NHM Commons event showcased new, free museum facility
ANGELS FLIGHT RAILWAY is one feature of the Barbara Carrasco mural that has found a permanent home after more than 40 years.
“L.A. HISTORY – A Mexican Perspective” is the mural across from Gnatalie, a 75-foot sauropod dinosaur skeleton in the NHM Commons Welcome Center.
SPEAKER at the NHM Commons press preview was Los Angeles County Second District Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell (in red) in the new Commons Theater. Legendary photographer Gary Leonard is at work in the seat behind her.
PRESIDENT AND DIRECTOR of the Natural History Museums Lori Bettison-Varga and NHM Commons architect Frederick Fisher share stories of the new building’s conception and construction. Lucas Museum is across the street in the background.
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT Mia Lehrer describes plantings outside the NHM Commons. A construction crane in the background hovers over the California Science Center pavilion being built around the Space Shuttle Endeavour. The Memorial Coliseum is at right.
NEIGHBOR of the Natural History Museum Commons is the still-under-construction Lucas Museum.
The Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County (NHM) had a major opening day celebration on Nov. 17. Museum staff and elected officials shared with the public the new admission-free Welcome Center and its many features: Gnatalie, a green dinosaur skeleton; Barbara Carrasco’s amazing, colorful 80-foot-long mural, “L.A. History: A Mexican Perspective;” and a new café, gift shop and theater. All of this and an outdoor plaza are located at the southwest corner of the historic complex of NHM buildings in Exposition Park.
That location allows this entrance to be on ground level, opening onto the broad lawn separating the museum and the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, both of which are right across from the still-under-construction Lucas Museum of Narrative Art.
Learn about the NHM Commons at: tinyurl.com/yshrkd9v.
Category: People