5 African American Museums/Galleries You Should Visit in LA

12 min readNov 8, 2015

“Take me into the museum, and show me myself, show me my people, show me soul America.” — June Jordan (1969)

Father and daughter at Artist Talk with Kenturah Davis at Papillion Art Gallery | Photo by Danielle Hall (2014)

Los Angeles is a known for many things: Hollywood, celebrities, fashion, beaches and palm trees, five-star restaurants as well as its reputation as the “Creative Capital of the World,” but it is also a city that is full of history and community. Thinking back to a voicemail my friend Jenell left me a while ago thanking me for showing her a different side of LA that’s not “superficial,” I wanted to share some of that here — especially since I’m in a city with a population around 3.9 million where nearly 48% of the population is Hispanic or Latino, nearly 50% is white, an estimated 13% is Asian, and Black/African Americans account for roughly 9% of the population.

And despite the fact that Black/African Americans make up 13% of the national population, according to James Heaton, African Americans only account for 3% of museum attendees nationwide. I believe that number is growing among black millennials, but still that’s a huge gap.

There’s a lot of history and culture to be explored here, and more specifically there is a great deal of black history and grassroots arts movements that are integral to the cultural, political and social landscape of LA as we know it today. As an indie historian and information professional, it’s critically important to know that in this vast city there are important cultural sites where black art, history and culture are not only thriving, but are well-documented, preserved, supported, and available for multicultural audiences to learn and experience.

No shade to LACMA, Hammer, or The Getty, but I highly recommend adding these 5 sites to your “places to visit” list:

1. Papillion Art is a contemporary art gallery founded in 2010 by gallerist and art dealer Michelle Joan Papillion. Papillion Art Gallery is a multicultural arts space with a strong focus on emerging artists. It is an important site to visit if interested in contemporary works by artists in all media, and especially works by African American and Los Angeles based artists. Located in the historic Leimert Park neighborhood, Papillion Art Gallery occupies the space that was once home to Brockman Gallery, LA’s first black-owned commercial art gallery that emerged during the Black Arts Movement during the 1960s and 70s. Leimert Park Village is considered the center of historic and contemporary African American art and culture in LA.

Michelle Joan Papillion, Gallerist/Owner Papillion Art | Photo by Drew Barillas

Papillion Art Gallery 4336 Degnan Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90008

“Narrative IV” (2014, pencil on somerset paper) by Kenturah Davis from “Narratives and Meditations” (New, Hand-written drawings) solo exhibition, August 30 — October 26, 2014.

Shawanna Davis with Kenturah Davis during Artist Talk at Papillion Art Gallery

Father and daughter at Artist Talk with Kenturah Davis at Papillion Art Gallery | Photo by Danielle Hall (2014)

Untitled, Andre D. Wagner 16×20 Silver Gelatin, Harlem, New York (2014) from American Survey Pt: II ‘Tell It Like It Is’ solo exhibition with Brooklyn based photographer Andre D. Wagner

2. The Museum of African American Art (MAAA) is a hidden treasure in one of the most unlikely spaces you’d expect to find a museum– the 3rd floor of Macy’s at Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza. Don’t let the walk past the bedding section in Macy’s Home department fool you, this is an abundant space with a remarkable collection of African American art including 40 original paintings by Palmer C. Hayden, one of the leading artists of the Harlem Renaissance, in its permanent collection. Founded in 1976 by artist and art historian Dr. Samella Lewis and a diversified group of community leaders, their goal was to promote and support African American artistic expression. The MAAA operates solely from the support of individual and corporate donors, event rentals, and memberships.

“Beale Street Blues” (1943) by Palmer C. Hayden, oil on canvas 30 x 40 in. [Palmer C. Hayden Collection at the Museum of African American Art in LA.]

MAAA Entrance

MAAA research/reading room

African Mask sculpture

Currently on view Charles Bibbs “An Artist’s Life: Love, Joy and Freedom”

Charles Bibbs “Rhythms of Color” (2008) Mixed Media/Acrylic and Ink on paper

3. The Mayme A. Clayton Library and Museum (MCLM) is located in the old Culver City Courthouse and continues the mission and legacy of Dr. Mayme Agnew Clayton (1923–2006), who was an academic librarian, collector, and historian. For more than 40 years, Dr. Mayme Clayton single-handedly amassed a collection that has been described as “one of the most academically substantial collections of African-American literature, manuscripts, film and ephemera independently maintained” and is second only to New York Public Library’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. The MCLM includes 25,000 magazines, 20,000 books, 17,000 photographs, 1,000 pieces of sheet music, 700 films and 300 movie posters and counting. Dr. Clayton began her library career working at USC’s Doheny Library and later as a law librarian at UCLA. At UCLA she served as a consultant and founding member of the Afro-American Studies Center Library.

“I wanted to be sure that children would know that black people have done great things and at the time I didn’t see anyone else saving the history.” — Dr. Mayme A. Clayton

In 1975, MCLM began as the Western States Black Research Center (WSBRC) in the converted garage of Dr. Clayton’s Los Angeles home. It drew a diverse crowd of visitors throughout the state of California and the United States, as well as visitors from Asia, Africa, and Europe. In her lifetime, Dr. Clayton was able to acquire thousands of rare and out-of-print books (more than 30,000 books written by or about African Americans in the collection), including a rare first-edition signed copy of Phillis Wheatley’s Poems on Various Subjects Religious and Moral (1773), the first book of poetry published by an American female author of African descent. In addition, Dr. Clayton was able to acquire the entire film library of Lincoln Motion Picture Company, the first black film production company organized by Black filmmakers, as well as the photo “morgues” from local black newspapers–all of these items were duly catalogued by Dr. Clayton and became a part of the collection.

