ASU-LACMA Navigating Change in Museums lecture series | Reinstalling the Collection: Curatorial Perspectives on LACMA's David Geffen Galleries with Clarissa Esguerra, Leah Lehmbeck and Bobbye Tigerman

with Clarissa Esguerra, Leah Lehmbeck, and Bobbye Tigerman

Nov. 19 | 2–3 p.m. | Zoom

The opening of the David Geffen Galleries marks a transformative moment for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), presenting a newly reimagined installation of the museum's permanent collection that reflects evolving approaches to art history, interpretation and public engagement. In this conversation, LACMA curators Leah Lehmbeck, Bobbye Tigerman and Clarissa Esguerra will discuss the curatorial vision behind the reinstallation, examining how the museum has reconsidered traditional narratives through new thematic, cross-cultural and interdisciplinary frameworks. They will explore the intellectual and practical challenges of reinstalling a global collection within a new architectural context, including decisions around object selection, interpretive strategies, audience engagement and accessibility. Through an insider's perspective on one of the most significant museum projects in recent years, the lecture will illuminate the complexities of large-scale curatorial collaboration and the evolving role of permanent collections in the twenty-first century.

Speaker bios

Clarissa M. Esguerra is Curator of Costume and Textiles at LACMA where she has overseen, advised and published on numerous fashion and textile installations including “Fashioning Fashion: European Dress in Detail” (2010); co-curator of “Lee Alexander McQueen: Mind, Mythos, Muse” (2022); “Timeless: J. Moreno” (2025, The M Museum, Manila); and LACMA’s David Geffen Galleries (2026). In 2019, she curated “Power of Pattern: Central Asian Ikats” and in 2016 co-curated “Reigning Men: Fashion in Menswear”; both exhibitions were awarded the Richard Martin Exhibition Award by the Costume Society of America. Esguerra is currently organizing an exhibition on the woven arts of the Philippines. 

Leah Lehmbeck is curator and head of the American Art and European Paintings and Sculpture departments at LACMA. Dr. Lehmbeck’s most recent exhibitions at LACMA include “City of Cinema: Paris 1850–1907” (with Britt Salvesen and Vanessa R. Schwartz, 2022), “True Nature: Rodin and the Impressionists” (2022–24), the LACMA presentation of “Another World: The Transcendental Painting Group, 1938–45” (2022–23) and “Collecting Impressionism” at LACMA (2025–27). She has lectured and written widely across her field, serving as editor and/or author for many publications, among which the most recent are Impressionist and Modern Art: The A. Jerrold Perenchio Collection (2016 and 2026); Manet and Modern Beauty: The Artist's Last Years (2019); City of Cinema: Paris 1850–1907 (2022), and True Nature: Rodin in Context (2022). She received her BA from Columbia University and her PhD from the Institute of Fine Arts. 

Bobbye Tigerman is a curator of design, craft and architecture and has served as the Marilyn B. and Calvin B. Gross Curator, Decorative Arts and Design at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art since 2006. Her mission is to connect with museum audiences by communicating the relevance of design and craft to everyday life and to provide a platform to underrepresented designers. Past exhibitions include “Scandinavian Design and the United States” (2022), “Beyond Bling: Jewelry from the Lois Boardman Collection” (2016) and “California Design, 1930-1965: Living in a Modern Way” (2011). She has received degrees in art and design history from Harvard University, the Courtauld Institute of Art and the University of Delaware/Winterthur Program in Early American Culture.