Collection-Specific Map
Four Must-See Pieces to Visit
A Resurrection in Four Stanzas. April Banks. 2021. 1840 4th Street. Photo courtesy of Leroy Hamilton.
Back Story. Deborah Aschheim. 2020. 1444 7th St. Photo courtesy of Santa Monica Cultural Affairs.
Light Paintings 02. Susan Narduli, Narduli Studio. 2020. Santa Monica City Hall East. Photo by Amy Williams.
Gestation III. Baile Oakes. 1991. Palisades Park. Photo by William Short.
Art of Recovery
An Initiative of Santa Monica Cultural Affairs
Marcos Lutyens, Rose River Memorial, 2020. Photo by Lindi Koprivnikar
As part of the City of Santa Monica’s Economic Recovery Task Force, Cultural Affairs launched Art of Recovery in November 2020. This grant program harnesses the arts to play a major role in recovery efforts while highlighting Santa Monica as a place of culture and unique experiences. Inspired by the WPA-era’s Federal Art Project, this initiative puts artists to work to implement projects that strengthen and connect Santa Monica. Art of Recovery focuses on three main priorities: economic recovery, community connectedness & restorative justice, and public health & safety.
Lives that Bind: a restorative justice installation
Curated by jill moniz, phd
Installation View, Lives that Bind, photo by Halline Overby 2020
In this new semi-permanent installation at City Hall East, the City of Santa Monica celebrates LA County artists whose visual languages sustain and enrich our community with their diverse practices. Seen together in dialogue, these artworks promote the restoration of voices that have been marginalized, and offer connections that bind generations, viewpoints, ideas and cultural histories into a new perspective on Santa Monica’s cultural landscape.
Art Bank: Selected Works from the City of Santa Monica Art Collection
Annenberg Community Beach House
Ali Acerol, It Is, 1993, Photo by City of Santa Monica
Stop by the Annenberg Community Beach House for Art Bank: Selected Works from the City of Santa Monica Art Collection and view pieces by standout artists from Southern California and further afield. Paintings, prints, photography, and sculpture join public art project maquettes and preparatory drawings for an eclectic mixture of style and subject. The Art Bank municipal art collection was instituted in 1984 to bring art into Santa Monica’s public spaces, and is funded through the City of Santa Monica’s Percent for Art Program.
Belmar History + Art
Historic Belmar Park
April Banks, A Resurrection in Four Stanzas, 2021. Photo by Leroy Hamilton
Belmar History + Art (BH+A) is a public art and civic commemoration project that illuminates histories of the African American residents and business owners of the historic Belmar and surrounding neighborhoods in Santa Monica. Once a thriving community, this area was razed through eminent domain in the 1950s, and residents were displaced to make way for construction of the Civic Center campus. The BH+A project incorporated elements of art, community, and history to creatively and collectively celebrate the past and future legacy of African American contributions to Santa Monica life.
Explore Artworks from the Collection
Take a Public Art Tour
A tour of selected works on the Beach, in Downtown and the Civic Center areas, is now available. The suggested route can be accomplished by bicycle/car, or on foot in sections and predominantly visits public artworks in the City’s collection, interspersed with a few public artworks by other entities including Metro and private developers.