Mayme A. Clayton at UCLA Library, 1973 | Los Angeles Times photographic archives, UCLA Library

Old signage for the WSBRC and original Cabin in the Sky (1943) film poster

Marie Dickerson Coker was one of America’s first black (women) aviators. Although Coker received her pilot license through the Bessie Coleman school, it wasn’t until I stepped foot inside the MCLM that I learned about her, another black female pilot in the 1920s and 30s. Coker was one of The Five Blackbirds (Race Pilots) and flew in the first all-black air circus show at the Los Angeles Eastside Airport. Coker was also a performer. She sang, danced, and played both the piano and string bass. Coker was also a relative of Mayme A. Clayton.

Current Exhibit | Audio Assault: Sights & Sounds of the Black Power Movement 1965–1975

MCLM occupies the old Culver City Courthouse

Huey P. Newton framed poster

The First Book Room

Nikki Giovanni and The Last Poets

First edition copy of Solomon Northup’s memoir (slave narrative), Twelve Years a Slave (1853)

Seize The Time (1969, vinyl) Black Power and Jazz Poetry classic by pianist, singer/songwriter and Black Panther Party leader Elaine Brown.

MCLM Collection | Golliwog dolls were based on black characters and depictions in children’s books in the late 19th century. The rag doll is characterized by black skin, eyes outlined in white, red clown lips and frizzy hair, which is often a reminder of the peculiar nature of minstrely, blackface caricatures and anti-black mis/representations in American and European iconography.

MCLM Collection | Authentic Slave Bills of Sale

Malcolm X recordings

Angela Davis poster

MCLM is where I’ve spent the past 4 months volunteering.

Signed copy of The Dream Keeper and Other Poems (1932) by Langston Hughes

MCLM collection | Display case with books and images of Langston Hughes

4. California African American Museum (CAAM) is located in Exposition Park right across from the University of Southern California (USC) and is easily accessible via the Metro Expo Line. CAAM was chartered by the State of California and began formal operations in 1981. Its current facility was designed by two African American architects, Jack Haywood and the late Vince Proby and boasts a 44,000 square foot facility with 3 full-size exhibition galleries, a theater, a research library that houses more than 20,000 books, periodicals, and records, and conference/multi-purpose rooms, an accession room, and a humidity controlled vault for art and artifact storage (that’s important!). Visitors can expect to engage art that reflects the rich and complex history of African Americans in California and throughout the African Diaspora. CAAM’s permanent collection includes traditional African wooden sculpture art and masks; contemporary art works from Haiti, Jamaica, and Brazil by François Turenne Des Prés, Justino Marinho, Hector Hyppolite, and Renee Constant; Modern and Contemporary works by Sargent Claude Johnson, Betye Saar, Charles White, and David Hammons to name a few as well as works by African American Los Angeles based artists.

California African American Museum at Exposition Park

Displayed here are Octavia Butler’s “Patternmaster” (1976) and “Mind of My Mind” (1977). These titles were included in the Lookin’ Back In Front of Me exhibit because of Mark Steven Greenfield’s artistic influence and inspiration by the musical pioneers of Afrofuturism in the 1970s, more notably Sun Ra and Parliament Funkadelic. [Lookin’ Back In Front of Me: Selected Works of Mark Steven Greenfield, 1974–2014] California African American Museum

Lesson by Mark Steven Greenfield [Lookin’ Back In Front of Me: Selected Works of Mark Steven Greenfield, 1974–2014] California African American Museum

The Egum That Saved Florida, 2013 Mark Steven Greenfield [Lookin’ Back In Front of Me: Selected Works of Mark Steven Greenfield, 1974–2014] California African American Museum

(L-R) Tears of Starlost Children (1977) and Child’s Play (c. 1977) Mark Steven Greenfield acrylic on canvas

Michael Kilgore — Basquiat-Picasso Woman, 2012 Mixed Media on Bristol [Curvature: Lines and Shapes July 24, 2014 — March 1, 2015] California African American Museum

FLASH TAG presents the works of four crews consisting of Los Angeles artists. Crew Leaders: CASTRO and CRE8 ARTISTS: AFRO PUFF, AISE, DEMER ONE, DENAE, DESIGNINE, EARN, ERAH DUPRE, ENK ONE, GAKNEW, KING PHADE, MARK 7, NOMZEE, NONI OLABISI, RENT, RODER 169, SANOIZM, SNAKE DOCTOR, STROE, AND TEXTER ONE.

5. The William Grant Still Arts Center (WGSAC) is named after the highly acclaimed African American classical composer William Grant Still (1895–1978), who conducted musical arrangements for W.C. Handy and Harlem stride pianist, James P. Johnson, played in the pit orchestra for Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake in the African American musical revue, Shuffle Along (1921), and wrote over 150 music compositions in his lifetime. Still was once a resident of the West Adams neighborhood where the center is located. The WGSAC, formerly an old fire station, was erected in 1926 and later transformed into a community arts center complete with exhibition space in the main rotunda, meeting rooms, offices, kitchen, and an outdoor patio/amphitheater through a joint collaboration with the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA), the West Adams community and local Council District 10.

Father with Daughter at Return of the Mecca: The Art of Islam and Hip Hop Exhibit

The West Adams Collectors Club is a free 8-week, intergenerational workshop on archiving grassroots histories, hosted and organized by The William Grant Still Arts Center in collaboration with community members.

Originally published at theillstorian.com on June 17, 2015.

5 African American Museums/Galleries You Should Visit in LA

Written by Danielle N. Hall