Southwest Museum Back on City Council's Radar

Nearly a year after a summer filled with contentious meetings and lawsuit filings, the Los Angeles City Council is once again returning its focus to the to future of the in Mount Washington.

Tuesday's meeting of the City Council's Arts, Parks, Health and Aging Committee contains three agenda items that directly address the Southwest Museum, one of which would create a working group tasked with creating a plan to reopen the museum.

The Arts, Parks, Health and Aging Committee meets at 8:30 a.m. in room 1060 of the Los Angeles City Hall, located at 200 N. Spring St.

The Southwest Museum merged with the Autry National Center in 2002, in an agreement that community members hoped would lead to a revival of the historic but financially struggling museum.  and has shifted the focus to expanding its Griffith Park campus.

The Los Angeles City Council approved the Autry's state grant funded $6.9 million expansion plan on June 21, prompting the Highland Park Heritage Trust and Mount Washington Homeowner's Alliance to jointly file a California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) lawsuit that seeks to overturn the city's decision on grounds that the Autry's plan violates state environmental law as well as local planning mandates.

As part of last summer's protracted debate about the Autry's expansion, Councilman José Huizar proposed the motion that would, in part, create a working group tasked with developing a plan to reopen the Southwest Museum.

Tuesday's agenda also contains a motion proposed by Councilman Ed Reyes, which would seek to increase the Autry's investment in the Southwest Museum to levels commensurate with its Griffith Park campus.

The motion calls for the "Department of Recreation and Parks (RAP) to make sure that all future grant applications for any renovation, expansion, or improvements for the Autry Museum also seek funding for the Southwest Museum and Casa de Adobe, and that said grant applications be presented to the Councilmember of the District before submitting to the granting agency."

Nicole Possert, of the Friends of the Southwest Museum Coalition, said the advocacy group supports Huizar's and Reyes' motions.

"Friends of the Southwest Museum Coalition support [these] two motions and will ask the Arts/Parks Committee to adopt these and allow the full City Council to adopt them," Possert wrote in an e-mail to Highland Park-Mount Washington Patch. "And, then, when passed, work with our elected officials to find a pro-active solution for a future re-opening of the Southwest Museum and Casa de Adobe as fully functioning museums showcasing 1-2% of the Southwest Museum Collection."

A third motion, proposed by Councilman Tom LaBonge, requests "the Autry National Center of the American West and other stakeholders to discuss with the Arts, Parks, Health, and Aging Committee about potential opportunities for the Southwest Museum, its building, and its collection to develop a plan that will bring new life and use to the buildings."

Divergent Plans For Historical Museum

The leaders of the Autry National Center and community groups committed to reopening the Southwest Museum of the American Indian--which includes the Friends of the Southwest Museum Coalition--have expressed distinctly different plans for the historic Mount Washington building.

Possert said that the group would not be in favor of any plan that didn't allow the Southwest Museum and the nearby Casa de Adobe building to retain their names. The Friends have called for an agreement through which a third party would manage the Southwest Museum and curate exhibits, with greater access to its collection than the Autry has so far been willing to concede.

The Autry, however, has made it clear that they do not intend to reopen to the Southwest Museum as a working museum and instead envision a mixed use future.

“We believe we have a positive and respectful future in mind for the site of Los Angeles’s first museum. By bringing in a different type of not-for-profit--an organization that does not rely on admission and membership for survival, but one that can bring quality educational, artistic, and community programming to this site--ensures the doors will always be open,” Joan Cumming--senior director of marketing and communications for the Autry--wrote in an e-mail to Highland Park-Mount Washington Patch. “The Autry will continue to underwrite the care and storage of the Southwest Museum Collection while making exhibitions and collection loans possible as part of a new and vibrant Southwest Museum site."