Elsa Longhauser

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Elsa Longhauser
CitizenshipAmerican
Alma materAntioch College, University of Pennsylvania
OccupationMuseum director
Employer(s)Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (ICA LA)
OrganizationSanta Monica Museum of Art
Spouses
  • Norman Weiner,
  • William Longhauser

Elsa Longhauser is the founding executive director of the Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (ICA LA), California, United States, formerly the Santa Monica Museum of Art (SMMoA),[1] where Longhauser served as director from 2000 until the museum ended operations in Bergamot Station in 2015.[2] From 1983 until 2000, Longhauser served as director of the gallery at the Moore College of Art and Design in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[3]

Early life and education[edit]

Longhauser is from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She attended Antioch College as a young woman. She married and had three children before completing her bachelor's degree in art history in 1971, from the University of Pennsylvania.[4]

Career[edit]

Longhauser was director of several galleries in Philadelphia early in her career.[4] She organized an "important show" of outsider art at the Philadelphia College of Art in 1981.[5] In 1993, Longhauser continued her interest in the genre when she organized a touring show of Terry Fox's work.[6] In 1998, she was guest co-curator with Harald Szeemann at the Museum of American Folk Art for a "major traveling show" of works by self-taught American artists.[7][8]

Elsa Longhauser became gallery director at Moore College of Art and Design in 1983; during her tenure there, she was called an "unsung hero of the local cultural scene".[9] In 2000, Longhauser left Philadelphia and became director of the Santa Monica Museum of Art.[2]

Founded in 1984 as the Santa Monica Museum of Art (SMMoA) and reestablished in 2017 with a new identity and home in Downtown Los Angeles, ICA LA builds upon a distinguished history of bold curatorial vision and innovative programming to illuminate the important untold stories and emerging voices in contemporary art and culture. The museum's 12,700 square-foot renovated industrial building—designed by wHY Architecture under the leadership of Kulapat Yantrasast—features ample space for exhibitions, public programs, retail pop-ups, integrated offices, and special projects.[10]

Personal life[edit]

Longhauser married Norman B. Weiner, a doctor, as her first husband; he died in 1977.[11] She remarried in 1983, to William Longhauser, a graphic artist and college professor.[4]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Santa Monica Museum of Art: Staff and Board". Santa Monica Museum of Art. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  2. ^ a b Cheng, Scarlet (January 9, 2011). "For 10 years, Elsa Longhauser has put her own imprint on the Santa Monica Museum of Art". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  3. ^ Sozanski, Edward (March 30, 2000). "Moore College's Gallery Director Leaving". Philly.com. Philadelphia Media Network, LLC. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  4. ^ a b c Suzanne Muchnic, "Champion of the Overlooked: The Santa Monica Museum's New Director Hopes to Make Room for Artists Who Haven't Yet Shown Up on the Radar" Los Angeles Times (June 18, 2000): 8.
  5. ^ Janet Tyson, "Fort Worth Museums Showcase Self-Taught Artists Who Defy Labels" Kerrville Daily Times (November 9, 1998): 5A. via Newspapers.com Open access icon
  6. ^ Christopher Knight, "Making Magic from the Mundane: Terry Fox's Work is Spiritual with a Secular Slant" Los Angeles Times (January 23, 1994): 86.
  7. ^ Philadelphia Museum of Art, "Self-Taught Artists of the 20th Century: An American Anthology" (March 10, 1998-May 17, 1998).
  8. ^ Tessa DeCarlo, "The Gallery: Drawings Lost and Found" Wall Street Journal (March 11, 1998): A18.
  9. ^ Edward Sozanski, "Bringing Art from Margins to the Center; As Gallery Director at Moore College of Art and Design, Elsa Longhauser is Attracting International Attention" Philly.com (January 9, 1991).
  10. ^ "About".
  11. ^ "Obituary: Norman Weiner" Pocono Record (December 5, 1977): 10. via Newspapers.com Open access icon

Further reading[edit]

  • Elsa Longhauser and Harald Szeemann, eds., Self-Taught Artists of the Twentieth Century: An American Anthology (Chronicle Books 1998). ISBN 9780811820998
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