| California African American Museum (CAAM) | |
|---|---|
| Established | 1981 |
| Location | Exposition Park, Los Angeles, California |
| Type | African American museum |
| Website | http://www.caamuseum.org/ |
The California African American Museum (CAAM) is a museum located in Exposition Park, Los Angeles, California, USA.
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The museum opened in 1981, in temporary quarters at the California Museum of Science and Industry (now the California Science Center). The current facility was built with State and private funds of around $5 million. The museum was designed by the African–American architects Jack Haywood and (the late) Vince Proby. The new museum building opened to the public during the Los Angeles Olympic Games in July 1984. A major renovation occurred between 2001 and 2003.
The museum occupies a 44,000 square feet (4,100 m2) building. It includes three exhibition galleries, a theater gallery, a 14,000-square-foot (1,300 m2) sculpture court, a conference center special events room, an archive and research library. Behind the scenes there are administration offices, exhibit design and artifact storage areas.
The California African American Museum (CAAM) exists to research, collect, preserve and interpret for public enrichment, the history, art and culture of African Americans. The museum conserves more than 3,500 objects of art, historical artifacts and memorabilia, and maintains a research library with more than 20,000 books and other reference materials available for limited public use.
The permanent collection includes paintings, photographs, sculpture and artifacts representing the diverse contributions of African Americans. The collection ranges from African art to 19th-century landscape. Along with its permanent collection, CAAM hosts specially mounted exhibitions curated out of its own collection, as well as traveling exhibitions from other museums. Recent exhibitions include: "The Whole World's Watching: Peace and Social Justice Movements of the 60's and 70's," "Milton Bowens' Writings on the Walls," "National Pastime in Black and White: The Negro Baseball Leagues," "Azucar! The Life and Music of Celia Cruz," "Orphans of the Rwanda Genocide: Portraits of Survival and Hope," "Intersections of South Central: People and Places in Historic and Contemporary Photographs," and "In the Hands of African American Collectors: The Personal Treasures of Bernard and Shirley Kinsey."
In addition, CAAM hosts independent and collaborative educational programs both on and off site of lectures, workshops, innovative programs, and hands-on activities that serve public and private school students, as well as museum patrons and community visitors of all ages.
CAAM is free and open to the public Tuesday-Saturday 10am-5pm, and Sunday 11am-5pm. Photography is not permitted inside the museum.