LOS ANGELES, CALIF.- LAXART received a $1 million gift from philanthropists and longtime Los Angeles residents Jarl and Pamela Mohn. This transformative gift will support its new building project and institutional vision for its next chapter. It is the single largest contribution from an individual donor in LAXART’s 17-year history. In recognition of the Mohn’s incredible commitment and contribution, the main gallery space in the new building will be named the Jarl and Pamela Mohn Gallery.

“This truly is the greatest vote of confidence for LAXART as we move into our new home,” stated Hamza Walker, Executive Director, LAXART. “Jarl and Pamela have demonstrated an unwavering commitment to the arts in Los Angeles. We are deeply honored that our main gallery will bear their names.”

In March 2022, LAXART announced plans to open its first dedicated home in the Melrose Hill section of Los Angeles. Construction began this summer and the new building is set to open in winter 2023. The new building will establish LAXART as an anchor in a growing and changing neighborhood that is welcoming an influx of new businesses and commercial galleries.

“We are excited to be part of this incredible moment in LAXART’s history. We want to recognize the important role that LAXART has and will play in inspiring and shaping the future of arts in Los Angeles. We hope this gift will move LAXART into a new era and serve as a catalyst for further progress,” said Jarl and Pamela Mohn.

LAXART has raised nearly sixty-five percent of its goal of $5 million for the building campaign. These critical donations and the remaining funds to be raised will cover the purchase and renovation of the organization’s first permanent home as well as the first year of programming, performances, and public programs.




LAXART’s Board of Directors and a key group of artists—Albert Oehlen, Laura Owens, and Board Members Glenn Ligon and Mary Weatherford--were among the first to pledge financial support to the building campaign. Additionally, artists Jacqueline Humphries, Arthur Jafa, Barbara Kruger, Glenn Ligon, Christina Quarles, and Jonas Wood donated artworks, which were auctioned in support of the building campaign at Christie’s in November 2021, with the auction house making an additional donation to LAXART on top of the proceeds.

LAXART also announced the expansion of its Board of Directors with the appointment of three new members: retired estate lawyer and art collector, Kim Allen-Nielsen; Global Brand Director for Tequila Casa Dragones, Teal Black; and artist, architect and exhibition designer, Sebastian Clough.

LAXART

LAXART is a nonprofit visual art space that promotes developments in contemporary culture through exhibitions, publications, and public programs with the belief that contemporary art is a means of understanding key issues of our time. Rather than provide answers, it raises questions. Contemporary art assumes many forms. Through a range of offerings, LAXART contextualizes contemporary art both socially and art historically. All programs are free and designed to be accessible to the general public.

LAXART was founded in 2005 by Lauri Firstenberg as a platform for emerging and under- recognized artistic talent in Los Angeles. Since that time, LAXART has realized over 400 projects, characterized by newly commissioned artworks and solo projects in our gallery and public spaces. LAXART has made significant contributions to Southern California culture through partnerships with the Getty—to co-produce the Pacific Standard Time Performance and Public Art Festival in 2012 and the exhibition Video Art in Latin America in 2017—and the Hammer Museum—to co-organize Made in L.A. 2012, the city’s first biennial. We have also partnered with local and national organizations including the Frieze Art Fair, Art Basel, The Huntington, Monday Evening Concerts, Artadia, The French Embassy, L.A. Dance Project, and Le Lycée International of Los Angeles. In 2015, LAXART moved into a former recording studio built in 1928, which tripled the organization’s exhibition space.

In October 2016, Hamza Walker became LAXART’s second Director after twenty-two years as Curator and Director of Education at the Renaissance Society in Chicago. Under Walker’s leadership, LAXART has deepened its mission and exhibition program to include thematic group exhibitions, new work with historical figures, and institutional-scale projects with emerging and established artists.