LOS ANGELES – Since its Sept. 20 opening on Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles, The Broad has welcomed 177,264 visitors in its first 12 weeks and is on track to welcome more than 200,000 visitors by the end of 2015, the museum announced today.
Online advance reservations are booked into March, while the onsite queue can be up to two blocks long during times of peak demand
“The public reception to The Broad has been overwhelming and has exceeded our expectations,” said founder Eli Broad. “Before we opened, we projected annual attendance of around 300,000 visitors, based on museums of similar size. We’re well on our way to exceeding that, and Edye and I could not be more delighted that the public has responded so positively to L.A.’s newest contemporary art museum.”
“In planning The Broad, our highest priorities were attracting a wide audience to contemporary art and creating a welcoming, engaging museum experience,” said Joanne Heyler, founding director of The Broad. “It’s exciting to see a growing diverse and engaged audience in our galleries. Our first 12 weeks affirms the strong public appetite in Los Angeles for meaningful and accessible contemporary cultural experiences.”
The Broad has also breathed new life into the urban experience along Grand Avenue. In addition to the steady visitors in its own galleries, people are flocking to new restaurants, including Otium, the restaurant adjacent to The Broad that opened last month and is helmed by chef Timothy Hollingsworth. Since opening on Nov. 17, the restaurant has been at or near capacity every day. The Broad’s visitors, families, workers from the area and student groups visiting the cultural institutions along Grand Avenue are also using the adjacent plaza as a compact urban oasis for relaxation and assembly.
The Broad offers free general admission to all, and free advance ticket reservations are available for visitors who want to guarantee a specific entry time. When advance tickets were first made available in the weeks before the museum opening, the overwhelming demand crashed the museum’s ticketing system. Over 135,000 tickets were reserved by opening day, just a couple of weeks after they had been made available.
Advance free ticket reservations for the museum are available at www.thebroad.org with most availability in March. Advance tickets are not required. An onsite ticketing line is available at the museum every day except Mondays, when the museum is closed. Admission for the onsite ticketing line is first come, first served, based on availability. The wait time in the onsite ticketing line is 30 to 45 minutes on an average weekday, and 60 to 90 minutes on an average weekend. On holiday weekends, wait time in the onsite ticketing line can be up to two or three hours.