Los Angeles Art Association

The Los Angeles Art Association (LAAA), non-profit arts organization that's been around for 96 years, helps up-and-coming artists. It was created in 1925 to let folks in Los Angeles see high-quality art and build a collection of European and American art for the people of the city.

Los Angeles Art Association

Founded	1925
Type	nonprofit arts organization
Location	825 N. La Cienega Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90069
Area served	Southern California
Products	Contemporary Art
Services	Exhibition, Mentorship, Artist Career Workshops, Panel discussion, Film & Video 825, Peer Review Groups, Public Art Classes, International Cultural Exchange
Members	377
Key people	Peter Mays, Nancy Kaye, Midge Lynn, Linda Johannesen, Rebecca Hamm, Michael E. Napoliello Jr., Melissa Pugash, Neil Wertlieb
Employees	3
Website	www.laaa.org

Gallery 825 on La Cienega Boulevard serves as LAAA's (Los Angeles Art Association) exhibition space for contemporary art. The gallery features four separate spaces, allowing for the simultaneous hosting of four individual programs. The North Gallery holds juried group shows, while the smaller galleries (South, Center, and Wurdemann) showcase solo artist exhibitions. Additionally, Gallery 825 collaborates with local non-profit organizations for their events.

Gallery 825

LAAA offers a diverse range of exhibitions, including group shows, solo exhibitions, lectures, workshops, and artist talks. All exhibition opportunities are juried by esteemed art professionals from both regional and national levels. Throughout the year, LAAA organizes eight shows at Gallery 825 exclusively for their artist members. Past show themes have explored topics such as the convergence of art and technology, contemporary culture's representation of superficial likeness or image, and the significance of multiples, patterns, and repetition in contemporary art practice. Some of the recent shows include:

Events and Exhibitions in Los Angeles

Solo and Group Shows

Each year, LAAA holds eight shows at Gallery 825 for their artist members. Themes for previous shows involved topics such as the intersection between art and technology; superficial likeness or image in contemporary culture; and multiples, patterns, and repetition in contemporary art practice. Shows include:

• juried group member shows
• open juried shows for both members and non-members
• solo and group shows
• invitationals
• proposals

Although most exhibitions only feature members, LAAA has two annual shows available to all Southern Californian artists: the Open Show and Out There, occurring every December. Out There is an exhibition that celebrates the LGBT experience during West Hollywood's Pride Month festivities.

Art Fairs

• LA Art Show
• Photo LA
• Art Platform
• Beverly Hills Art Show
• Palm Springs Fine Art Fair

National and International Presence

United States

• Harvard
• Art Basel Miami

International

Switzerland

• Art Basel

Programs

Other LAAA programs include:

• Mentoring opportunities for young artists with established artists
• Workshops for career preparedness and workplace readiness
• Panel discussions with artists and art historians
• Film & Video 825 - screenings of local and nationally recognized video artists’ work
• Artist sponsorships
• Peer critique groups
• Public art classes
• International cultural exchange opportunities

Exclusive Events for Art Supporters

LAAAb

• Shepard Fairey dinner

Admissions

There are two opportunities for non-member artists to apply for membership. Screenings are held at the beginning and middle of each calendar year. A seven-member panel composed of art collectors, artist members, LAAA board members and prominent figures from other local art institutions select artists for admission based on the strength of their work and their potential to succeed. There is no defined criteria for acceptance; typically, accepted artists are at the stage of development where they are ready to engage in dialogue with the contemporary art world on a domestic and international level.

Guest jurors differ for each screening, thereby allowing for a more objective screening process. Previously rejected applicants, who apply again, will always have their work reviewed by a new exhibition committee. Although LAAA has no restriction for the number of admitted artists, the application process has proven to be highly selective. On average, LAAA receives 150 submissions per screening and accepts only about 20% of them.

Notable LAAA Artists

LAAA has approximately 300 artist members. Through LAAA's exposure to notable curators, gallery directors and collectors, artists have exhibited in prestigious museums, international art fairs and commercial galleries.

