NOW ON RECORD:
SELECTIONS BY THE COLLECTION INVENTORY TEAM

In recent years Laguna Art Museum turned its attention inward to the care and understanding of its permanent collection. Nearly 6,000 works of art were inventoried through a collaborative effort led by staff and supported by dedicated volunteers. The work was careful and methodical and created several moments of discovery and excitement. As paintings, sculptures, photographs and works on paper were examined, cataloged and documented, many artworks were encountered that had not been closely looked at in years.

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As part of the project, each participant was invited to select three to five artworks from the collection that had not been exhibited in the last five years. They were asked to respond personally and to share why a particular work resonated with them. These reflections form the exhibition Now on Record. The exhibition highlights individual taste and curiosity while revealing the remarkable breadth of the museum’s holdings. The result is a range of perspectives shaped by those who care for the collection and those who help bring it into view.

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Now on Record also exists in dialogue with Latest and Greatest, on view in another gallery, which highlights recent acquisitions. While that presentation focuses on what is newly entering the collection, this exhibition brings renewed attention to works that have long been part of it but have not been recently on view. Together they reflect the evolving life of a museum collection, shaped both by new additions and by ongoing care, reconsideration and rediscovery.​