Hauser & Wirth recently brought its Learning Exchange: Artists Matter initiative to Downtown Los Angeles, during which artists, educators and nonprofit organisations assembled around topics of access and community-led arts education. Held on 2 May 2026, the gathering marked the latest edition of the gallery’s Learning Exchange series following earlier iterations in New York and Somerset, while coinciding with the tenth anniversary of Hauser & Wirth Los Angeles’ learning programmes and local partnerships.
Programmed alongside the exhibition Destiny Is a Rose: The Eileen Harris Norton Collection, the event centred on the role artists and cultural institutions can play in creating long-term educational pathways for young people. One conversation in particular, between artist Mark Bradford and Senior Director of Learning Debbie Hillyerd, explored Bradford’s socially engaged practice and his longstanding commitment to expanding access to contemporary art beyond traditional institutional audiences. Throughout the discussion, Bradford reflected on creativity as a form of shared knowledge and emphasised the importance of artists supporting emerging voices and lived experience within cultural spaces.
The programme also featured contributions from young participants connected to Culture for One, a nonprofit supporting children and young adults in foster care, as well as exhibition tours led by artists and educators from Art Division. Their involvement reinforced the event’s broader emphasis on community collaboration and cultural accessibility, themes that also shape Destiny Is a Rose, an exhibition examining collector Eileen Harris Norton’s decades-long support of women artists, artists of colour and California-based practices.
Watch the short Learning Exchange: Artists Matter film here.
