NHM Commons, the Natural History Museum’s transformative new wing and community hub on the southwest...
NHM Commons, the Natural History Museum’s transformative new wing and community hub on the southwest side of the Museum’s campus in Exposition Park opens November 17 with a daylong Celebration and Block Party. Festivities include free indoor and outdoor events at NHM Commons and programs throughout the museum that are free with general admission. Two new exhibitions opening with NHM Commons showcase the breadth of the Museum’s collections and its community science initiatives.
The $75 million NHM Commons expansion and renovation project, designed by Frederick Fisher and Partners, with landscape architecture by Studio-MLA and exhibition spaces designed by Studio Joseph, comprises approximately 75,000 square feet of renovated space and new construction. NHM Commons includes accessible outdoor spaces. Its transparent glass façade enables the public to see into the Museum and links NHM Commons to Exposition Park. Inside, the new, multi-purpose Commons Theater and additional spaces will allow NHMLAC to expand its community-centered, co-created programming and connect the public with science, nature, culture, heritage, and community while creating opportunities for people to come together to experience NHM, with or without a ticket. NHM Commons will also feature a new café from South LA Café and specialized retail offerings from L.A. artisans.
Highlights for permanent display in NHM Commons’ Judith Perlstein Welcome Center include L.A. artist Barbara Carrasco’s 80-foot landmark 1981 mural LA History: A Mexican Perspective and the new 75-foot dinosaur skeleton Gnatalie—the most complete sauropod skeleton on the West Coast, and the first green dinosaur fossil to be mounted for display worldwide. (Gnatalie’s unusual name comes from the many gnats that plagued excavators while they worked to collect the fossil in Utah.)
“With the opening of NHM Commons, we welcome everyone to enjoy special indoor and outdoor experiences in this new destination for Exposition Park and connect with our research and collections,” said Dr. Lori Bettison-Varga, NHMLAC’s President and Director. “We are grateful to our advisory groups and community partners for collaborating with us to envision innovative ways we can continue to be a resource for our community. We are thrilled to open new doors for Angelenos and our visitors from around the world to experience natural history, community science, and culture.”
“NHM Commons is a site for access, discovery, and community," said Fred Fisher, Founding Partner of Frederick Fisher and Partners. “The singular gesture from the very beginning was to connect the new museum Commons and entry to its surrounding context of Exposition Park and let the park flow into the Museum. Our philosophy from the start was that the building itself is not the content, but rather a framework to allow NHM and the community to make it their own through programming, exhibitions, events, and ongoing research. We are delighted that people are attracted to its transparency. Our practice was built in Los Angeles and we are very proud to have had a hand in shaping the future of this iconic community institution.”
Opening day events feature a Block Party on the new Plaza with a Community Resource Fair, food trucks, and music; live performances; and engaging discussions in the new NHM Commons Theater. Highlights include a musical procession from LA Commons, a dance lesson by Queerchata, and sets from KCRW’s DJ Tyler Boudreaux and DJ Linda Nuves. The day will also include meet n’ greets with NHM scientists, up-close collection previews, and hands-on activities and artist workshops.
A Community Ceremony with Los Angeles Second District Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell will take place in the new NHM Commons Theater at 1 pm. Featuring a ceremonial blessing from Tribal Leader Samual Lopez of the Gabrielino Tongva Band of Mission Indians, brief remarks from NHMLAC executive leadership, a Green Ribbon Cutting and Photo Op, and a performance by Tierra Blanca Folklorico. “The Natural History Museum has created an inclusive community space that will serve Angelenos with free and accessible exhibitions, programs and expanded educational opportunities,” said Los Angeles County Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell. “This is especially important at a time when many Angelenos find it increasingly difficult to afford high-quality cultural experiences.”
Accessible with or without a ticket, the Welcome Center offers visitors a glimpse of the Museum’s vast and wide-ranging collections, which not only explore science and the natural world, but also culture and heritage. Star attractions include:
The new community plaza has been developed in collaboration with the NHM Commons Native American Advisory Council and Studio-MLA to create a dynamic outdoor space with meaningful features that acknowledge the first Angelenos, Tongva (Gabrielino), and to honor other Southern California Native communities for their past and ongoing stewardship of natural spaces. Tongva artist Lazaro Arvizu Jr. has created bedrock mortar installations as part of the educational components of the garden and plaza. The plaza also features sustainable planting, a depiction of the waterways of the L.A. Basin, and open spaces for community use. With an outdoor amphitheater and open courtyard, it will be a gathering point for events, school groups, and anyone visiting the park.
The NHM Commons location of South LA Cafe, run by NHM’s food and beverage partners South LA Cafe (SLAC) Hospitality, will open on November 18. Located on the plaza looking out into Exposition Park, the new cafe is open to the public and accessible without a museum ticket. The new cafe will offer South LA Cafe’s famous coffee, including espresso drinks, and an assortment of healthy and affordable light bites and “grab ‘n’ go” style offerings for Museum guests, Exposition Park visitors, and the local community. South LA Cafe is founded by Joe and Celia Ward-Wallace.
A new retail location in the Wallis Annenberg Lobby of NHM Commons, Commons Marketplace, is also accessible without a ticket. Artist Alexander Vidal worked with NHM community scientists to identify the wildlife in Exposition Park and create a mural for the location that speaks to NHM’s urban nature initiatives and cultural impact. Commons Marketplace will feature apparel, stationery, toys, housewares, and accessories inspired by Gnatalie, Barbara Carrasco’s mural, the Collective Knowledge exhibition, and other NHM experiences. The shop will also feature products by local artists and artisans including Carrasco, Your Sunday, River Garza, Hedley & Bennett, Hereafter, and An Candles Co.
The Commons Theater and an outdoor amphitheater will allow NHMLAC to expand its programming. Following more than a year of close collaboration with the NHM Commons Advisory Coalition, community-centered offerings in the new NHM Commons theater and amphitheater will expand over the coming months to include new film series, theatrical experiences, live animal meet-and-greets, science demonstrations, collection-related discussions, festivals, and other educational content. New tentpole programs include:
T.REX 3D, debuting November 18: T.REX 3D is a new film that shares the latest research about the infamous Tyrannosaurus rex, from hatchling to hulking adult, and prominently features NHM and its collections. Narrated by Sam Neill of Jurassic Park fame and made in collaboration with top tyrannosaur scientists, a coalition of natural history institutions, and pioneering paleo and visual effects artists, this original Giant Screen Films production offers a thrilling, immersive experience that brings visitors face-to-face with the iconic predator—including NHM’s own Thomas the T.rex—and his fierce Cretaceous counterparts.
Ocean Encounters, beginning November 23: Following the decade-long success of NHM’s Dinosaur Encounters program, the Museum will present a new live-performance puppet show featuring both prehistoric and contemporary sea creature puppets (all of which are based on specimens found at NHM). The imagination-expanding show positions viewers as time-traveling deep-sea explorers who explore the under-the-sea lives of creatures like the Mosasaur and Ammonites—giant marine critters from the Age of Dinosaurs—through a kelp forest to meet a Desmostylian, and to share a meal with a Megamouth feeding on glowing, Bioluminescent Plankton.
