The needs of the millions of low-income Angelinos dispersed throughout the immense County of Los Angeles cannot be met by the excellent children’s museums that are present in pockets of Los Angeles. These Museums are in West L.A. (Noah’s Ark at the Skirball, Zimmer’s Children’s Museum and LACMA’s Boone Gallery), North L.A. (Pasadena’s KidSpace and the soon to be open L.A. Children’s Museum in the North-east San Fernando Valley) and Downtown (Exposition Park Museums). It is not economically feasible to duplicate these large-scale projects throughout Los Angeles County. PLLA seeks to assist communities in economically disadvantaged communities throughout Los Angles to have a high quality children’s museum for a fraction of the cost of their larger counterparts in more affluent areas. PLLA will raise $1.5 million for each PLLA Center.
Avoid Building and Architectural Expenses. Because of PLLA’s priority of creating multiple museums with amazing galleries and great staff, we will necessarily cut expenses by minimizing building and architectural costs. Therefore, an ideal space for a PLLA Center would be in a retail area normally used for a store such as a small-sized Target or TJ Maxx.
Franchise Model. PLLA will work with a gallery and exhibit designer to create design-plans for 12-15 integrated galleries. The PLLA Board and the Community Advisory Councils would then choose which galleries from the master list to place at each PLLA Center (typically 9-10). Each gallery will be 31’ by 31’ in order to provide maximum flexibility and save on costs. Duplication of the galleries and uniformity in size will help to keep the costs low for each individual PLLA Center as most of the galleries they will house will have previously been designed and built elsewhere and galleries will not have to be re-sized based on the size of the location secured for the PLLA Center. Community Advisory Councils will also be expected to secure a building at no cost in a site location that does not need extensive redevelopment and that has no leasing expenses.
Community Partners. Partnerships with other institutions in the community will be developed for galleries to be created and funded by these community partners. Examples could be a gallery from the Natural History Museum, Inner-City Arts, or the L.A. Children’s Museum.
Submitted by: Scott McVarish
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