Opening Reception for Fall Exhibitions at LBMA on Ocean

Join us on Saturday, October 4, from 7:00-9:00 pm, for am opening reception celebrating LBMA’s 75th anniversary and exhibitions: The California Effect: New Books from the California Chapter of the Guild of Book Workers, and two exhibitions from LBMA's permanent collection, Voice of the Artist: Artist Books from the Permanent Collection, and the Milton Wichner Collection. Enjoy art, conversation, and community!

Public Opening

• 7:00-9:00 pm
• FREE with RSVP

October 4, 2025 – March 8, 2026

The California Effect—New Books from the California Chapter of the Guild of Book Workers is rich in both artists and bookworks. There are 29 artists exhibiting 54 books, boxes, and broadsides. Some are in limited editions and others are one-of-a-kind. All are handmade individually with handmade and fine papers, cloth, thread, glue, inks, and paint. What exactly is the California effect? More precisely, what is the effect on the many of us who live, work, and visit here? The misty mornings and baking hot afternoons? The endless coastline, chill forests or dry desert arroyos? Each of us has an answer, seen in the books we make, in our tastes and inspirations. We turn to making books: printing them, binding them, reinventing them, turning them into art—making books as art.

The California Chapter is one of ten chapters, revealing the national reach and scope of the Guild and its dedication to promoting interest and awareness in the tradition of book and paper arts. The members include hand bookbinders, design binders, conservators, calligraphers, makers of artist books, fine press printers and papermakers. A fully illustrated catalogue with information about each artwork and biographical information about each artist is available to order.

The California Effect exhibition and related programming are graciously supported by The Kenneth T. and Eileen L. Norris Foundation, the Pasadena Art Alliance, and the Bess J. Hodges Foundation

• Artwork shown above: Patricia Owen, Inside the Book, Author and illustrator: David Esslemont. Printer and Publisher: Solmentes Press, Wales. Published 2002. Modified split board binding, sewn on meeting guards. Bound in goatskin with various calf, goat, and decorated papers for décor, embedded inlays of lead and rubber. Pastedowns of handmade paper, leather hinge, and Ultrasuede flyleaves. All edges in silver. Hand-sewn silk headbands, one-of-a-kind. Private Collection

October 4, 2025 – March 8, 2026

Throughout its 75-year history, the Museum has presented contemporary art in all media, including the book arts. In 1983, the Museum organized At Home, an exhibition that included artists’ books by women created between 1970 and 1983. In 2009, Novel Constructions—Artists Create Monumental Books explored books as sculptural installations and included works by Genie Shenk and Carol Shaw-Sutton, both of whom are represented in the Ocean View Gallery. In 2019, the Museum presented The Artful Book of the California Chapter of the Guild of Book Workers, and it continues this tradition with The California Effect.

Voice of the Artist highlights a selection of artists’ books from the Museum’s permanent collection. It touches on the history of the medium, from the livre d’artiste exemplified by Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso, to contemporary offset-printed codex forms such as Barbara Kruger’s My Pretty Pony. Artists continue to expand the definition of the book through unconventional materials, like the tar paper in Genie Shenk’s Ring or the carved wood of Suvan Geer’s Author, Author? Unstill Poetry. The exhibition features a variety of forms, including traditional codex forms, accordion books, and a pop-up sculpture by Paul Johnson. The Museum gratefully acknowledges the generous support of a donor-collector Museum member, who anonymously provided both the exhibition and the video revealing more of the books’ interiors.

• Artwork shown above: Barbara Kruger in collaboration with Stephen King, My Pretty Pony, 1988, Off-set print on paper, Anonymous gift 94.10

October 4, 2025 – January 4, 2026

Since its founding in 1950, the Long Beach Museum of Art has developed a renowned permanent collection of twentieth-century paintings, drawings, prints, and sculptures, with a special focus on contemporary and Southern California art. As the Museum celebrates its 75th anniversary, it continues to honor the collectors who have greatly enriched the collection. One of the most notable of these contributions is the Milton Wichner Collection. This impressive group of works by five modernist pioneers—Alexej Jawlensky, Wassily Kandinsky, Oskar Fischinger, László Moholy-Nagy, and Lyonel Feininger—represents an innovative and expressive force in early twentieth-century abstraction. The collection highlights a significant chapter of Southern California’s art history.

During the 1930s and 1940s, the Southern California region became a creative sanctuary for European artists fleeing the devastation of World War II. Wichner, who arrived in Los Angeles in 1936 to establish his law practice after graduating from Harvard Law School, deepened his interest in European modern abstraction after meeting Galka Scheyer, the influential dealer who represented all five artists. Through Scheyer’s exhibitions, Wichner encountered European modernist painting on the West Coast for the first time. Although her efforts to cultivate a Southern California audience for this work met with limited success at the time, Wichner was deeply persuaded and became especially enthusiastic about its bold use of color.

Through his connection with Scheyer, Wichner assembled a historically significant collection of more than 50 artworks between 1938 and 1953. Although he was not a native of Long Beach, he believed that a smaller museum would make the collection more accessible to the public. After his passing in 1978, his estate executor, Eva B. Mason, chose the Long Beach Museum of Art as the collection’s recipient—honoring Wichner’s vision of sharing these works as a lasting cultural resource.

• Artwork shown above: Alexej Jawlensky, Young Girl (Detail), 1915, Oil on unstretched canvas, The Milton Wichner Collection, Bequest, 1979 79-1.5

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Long Beach Museum of Art, 2300 East Ocean Boulevard, Long Beach, United States