LANCASTER – The City of Lancaster’s Museum of Art and History (MOAH) will open to the public on Saturday, May 5, 2012.
”The MOAH opening has been anticipated with great excitement,” said Mayor R. Rex Parris. “It marks a new era for the City of Lancaster, providing the public with another spectacular venue where they can enjoy the arts. It also offers area artists a much-needed space in which to display their works.”
The May 5th opening day festivities will include a ribbon cutting at 11 a.m., docent led tours of the museum, musical performances, and hands-on art making activities designed for all ages.
All opening day festivities will be free to the public.
Three main exhibitions will celebrate Lancaster and the entire Antelope Valley:
- Smooth Operations: Substance and Surface in Southern California Art;
- Indians, Gold Miners and Gunslingers: A Look Back at Lancaster in the Old West; and,
- The Painted Desert.
A side exhibit will showcase the work of local artist, Stevie Love, the first solo exhibition in the new location. Love’s work will be shown in the ground floor Vault Gallery
Founded in 1986 as the Lancaster Museum/Art Gallery, the current Lancaster Museum of Art and History (MOAH) is dedicated to advancing an appreciation of art and history in the Antelope Valley. Operating two sites, the Museum of Art and History and the Western Hotel Museum, Lancaster MOAH is not only a repository for historical artifacts important to preserving the unique character of the Antelope Valley, but also a place where audiences—residents and visitors alike—may experience exhibitions of fine art and participate in a variety of art and history-based programs.
Learning is at the core of Lancaster MOAH’s mission. Collecting, exhibitions and programs are all undertaken in an effort to provide the residents of the Antelope Valley with a way of integrating art and history into their lives and taking away the lessons that these disciplines offer.
By presenting quality exhibitions and programs, as well as providing proper care and preservation of works of art and artifacts relating to Antelope Valley history and culture, the Lancaster Museum of Art and History is the region’s center for art and historical engagement.
For more information about the museum’s grand opening activities, contact MOAH staff at (661) 723-6250 or moah@cityoflancasterca.org.
More on MOAH’s three main exhibitions…
* Co-curated by Andi Campognone and Peter Frank, Smooth Operations: Substance and Surface in Southern California Art, looks at the use of new and untraditional materials in the fabrication of art objects, many of which came directly from the aerospace industry. Smooth Operations will concentrate on the postwar years in and around Los Angeles, when experimentation with unorthodox—even radical—materials and qualities led to the emergence of movements such as “finish/fetish” and “light-and-space.” Among the artists whose work will comprise Smooth Operations are Larry Bell, DeWain Valentine, Ronald Davis, Craig Kauffman, Judy Chicago, Roland Reiss, Norman Zammitt, Fred Eversley, and Jerome Mahoney. The work of several younger artists who investigate the qualities of synthetic materials, including Eric Johnson, Lisa Bartleson, Andy Moses, and Eric Zammitt, will augment the main portion of the exhibition, gifted to the Museum by collectors Steve Eglash and Gisela Colon.
* Indians, Gold Miners and Gunslingers: A Look Back at Lancaster in the Old West, curated by MOAH staff member Dr. Laurie Solis, is a visual timeline of the history of Lancaster utilizing artifacts and historic photographs from MOAH’s permanent collection. This exhibition marks the first in a series of historical exhibitions which will highlight the Antelope Valley.
* The Painted Desert, an exhibition focusing on the desert as subject, will include paintings from MOAH’s permanent collection and works by artists from southern California celebrating our local landscape both in traditional and non-traditional painting styles.
(Information via press release from the City of Lancaster.)
William says
I suspect the creme de la creme leave the Valley for the rest of their entertainment. Can you picture Parris daring to eat at one of the many nice restaurants in Palmdale? He’s stuck at BeX where you get your own drinks.
Is there any place in Lancaster for a man to buy a suit or a woman a nice dress other than Walmart or thrift stores? In a weird way, Lancaster was better off in the 90s with a Sears and a C & R Clothiers. I went to both back then. Heck, they had a Smart n Final, a Mervyn’s, and even a Home Town Buffet, which I heard is gone.
I suppose if Parris lets all the shopping centers in Lancaster deteriorate and close shops, people will HAVE to go to the BLVD, but for what? Oh, wait. There are auto body shops around the corner.
If you were moving to the Antelope Valley as a newcomer, and you weren’t looking for the cheapest house you could find, where would you buy, Lancaster or Palmdale?
Gladdis says
William, if I had it to do all over again, I would shoot myself before I would buy a house in Lancaster.
You are so right about the shopping.
Another thing that really bothers me is, inspite of all the vacant houses throughout the city, there are builders building more. (ie, 30th W and Lancaster Blvd) Also, why is a business allowed to build a new building and abandon their old building. There is so much commercial property vacant in this town it’s hideous. Valley Central area is a prime example. Michaels, Chuck E Cheese, Walmart and the scary outlet mall.
William says
Gladdis, I’d feel the same way. I looked all over the Valley in 1990 when I bought, but since I commuted to Burbank, I bought a house near Highland High School to cut 5-15 minutes off my drive instead of Lancaster or Quartz Hill.
I didn’t know any of the politics of Lancaster back then but quickly got a sense that it was a ‘good ol’ boys’ town. And, at that time all the shopping was in Lancaster.
I replied to Lilann regarding finding out if there is any group organizing in Lancaster to replace the current officials. Even though I don’t live there, I want Lancaster to be a good, thriving neighbor and not a source of upset for its residents and the entire Valley.
Parris has poisoned the relationship between the 2 cities and really needs to go. Excuse, I should add Quartz Hill to that.
dhunter says
I am glad to know others here are concened with the poor planning and urban sprawl spawned by city officials. The vacant small shops in decay upon every urban street lend testimony against them and their cash carrying walmart siphon that sucks the wealth and the life out of your proprietorships, you mom and pop’s, on your local business. Without these little shops, where will the jobs be? Walmart. Your choices? Walmart? Your food? walmart. clothes? unless you love all things from China, cheap throways junk, I would reconsider putting any more of these in the AV.