TURNING LACMA INTO A MASTERPIECE CONCOURSE, EXHIBIT SPACE AMONG MUSEUM CHANGES.

Byline: Fred Shuster Staff Writer

Calling itself ``the people's museum,'' the Los Angeles County Museum of Art on Thursday showed off ongoing construction of a dramatic upgrade of its sprawling Wilshire Boulevard site that will include a building devoted entirely to modern artists.

The area, the size of three football fields, will be transformed by the end of next year to take in new galleries, gardens and piazzas, unified by a covered concourse linking the one-third-mile-long county property.

Total costs have yet to be determined, but $172 million has already been raised in support of the expansion and to double the 40-year-old institution's endowment.

When the site opens, visitors will pass through a 20,000-square foot, glass-enclosed pavilion and adjacent patios, serving as the museum's main entrance on Wilshire. The pavilion is a key component of Pritzker Prize- winning architect Renzo Piano's master plan for the museum, which is now under construction and will open in late 2007.

The entry pavilion will stand at the center of the LACMA campus, joining the eastern and western sections, while the pavilion will offer a 360- degree vista of the campus and house restaurants, shops, large patios and event spaces.

``How can I not take into consideration the look and feel of Los Angeles?'' Piano said. ``I have my whole life been moved by the sense of lightness, transparency ... of Los Angeles architecture. This is a place for nature.''

Also being built is the Broad Contemporary Art Museum, named for LACMA trustee Eli Broad, the businessman, art collector and philanthropist who pledged $50 million to the project. That 60,000-square-foot gallery will be devoted to contemporary art, including significant works from Broad's own collection.

``Los Angeles is a 21st-century city - we are not a city of the past,'' said Broad, who gave an additional $10 million for acquisitions. ``And with all the art schools we have here - USC, UCLA, Northridge, CalArts, Art Center College - and the fact that 40 percent of art at major exhibitions is by California artists, it's important to have a showplace here. Plus, with all this parkland, we can have concerts, outdoor art exhibitions and all sorts of things. It's a new day.''

The upgrade includes the renovation of the Ahmanson Building's lower level galleries and atrium, with a new space for musical performances, lectures and other events; the expansion of Hancock Park; plazas opening onto Wilshire to the south and Hancock Park to the north; an underground parking garage; and a new facade for the museum. The idea is to unify the now-disjointed complex and make it appealing and approachable on foot.

``This is the people's museum,'' said Melody Kanschat, LACMA president. ``It's our mission to be accessible to all. We want to make this the most inviting place in Los Angeles for everyone.''

In other phases of the redesign, the museum's permanent collection of European, Asian and South American art will be moved to newly renovated and reorganized galleries. During the past decade, LACMA has strived to acquire works with special relevance to the city's diverse population, resulting in expanded collections of Korean, Mexican, Islamic and Chinese art.

Exhibition space is currently an issue at LACMA, which ordinarily shows only about 5,000 of the approximately 100,000 items in its permanent collection. The expansion will allow for considerably more exhibit space.

``In this city, where there are more contemporary artists than anywhere else in the world, we have to be able to present our entire collection in a way that relates to today,'' said Nancy Daly Reardon, LACMA board chairwoman.

Further acquisitions are planned. LACMA's financial strength over the past 10 years has grown from just over $49 million in 1995 to almost $125 million in endowments and investments last year. Almost a million visitors came to the museum last year for the King Tut show.

``This location is the Topeka, Kansas, of Los Angeles - we are the center of the city in the same way Topeka is the center of the country,'' said LACMA trustee Lynda Resnick, who along with her husband, Stewart, donated $25 million toward the redesign project. ``It is essential we have a place where all the cultures of the world can come together.''

Fred Shuster, [phone]

fred.shuster(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1) Italian architect Renzo Piano, second from right, briefs Eli Broad, left; LACMA president Melody Kanschat, right; and museum trustees Nancy Daly Riordan, second from left, and Lynda Resnick on construction progress Thursday.

Bob Riha Jr./LACMA

(2) The Los Angeles County Museum of Art is getting a new look, with the addition of a parking garage beneath parkland on the left and more exhibition space.

David Sprague/Staff Photographer