group of his artist friends’among them such high-profile names as Frank Gehry, Robert Graham and Larry Bell’are all contributing art work to be raffled off to 10 winners. Tickets are $200 and each winner will receive four works of art. When Longhauser received the call about holding the benefit, she readily agreed. “Joe Goode is a major icon in L.A. and part of our community and world,” she says. “We feel a responsibility to respond to artists’ needs. It’s a way for us to get closer to the art and closer to the artists.” As the only non-collecting museum in Southern California, SMMoA, founded in 1984, is truly about the present, advancing the work of contemporary local, national and international artists and scholars, both emerging and established, through exhibitions it conceives and organizes. “We see ourselves as a kind of collector of ideas,” says Longhauser, whose calm, measured style belies the high-powered force she’s become since being appointed director in June 2000. Since that time, she has organized a number of pivotal exhibitions that introduced new bodies of work by Stephen Keene, Raymond Pettibon, Mary Kelly, Peter Doig, Chris Ofili and Laura Owens. Before coming to L.A., Longhauser was director of the Galleries at Moore College of Art and Design in Philadelphia. She studied art history at the University of Pennsylvania. Longhauser splits her time between curatorial and administrative duties, concentrating both on donor cultivation and fundraising as well as exhibition planning. As such, she enlivens the museum’s exhibition schedule with a wide array of guest curators. During the past year, two exhibitions garnering much critical acclaim were “George Herms: Hot Set,” the last exhibition curated by the late Walter Hopps, who assembled the first retrospective of Marcel Duchamp, and showcased emerging pop artists Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein, and “Semina Culture: Wallace Berman and His Circle,” one of the first shows ever to chronicle beatnik culture in Southern California. “I like to call it select eclecticism,” says Longhauser of the museum’s wide-ranging subject matter. “We’re a seismograph for great ideas and great artists.” The future is no less diverse, with an exhibition entitled “Dark Spaces” opening in January. Described as an exploration of the interconnections between memory and social space, the experimental show features 75 artists from around the world with a pioneering installation by the architectural collaborative SERVO. Next summer, the museum will host the first U.S. exhibition of the work of Portuguese architect Alvaro Siza, the 1992 recipient of the Pritzker Prize for excellence in architecture. Also slated is a show in collaboration with the San Diego Museum of Art highlighting artists from Tijuana. Following that will be the first solo exhibition of Michael Asher, a world-renowned conceptual artist who has lived in L.A. his entire life. Reflecting on her move to L.A., Longhauser says while it was a big leap, she and her husband were ready for the change, and both find the city extremely welcoming and enriching. She describes L.A. as a city of “never-ending mysteries that you have to figure out yourself.” So, too, are the challenges posed by the museum’s ever-changing visual landscape. SMMoA, located at Bergamot Station, Building GI, 2525 Michigan Ave. in Santa Monica, is open Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., closed Sundays and Mondays. Contact: 586-6488 or visit www.smmoa.org.