June 14, 2021 – Through her metalwork and neon, Tessie Dong creates elegant and rhythmic compositions that play with weight, delicacy, and light. The screen and chair displayed in the Museum of Neon Art’s windows are composed of undulating curves and circles that unify, but also complicate, a composition in stained glass and neon glass, both hand-bent and blown. Since the 1970s, Dong has created multimedia artworks ranging in scale from a few inches up to 40 feet with materials such as steel rods, patinated sheet metal, paint, stained glass, textile, and neon.

Tessie Dong was born in Canton, China. She moved to Arizona as a teenager and received an Associates of Art from Eastern Arizona College and later moved to Los Angeles for further study. She received her education at Art Center College of Design, specializing in commercial illustration. After photography grew in prominence as an advertising medium, Dong pivoted from illustration to work in architectural model building. This attention to space and proximity to architects led her to propose monumental works, designed with architecture in mind. She conceived of and created large-scale architectural installations for banks, restaurants, tennis clubs, synagogues, and private homes. The media she has used ranges from batik canvases to painted dimensional murals to multimedia sculptures. She is a skillful welder and glassblower who hand-makes each element in her work, embracing the transformative capacities of color, light, and material.

June 7, 2021 – The exhibition 40 Years Of Light: Works From The MONA Collection & Collective features 16 artists who create sculptural, kinetic, and atmospheric works that engage light. For the past 40 years, the Museum of Neon Art has been a haven for artists who valued experimental approaches toward luminous, electric, and kinetic artwork. The exhibition shares about the reemergence of neon art in the 1970s and the role artists who exhibited at MONA played in the canon of luminous artwork. When MONA was founded in Los Angeles in 1981, it was the only museum dedicated to preserving neon, electric, and kinetic art. In a time when the city was losing its glow and neon sign shops were losing their customers, the museum aimed to protect neon as a form of both vernacular art and fine art. Now in the museum’s 40th year, neon is seeing a new renaissance. Contemporary artists, benders, craftspeople, and enthusiasts see the light and honor the skill, craftpersonship, and historic legacy of this unique art-form.

This exhibition displays artworks from the 1980s through 2020 and honors the range of approaches toward light. Artwork by community members who continue to shape MONA’s vision and push toward experimentation are exhibited alongside works from the museum’s permanent collection. The exhibition illustrates neon’s dynamic and varied legacy, as well as the ways that MONA itself represents a sum of the contributions of its vibrant community.

April 8, 2021 – Throughout the month of April, the Museum of Neon Art will display a new window-based public display in honor of Armenian History Month. The exhibit presents an excerpt of a poem in Armenian and English under neon lights representing the Armenian flag; it faces the paseo in front of the museum and will be best viewed when the sun sets. The exhibition was created by MONA and Leaf Cutter Studio.

This April 24th will mark the 106th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire. Visitors will have the opportunity to pause for a moment of silence in honor of the 1.5 million Armenians massacred during the Armenian Genocide and the millions of others who were orphaned and displaced globally as a result of the state-sanctioned massacres.

February 18, 2021 – The Museum of Neon Art is pleased to share its latest window-based exhibition Proof Through The Night with the public. The exhibition, which faces onto the paseo walkway and is best viewable from 6pm-midnight, features three works that explore the symbolism of the American flag. The title for the exhibition quotes Francis Scott Key’s 1814 poem “Defence of Fort M’Henry,” which became the song “The Star Spangled Banner.” The poem recalls the Battle of Baltimore in 1812, and uses the flag as a central symbol for the uncertain fate of the United States, as well as its eventual victory. Since the song was established as the national anthem in 1931 it has served as a backdrop for American pomp, pride, and protest. In November 2017, the California Chapter of the NAACP called on Congress to remove “The Star-Spangled Banner” as the national anthem, due to the third stanza of the song which refers to slavery.

December 1, 2020 – On “Giving Tuesday”, the Museum of Neon Art launched a crowdfunding campaign for an outdoor exhibition space that will showcase historic California neon signage. The “Sign Garden” is currently being installed in the Museum parking lot, and will feature illuminated neon signs as well as a behind-the-scenes peek at signs undergoing restoration.

This open-air gallery will provide a COVID-safe way for MONA to share its growing collection and create an iconic new Los Angeles destination.

November 5, 2020 – This week, MONA installed a neon sculpture of glowing rainbow wings facing out of the Museum’s front window onto Brand Boulevard, the main thoroughfare in Downtown Glendale. The wings, which were donated to the Museum by event producer Relevé Unlimited, are intended to forge points of connection and interaction with MONA’s growing audience at a time when the Museum is mandated by the County of Los Angeles to remain closed. As a public artwork, the wings will provide an inspiring message in dark times, reminding passersby that they are powerful, and that art can transform those in its presence. The wings will shine from 6:30pm–2am nightly.

“The Museum of Neon Art welcomes community members to tag the museum on social media and share something that gives them hope in this moment.

July 1, 2020 – Today the Museum of Neon Art began removing the House of Spirits signage and transporting it to our facilities for safekeeping and repair. The need to work quickly became clear after theft of some portions and escalating threats to the sign, which is attached to a building that was irreparably damaged by fire in December 2018. The sign was donated to MONA in order to preserve this iconic landmark; however, the Museum intends to return the sign to the Echo Park neighborhood as soon as a suitable new home can be found.

MONA wants to preserve this unique and historically significant sign to share it with future generations and teach about the rich history of Echo Park.

April 25, 2020 – When President Trump recently suggested that the internal use of disinfectant and ultraviolet (UV) light could be helpful in treating COVID-19, it left disinfectant companies scrambling to issue statements pleading with consumers not to ingest their product.

The UV comments, on the other hand, sounded very familiar at MONA, since light and electricity have been the focus of both appropriate and inappropriate, effective and ineffective therapeutic treatments for centuries.

Dydia DeLyser, Associate Professor of Geography at CSU Fullerton and Secretary of MONA’s Board of Trustees, and Paul Greenstein, neon sign designer, builder, installer, and restorer, share their fascinating neon knowledge:

Read about the UV “Cure” HERE!

April 1, 2020 – The Museum of Neon Art is thrilled to announce that, after a year-long public search, Corrie Siegel has been selected to serve as Executive Director. Siegel brings to MONA twenty years of experience working to empower and engage communities through the arts. Her experience as a gallery director, exhibit curator, museum educator, museum administrator, and artist provides her with a solid foundation for the role.

Siegel has taken over fully from Kim Koga, who retired from her post of 20-plus years in July 2019. MONA is grateful for the leadership of Interim Director Laura Darlington in this time, as well as the visionary leadership of Koga over the past two decades as we look forward to a new chapter. Siegel embodies values that MONA represents – creativity, curiosity, community, and preservation. As Executive Director, Siegel will work to deepen community connections to MONA, support new artistic production and experimentation, and safe-guard historic signage and art through new educational, artistic, and funding initiatives.