Hammer Museum of Art

The Hammer Museum explores the capacity of art to enhance the full range of human experience. Through its collections, exhibitions, and programs the Hammer illuminates the depth and diversity of artistic expression through the centuries, with a special emphasis on the art of our time. At the core of the Hammer’s mission is the recognition that artists play a crucial role in all aspects of culture and society. As cultural center, the Museum advances UCLA's mission by contributing to the intellectual life of the campus and the community at large.

The Armand Hammer Museum of Art and Culture Center (AHMACC) opened to the public in November 1990. Founded by Dr. Armand Hammer, former Chairman of Occidental Petroleum Corporation, the Museum was designed by architect Edward Larrabee Barnes. Financed by Occidental, the Museum was built adjacent to the Corporation’s international headquarters in Westwood. At that time, the Museum featured galleries for Dr. Hammer’s collections — old master paintings and drawings, and a collection of works on paper by Honore Daumier and his contemporaries — as well as galleries for traveling exhibitions. Dr. Hammer died in December 1990, three weeks after the opening of the Museum. Upon his death, all construction was halted and the building was never completed, leaving many spaces unfinished — most importantly, the 300-seat theater on the courtyard level.