Our Special Projects team designs and produces large-scale exhibitions; unique public programs and festivals; and deeply researched and thought-provoking publications in close collaboration with the Los Angeles Public Library. We partner with community groups, artists, and storytellers to create projects that engage imaginations, promote lifelong learning, and invite new audiences to help us celebrate and support the library.
On view now
Exhibition, Program Series
No Prior Art: Illustrations of Invention (2024-25)
Part of PST ART: Art & Science Collide initiative, No Prior Art: Illustrations of Innovation explores the intersection of art, science, and invention. From historic artifacts to contemporary artworks, this project features an eclectic range of stories that explore the nature of human creativity and celebrate the inventive spirit.
Past special projects and exhibitions
Exhibition, Program Series
Something in Common (2022)
Exhibition
Archive Alive: Stories and Voices from L.A. Chinatown (2021)
In collaboration with the Huntington Library
This online exhibit explored Chinatown’s multi-layered history through photographs, documents, and maps from the Huntington Library and LAPL’s vast collections. Interviews with community members who shared their personal experiences brought the archives to life. Stories and Voices from L.A. Chinatown was complemented by a site-specific installation in Chinatown’s Central Plaza, accessible during the COVID-19 closures.
Book, Exhibition, Program Series
The Autograph Book of L.A. (2019-2020)
This project gave LAPL’s unique and historic Autograph Collection the attention it deserves. It questioned who gets to leave their mark on the city, by considering the culture, history, and politics of the Los Angeles signature—from sidewalk cement markings to murals and street names. It was the third in a series activating the library’s Special Collections, curated and written by Josh Kun.
Exhibition, Program Series
21 Collections: Every Object Has a Story (2018-2019)
The library is a collector of its communities’ stories. This project highlighted that by examining the stories told by a collection from the Candy Wrapper Museum assembled by Darlene Lacey and local gay bar matchbooks from the collections of the ONE Archives at USC to Black history dioramas from Karen Collins‘ African American Miniature Museum and Tom Hanks’ typewriters.
Book, Exhibition, Program Series
Visualizing Language: Oaxaca in L.A. (2017-2018)
Part of Getty’s PST: LA/LA
We celebrated LA’s rich social fabric via the city’s vibrant Oaxacan community—specifically, the Zapotecs, one of the largest Indigenous groups in Mexico and Los Angeles. Oaxacan artist collective Tlacolulokos created a series of murals for the Central Library’s historic rotunda, showing how migration and the socio-political environment can shape identity and cultural traditions.
Exhibition, Program Series
America's Shakespeare: The Bard Goes West (2016-2017)
Program Series
Hollywood is a Verb: Los Angeles Tackles the Oxford English Dictionary (2016)
We looked at the Oxford English Dictionary—and its importance in naming, ordering, and comprehending the world around us—in a totally SoCal way. This series included an unprecedented English and Spanish spelling bee, conversations with acclaimed writers and thinkers, dictionary-inspired puppet shows, musical commissions from local composers, and so much more.
Book, Exhibition, Program Series
To Live and Dine in L.A. (2015)
Did you know the library has a huge collection of menus? It helped us celebrate the rich—and untold—history of food and restaurants in Los Angeles. It was the second in a series activating the library’s Special Collections, curated and written by Josh Kun.
Program Series
The L.A. Odyssey Project (2014)
This project journeyed into the neighborhoods of Los Angeles to explore the connections between literature, history, science, and the humanities, shining a distinctly Southern California light on Homer’s epic poem.
Program Series
What Ever Happened to Moby Dick? (2013)
In partnership with the Los Angeles Public Library, we invited readers across our city to discover or rediscover the great literary masterpiece, Moby Dick, through the lens of the modern and equally mythical Southern California state of mind.
Book, Exhibition, Program Series
Songs in the Key of L.A. (2013)
This project tells the story of Los Angeles through its songs by exploring the Central Library’s incredible sheet music collection. The first in a series of projects examining and activating the library’s Special Collections, curated and written by Josh Kun.
