Collection
Carolyn Campagna Kleefeld Contemporary Art Museum's permanent collection is a visual learning resource and an archive of contemporary culture. Regularly exhibited at the Museum and also often lent to other museums around the world, the collection is unique in its focus and quality among the California State University system collections. Since its foundation as a collecting institution in 1973, when it was called University Art Museum, the Museum has worked with individuals, foundations, business, and governmental agencies to collect over 2,000 objects.
Gordon F. Hampton Collection
Gordon F. Hampton (1912−1996) was a renowned Los Angeles antitrust attorney, an art patron, philanthropist, and one of the original partners in the law firm of Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton, LLP. Hampton fostered his expansive interest in art as he traveled the world assembling a notable and distinctive collection of primarily Modern American painting. The collection was donated to the museum in 1999.
This historically significant collection features eighty-nine works by forty-three artists. The Hampton Collection includes works by Gillian Ayers, Richard Diebenkorn, Michael Goldberg, Adolph Gottlieb, Nancy Graves, Al Held, David Hockney, Ellsworth Kelly, Milton Resnick, Andy Warhol, and Emerson Woelffer. A highlight of the collection are five exceptional paintings by Lee Krasner including What Beast Must I Adore (1961), Cornucopia (1958), Stretched Yellow (1955), Gothic Frieze (1950), and an untitled painting from 1938.
Works on Paper Collection
In 1979, the Museum began to build its collection of works on paper. The Works on Paper Collection includes works by Kim Abeles, Lita Albuquerque, John Altoon, John Baldessari, Jim Dine, Walton Ford, Sam Francis, David Levinthal, Susan Rothenberg, George Segal, Lorna Simpson, Pat Steir, and Patrick Wilson, among others.
Within the works on paper collection are photographs by Eileen Cowin, Sidney Felsen, Judy Fiskin, Candida Höfer, Graciela Iturbide, Barbara Kasten, Joel Meyerowitz, Christina Nguyen, Eva Rubinstein, Lucas Samaras, Julius Schulman, Edward Steichen, Arthur Tress, Eugenia Vargas, Andy Warhol, and William Wegman.
Carolyn Campagna Kleefeld Collection
A diverse body of paintings and drawings by visual artist and poet Carolyn Campagna Kleefeld are held by the Museum. Carolyn Campagna Kleefeld’s multi-disciplinary oeuvre spans stylistic genres while exploring intuitive, symbolic expressionism relative to her lived experience. Alongside a collection of drawings, paintings, and mixed media works, the Museum holds a portion of Carolyn Campagna Kleefeld's archives.
Art Park & Cal State Long Beach Outdoor Sculpture
Situated throughout the Cal State Long Beach campus, the Art Park includes many historic works of art, including mosaics, murals, and outdoor sculpture. The original collection of nine outdoor sculptures began in 1965 with the California International Sculpture Symposium. Notably, this was the first event of its kind in the U.S. and the first-ever to be held on a college campus.
Spearheaded by former sculpture professor Kenn Glenn, the International Sculpture Symposium represents a significant multidisciplinary experiment through its integration of public art practice with innovative science and industrial technology and production. Each artist invited to participate in the Symposium was paired with an industrial sponsor that provided technological assistance in the form of expertise, access to facilities, equipment, and materials. Many of these collaborations inspired new industrial and artistic techniques. This landmark collection is incorporated into the campus masterplan designed by architect Edward A. Killingsworth. Since the Symposium, the Art Park has grown to over 20 works.
For research inquiries regarding the Museum's permanent collection, contact:
Erin Stout, PhD, Chief Curator erin.stout@csulb.edu
Alyssa Torres, Registrar alyssa.torres@csulb.edu
