CALIFORNIA— The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will open April 30, 2021, featuring six floors of exhibition and a design by award-winning architect Renzo Piano, according to a June 15 press release.
“The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will be the world’s premier institution dedicated to the art and science of movies… The Academy Museum will offer unparalleled exhibitions and programs illuminating the fascinating world of cinema,” the Academy wrote on its website.
Located at 6067 Wilshire Boulevard, the Museum of Motion Pictures features six floors of exhibition space, space for education and special events, a café, and a museum store. The museum has two theatres; a 1000 seat David Geffen Theatre and a 288 seat Ted Mann Theatre.
Both theatres will be utilized to present screenings, film series, exclusive programs for members, panel discussions, family programs, and symposia all year long. The 1000-seat Geffen Theatre takes the form of a concrete sphere with a glass lookout platform atop giving the museum an identifiable feature.
Director of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures Bill Kramer said in a press release, “I speak for all of us at the Museum when I say that we have been eagerly awaiting the moment when we can share the Academy Museum with movie lovers everywhere.”
The Academy has said the mission of the museum is to tell the stories of movies, “heir art, technology, artists, history, and social impact—through a variety of diverse and engaging voices.”
The Academy intends to tell the full story of film, “celebratory, educational, and sometimes critical or uncomfortable.”
The Museum’s website states three guiding principles: illuminating the past, present, and future of motion pictures and the Academy, to embrace diversity and be racially inclusive, and to educate, provide inspiration, and encourage discovery.
Architect Renzo Piano leads the Renzo Piano Building Workshop in the design of the building. RPBW has designed and built the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco, the Shard in London, the New York Times building in New York City, and many others across the world.
The Academy wrote in a press release, “The building’s design is inspired by the museum’s mission to turn the dream factory inside out and give visitors unprecedented opportunities to peer behind the screen and into the creative, collaborative world of moviemaking.”
In April this year, the Academy release preemptive plans detailing the museum’s inaugural exhibitions. The Spielberg Family Gallery will serve as the entrance to the museum and will be open to the public free of charge. Large screens will educate visitors on the history of cinema, from the Lumière Brothers to the present day.
Stories of Cinema will serve as the main exhibition and will feature, “multiple stories from a variety of voices and perspectives” within the film industry. Adjacent to Stories of Cinema there will be three immersive experience exhibits, with one simulating the experience of walking on stage to accept an Oscar in the Dolby Theatre. The fourth floor will present regularly changing large scale exhibits, debuting with a Hayao Miyazaki exhibit exploring the world of Miyazaki’s animated films. Another exhibit will contain the original multi-camera rig used in The Matrix films to create their iconic camera moves.
To learn more about the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures visit their website here.