[1] JULIENNE MARGARET JOHNSON is a multi-disciplinary international, museum artist/curator, with paintings/drawings in 10 museum permanent collections [2011-2023]and 2 SOLO MUSEUM exhibitions including: the Tokyo National Art Center, the Arab American National Museum -a Smithsonian affiliate. Presently 19 museum exhibitions have honored her work [Armenia, China, India, Italy, Japan,Thailand, USA]; further honors include personal invitations by the Embassies of Culture to government sponsored RESIDENCIES, making art for their permanent museum collections and teaching in China, Italy, Japan,Thailand. Other international shows include Qatar,representing the USA in their "International Exhibition at Anima Gallery, Doha, Qatar. Johnson was the 1st American artist invited to participate in the Japan International Art Exchange Exhibition, and has been the recipient of 2 grants from the International Art Association-UNESCO, for opening the doors of Japan to over 400 American artists. Numerous painting awards include: Cal Polytechnic State University [Curator Pick 2016, Presidents Award 2019] INK & Clay National Competition; 2 International Russian Painting Awards with the City of West Hollywood {1st place/2018; 2nd place 2019. MUSEUM CURATORIAL PROJECTS (6) INCL: TOKYO National Art Center; TOKYO Metropolitan Art Museum 2022,2023 and the Precious Design Institute 2022 INDIA; and others including the IAA/USA-UNESCO 2020,'21,'22. JULIENNE JOHNSON'S art can be found across the globe. She was born in Sandusky, Michigan in her grandmother's bedroom.

• Mei Xian Qiu has had two solo museum exhibitions in New York City and in Los Angeles. Her work has been shown in Photo LA, Art Platform and at the Ping Pong exhibition during Art Basel and Art Basel Miami. Qiu has been featured in ZOOM Photographic Art Magazine, Fabrik Magazine and Artweek.LA.
• Meeson Pae Yang's solo exhibitions and projects have been shown internationally and nationally at Galerie Kashya Hildebrand (Zurich, Switzerland), FuXin Gallery (Shanghai, China), ArtHK (Hong Kong, China), ARCO (Madrid, Spain), Contemporary Istanbul (Istanbul, Turkey), and LAUNCHLA (Los Angeles, California). Yang is a recipient of the James Irvine Foundation's California New Visions Award, the Durfee Foundation's ARC award, the Burkhardt Foundation Award, and the Alpay Award. Yang has been featured in Sculpture Magazine, Art Ltd Magazine, Theme Magazine, the Korea Times, and the Los Angeles Times.
• J.T. Burke worked for 20 years as a nationally recognized advertising photographer and commercial director. In 2010, he mounted his first public exhibition of personal work that was shown in Barcelona, Spain; Bristol, UK; and Santa Barbara, California. His unique photo digital collage works have been exhibited in galleries and art fairs in New York City and throughout California.
• Born to Azerbaijani parents in Tehran, Iran in 1984, Marjan Vayghan immigrated to the United States in the spring of 1995, settling with her family in Los Angeles, California. Marjan continues to live alternately between Tehran and Los Angeles. Her practice is informed by this context of movement and flexible citizenship across both geographical and cultural spaces, and the multiple realities these spaces engender. Vayghan’s solo exhibition at Gallery 825 received wide press and publication, including an interview with the Huffington Post.
• YaYa Chou has had solo exhibitions at Den Contemporary Art in West Hollywood, Fort Wayne Museum of Art in Indiana, and Gallery 825. Her work was included in group exhibitions at Museum of Modern Art, New York, Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art, Virginia, and several Southern California galleries. She is the recipient of the 2011 Fellowship at the Lucas Artists Residency, Montalvo Arts Center, California, and twice she was awarded the Durfee Foundation Grant (2010 and 2007). Chou has received several honors and awards for her animated films.

• The abstract impressionist artist Tommy Hollenstein has exhibited his paintings throughout Southern California and has been featured in LA Weekly, Angeleno and The Scottsdale Tribune. Tommy’s work resides in the personal collections of numerous well known celebrities and art collectors.

External links

• Official website