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Gay-popular vacation destinations have often grown out of both informal and established artists' colonies. These kinds of communities have traditionally been among the most visible enclaves to welcome, and often embrace, lesbians and gay men. So it's no surprise that many of the nation's best museums of art contain works in their collections or often mount exhibitions of specifically gay relevance. In fact, you could probably find some work of at least nominal queer significance in just about every major art museum in at least the Western world.
What follows are descriptions of just a handful of the many stellar museums in the Western United States (using the Mississippi River as the boundary) with especially strong ties to the lesbian and gay community. Gay interest aside, these are all museums that any devotee of visual - especially contemporary - art would enjoy visiting.
Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota Perhaps more than many Midwest cities, Minneapolis consciously embraces the daring, the emerging, the unexpected, and the innovative. Nowhere is this sensibility more evident than at the Walker Art Center, which has earned a reputation for presenting both the visual and performance works of both acclaimed and up-and-coming artists. You'll find paintings and sculpture by Marcel Duchamp, Sherrie Levine, and Jasper Johns gracing the permanent collection, but you might also catch a movement workshop by Bill T. Jones or a performance by the Urban Bush Women. And just outside the museum, you can traipse through the 11 landscaped acres that comprise the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. In fact, with one of the nation's leading theater districts, a bevy of slick galleries and design shops, the Leviathan Minneapolis Institute of Arts, St. Paul's Minnesota Museum of American Art, and the Walker, the Twin Cities collectively offer one of the most impressive cultural arts scenes in North America.
The Amon Carter Museum, the Kimbell Art Museum, and the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Fort Worth, Texas Dallas may draw the bulk of the visitors to north-central Texas, but it's in the neighboring self-described "cow town" of Fort Worth that you'll find some of the world's top art museums. First, the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, which in October 2002 will move into a brand-new 53,000-square-foot space, has one of the nation's top contemporary collections. You'll find major works by Mark Rothko, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Roy Lichtenstein, and David Hockney, among many others. There's also a smaller branch downtown at Sundance Square. Next, the Amon Carter Museum, whose photography collection includes works by Ansel Adams, Dorothea Lange, and Laura Gilpin, is a shutterbug's dream. Also note the many fine Western bronzes and paintings, including works by Georgia O'Keeffe, and the Thomas Eakins painting “Swimming” - controversial in its day for a somewhat homoerotic depiction of young nude men frolicking in a lake. This museum is undergoing a dramatic expansion designed by gay architectural wonder Philip Johnson, which, when completed in October 2001, will triple the size of the original facility. When in Fort Worth, also be certain to visit the definitive Louis Kahn-designed Kimbell Art Museum, an exceptional collection best-known for its famous Caravaggio work, “The Cardsharps”, plus creations by El Greco, Goya, and Rembrandt.
The Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley, California Fans of the avant-garde and the experimental have long lauded this fine-arts and film venue at the left-leaning University of California Berkeley - it earned notoriety in 1995 for its exceptional and provocative exhibit "In a Different Light," which explored the gay and lesbian experience through an extensive and eclectic display of 20th-century artworks. Since that time, the museum has continued to present acclaimed rotating shows, including many with gay relevance (such as "Continuous Replay: The Photographs of Arnie Zane," which ran through the fall of 2000). Look to the Pacific Film Archive as well to host the kinds of events and lectures that challenge conventions and inspire wonder. And don't forget the museum's 7,000-piece permanent collection, which includes a unrivaled trove of paintings by Hans Hofmann, numerous French Impressionist works, and a superb assemblage of Asian art.
The Museum of Contemporary Art and the Geffen Contemporary, Los Angeles, California While it has been said, quite accurately, that downtown Los Angeles lacks soul, it does possess the vaunted Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), which has amassed a greater collection in its 61-year existence than many museums have in several centuries. Holdings include works by such diverse artists as Cindy Sherman, Jackson Pollock, Susan Rothenberg, and Frank Stella. Nearby MOCA, the Geffen Contemporary (named in 1996 for gay media-magnate David Geffen, a huge benefactor) presents cutting-edge rotating modern-art exhibitions. Finally, right in the heart of West Hollywood, smaller shows are mounted at the MOCA Gallery at the Pacific Design Center.
The Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, Santa Fe, New Mexico Opened in summer 1997 near the historic Plaza in the artistically rich city of Santa Fe, this museum traces the life of the bisexual artist, who resided during the last half of her life in the village of Abiquiu, about 50 miles to the northwest. This is a relatively small facility, with nine galleries displaying various works from a permanent collection of about 135 paintings and sculptures. Sometimes criticized for providing relatively little biographical information on O'Keeffe or context on the works shown, the O'Keeffe is nevertheless a must for any fan of the artist, and it presents some excellent rotating exhibits that bring in many works you won't see anywhere else.
Little Black Book
Amon Carter Museum, 3501 Camp Bowie Boulevard, Fort Worth, Texas, 817.738.1933, www.cartermuseum.org.
Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, 2626 Bancroft Way, Berkeley, California 510.6420808, www.bampfa.berkelely.edu
Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, 217 Johnson Street, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 505.995.0785, www.okeeffemuseum.org
Kimbell Art Museum, 3333 Camp Bowie Boulevard, Fort Worth, Texas, 817.332.8451, www.kimbellart.org.
Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, 1309 Montgomery Street, Fort Worth, Texas, 817.738.9215; downtown at Sundance Square, 410 Houston Street, 817-335-9215, www.mamfw.org
Museum of Contemporary Art, 250 South Grand Aveneu, downtown Los Angeles, California 213.626.6222; MOCA at the Geffen Contemporary, 152 North Central Avenue, Little Tokyo section of downtown Los Angeles, 213.484.3350
MOCA Gallery at the Pacific Design Center, 8687 Melrose Avenue, West Hollywood, California 213.621.2766, www.moca.org
Walker Art Center, Vineland Place at Lyndale Avenue South, Minneapolis, Minnesota 612.375.7622, www.walkerart.org
