Behind the Frame

Behind the Frame evaluates 40 of the nation's leading art museums across three areas: their policies, their representation of Jewish art and artists and their partnerships and community engagement. These criteria assess a museum’s record and its current approach to addressing antisemitism. Collections and exhibitions reflect long-lead decisions museums plan five to ten years in advance, while policies and inclusion practices signal how prepared an institution is for the future and the evolving nature of antisemitism. Each museum receives a rating — from Critical Condition to Gold Standard — based on how it measures up.

As the ADL Center on Extremism has documented, extremist activists have facilitated coordinated efforts since October 7, 2023 to push Jewish and Israeli voices out of mainstream cultural spaces, with the impact felt at the staff, curator and visitor levels. Most American museums hold significant collections of Jewish art, but owning the work is not enough. Policies, programming and inclusion commitments must protect and feature Jewish artists, staff and patrons amid rising antisemitism. These criteria assess both a museum’s record and its current approach to addressing antisemitism.

Take ActionMethodologyBest PracticesFAQ
Frame

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Gold Standard

Good Showing

Work In Progress

Not Inclusive

Critically Deficient

Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) logo

Updated:

Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)

Not Inclusive

Not Inclusive

Policies

Critically Deficient

  • Accessible Reporting Mechanism
  • Anti-Discrimination / Harassment Training
  • Prohibits Antisemitism
  • Protest & Solicitation Policy Inside the Galleries

Representation in Exhibitions, Collections & ProvenanceArt & Artists

Good Showing

  • Jewish Artist Representation
  • Israeli Artist Representation
  • Provenance Disclosure

Partnerships and Community Engagement

Critically Deficient

  • Jewish Institution Partnerships
  • Jewish Educational Programming
  • Jewish American Heritage Month Recognition
  • 0 / None
  • 1-49 / Subpar
  • 50-99 / Satisfactory
  • 100 / Excellent
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Introduction

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), founded as an independent museum in 1961, is the largest art museum in the western United States. Its collection spans ancient to contemporary art from cultures around the world, reflecting both Los Angeles’s global character and the museum’s broad encyclopedic mandate.

Art and Artists

Jewish and Israeli representation are one of the museum’s only strengths. The museum holds works by Jewish artists and works engaging Jewish themes, including material connected to Kabbalah, Jewish history, and Judaica.

LACMA’s provenance work is considerably stronger: its dedicated Nazi-era research project follows AAM standards and makes covered works publicly accessible.

Policies

Visitors can reach LACMA through general contact channels, but the research did not identify a specific mechanism for reporting bias or discrimination. No public policy was found that explicitly prohibits antisemitism, and no sufficiently clear protest and solicitation policy was identified.

For an institution of LACMA’s scale, publishing those protections more clearly would create a stronger baseline for accountability.

Community Engagement and Programming

LACMA has a sustained funding relationship with the Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles, including support for exhibitions and educational initiatives. That institutional relationship is a meaningful strength. Beyond this, Jewish partnerships seem to be limited.

The research also did not identify substantive Jewish educational programming during the scoring window.

The museum recognizes several other heritage months but has historically not recognized Jewish American Heritage Month.

Bottom Line

LACMA’s strengths in Jewish representation are outweighed by broader institutional gaps. Jewish partnerships and educational programming remain limited, Jewish American Heritage Month has historically gone unrecognized, and key safeguards around bias reporting, antisemitism, and protest activity are absent.

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State of the Arts becomes an accessible public home for research, profiles, storytelling, and advocacy that can continue to grow over time.

Experiencing antisemitism or bias in the arts?

If you are an artist, writer, performer or member of the arts and culture community who has experienced or witnessed antisemitism, bias or discrimination, please Report an Incident to ADL. If you are seeking legal support, you can also submit a request to ADL’s Legal Action Network.

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