Carolyn Campanga Kleefeld Contemporary Art Museum

The Carolyn Campagna Kleefeld Contemporary Art Museum is a contemporary art museum located on the campus of California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) in Long Beach, California. Founded in 1973 as the CSULB University Art Museum, it is the only accredited art museum within the California State University system. The institution received accreditation from the American Association of Museums in 1984 and was renamed in 2019 following a transformative $10 million donation from artist and philanthropist Carolyn Campagna Kleefeld. After a major renovation completed in 2022, the museum serves as a vital center for contemporary art exhibition, collection, and education, distinguished by its focus on modern and contemporary works and its integration into a major public university setting.

The museum was established in 1973 as the California State Long Beach University Art Museum, with Constance W. Glenn serving as founding director. Initially housed in the university library, the museum lost this space in 1992 due to university budget cuts. Glenn relocated the institution in 1994 to the North Campus library, now known as the Horn Center, inaugurating the space with exhibitions by Marie-Jo Lafontaine, Howard Schatz, and a group show featuring Sol LeWitt, Imi Knoebel, and Daniel Buren. Chris Scoates directed the museum for nine years before stepping down in 2014; Brian Trimble served as interim director. In 2016, Kimberli Meyer, formerly of the MAK Center for Art and Architecture, became director but was dismissed in 2018 following controversy surrounding the exhibition "American Monument" by Lauren Woods, which addressed police violence against African American men. Paul Baker Prindle assumed directorship in 2019, adding collection management to his responsibilities. The 2019 renaming honored Carolyn Campagna Kleefeld's $10 million gift and her donation of 120 artworks. A $24 million renovation began in 2020, and the museum reopened to the public on February 12, 2022.

The permanent collection numbers over 2,000 objects and functions as both a visual learning resource and an archive of contemporary culture. Since its establishment as a collecting institution in 1973, the museum has built holdings through partnerships with individuals, foundations, businesses, and governmental agencies. The collection is unique in focus and quality among California State University system collections and is regularly exhibited at the museum and lent to institutions worldwide. Major collecting areas include the Gordon F. Hampton Collection of primarily Modern American painting, the Works on Paper Collection initiated in 1979, and the Carolyn Campagna Kleefeld Collection of paintings, drawings, and mixed media works. The museum also holds a portion of Kleefeld's archives, her personal library, and more than 20 inspirational books she authored. The campus Art Park encompasses over 20 works of outdoor sculpture, mosaics, and murals, originating from the 1965 California International Sculpture Symposium, the first such event in the United States and the first held on a college campus.

The Gordon F. Hampton Collection, donated in 1999, comprises eighty-nine works by forty-three artists including Gillian Ayers, Richard Diebenkorn, Michael Goldberg, Adolph Gottlieb, Nancy Graves, Al Held, David Hockney, Ellsworth Kelly, Milton Resnick, Andy Warhol, and Emerson Woelffer. A particular strength is five paintings by Lee Krasner: What Beast Must I Adore (1961), Cornucopia (1958), Stretched Yellow (1955), Gothic Frieze (1950), and an untitled work from 1938. The Works on Paper Collection includes pieces 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. Photographic holdings feature Eileen Cowin, Sidney Felsen, Judy Fiskin, Candida Höfer, Graciela Iturbide, Barbara Kasten, Joel Meyerowitz, Christina Nguyen, Eva Rubinstein, Lucas Samaras, Julius Schulman, Arthur Tress, Eugenia Vargas, and Andy Warhol. In 2008, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts gifted 152 prints and polaroids from 1974 to 1985, including portraits of O. J. Simpson, Dennis Hopper, and Lana Turner. The Carolyn Campagna Kleefeld Collection, comprising 120 works donated by the artist, now constitutes approximately 6 percent of the university's art holdings.

The museum is situated on the CSULB campus in Long Beach, California. From its founding until 1992, it occupied space in the university library. Following closure due to budget cuts, it relocated in 1994 to the North Campus library, now designated the Horn Center. The 2020 renovation, costing $24 million, expanded the museum's physical space and modernized its facilities, with reopening in 2022. The campus Art Park, integrated into the masterplan designed by architect Edward A. Killingsworth, extends the museum's presence across the university grounds through its collection of outdoor sculpture and murals.

The Carolyn Campagna Kleefeld Contemporary Art Museum operates as part of California State University, Long Beach, a public institution. Located on the university campus in Long Beach, California, it serves the academic community and the broader public. The museum reopened to visitors on February 12, 2022, following its renovation. As an accredited institution since 1984, it maintains professional standards while fulfilling educational and cultural roles. The museum's collections are accessible for research through its curatorial staff, including Chief Curator Erin Stout and Registrar Alyssa Torres.