The Geffen Modern on the Museum of Modern Artwork (MOCA) in Los Angeles is hunkering down in response to the protests towards mass raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and heightening army exercise beneath the route of President Donald Trump. Citing “evolving conditions” in downtown LA, MOCA introduced that the Geffen Modern will stay closed via the weekend to “prioritize the safety of its staff and visitors.” The constructing is situated close to a cluster of federal buildings which were the epicenter of demonstrations.
The change in working hours on the Geffen follows the president’s deployment of round 4,000 Nationwide Guard members and 700 Marines to Los Angeles to stifle protests over his immigration crackdown. Earlier this week, Los Angeles authorities positioned the town’s downtown beneath curfew from 8pm to 6am.
The closure interrupts the continued 10-day durational efficiency Jail State by Russian artist and activist-in-exile Nadya Tolokonnikova of the feminist activist group Pussy Riot. The challenge, which was slated to run via June 14, attracts from Tolokonnikova’s experiences of incarceration and authorities surveillance by recreating the Russian jail cell the place she was confined for almost two years. However now this efficiency, in addition to the artist’s panel dialogue and stay live performance scheduled for June 15, have been postponed to a later date.
“POLICE STATE is closed by the police state,” Tolokonnikova wrote on Instagram in response to the programming change. “Every single event I did in Russia was shut down by the cops – and now it’s starting to feel a lot like Russia.”
MOCA’s Grand Avenue location can even be winding down operations in the present day at 5pm native time, canceling its weekly late-night programming that usually extends its hours till 8pm; guests with tickets to impacted packages will probably be contacted with choices for refunds or rescheduling. The establishment will probably be joined by its neighbor, the Broad museum, which made the same announcement on its Instagram story. Each cultural establishments are situated throughout the square-mile radius at present beneath curfew orders.
Nadya Tolokonnikova outdoors the Geffen Modern at MOCA, June 6, 2025 (picture by John Caldwell, courtesy Pussy Riot)
The museum closures observe a joint assertion issued earlier this week by 4 Los Angeles arts organizations opposing the ICE sweeps and standing in solidarity with impacted immigrants and protesters. Yesterday, the Institute of Modern Artwork, Los Angeles (ICA LA) — which can also be within the metropolis’s curfew zone — put out a message on its Instagram and Fb pages affirming its solidarity with these protesting.
“Art grounds us in our collective human condition, and we believe in its power against the isolating forces that are relentlessly trying to keep us apart and to relinquish our sense of a shared humanity,” ICA LA wrote in its assertion.
The museum will stay open throughout its common hours, however has moved night programming on-line.
In an announcement to Hyperallergic, Tolokonnikova expressed help for the continued demonstrations towards ICE, which has been conducting mass raids within the metropolis and throughout the nation.
“I hope America pushes back,” Tolokonnikova stated, including that she has been “feeling hope on the streets when coming or leaving the museum the past few days.”
