From the Getty Center to LACMA, Black artistry is on full display in Los Angeles this February – and these are worth your time.
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Editor, Secret Los Angeles
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January 21, 2026
It’s time! Black History Month returns this February, and Black art and artists are on full display at museum exhibitions around Los Angeles.
Between the Hammer Museum and LACMA to the California African American Museum, and covering everything from the Harlem Renaissance to LGBTQ+ nightlife, there are just so many exciting options to explore – and most are free to enter!
So let’s just dive right in. Without further ado, here are the must-see museum exhibitions of 2026 you’ve got to check out this Black History Month.
The Day Tomorrow Began – LACMA
Tavares Strachan’s multisensory exhibit on the second floor of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art is a must-see event. The immersive and jaw-dropping exhibit plays with sculpture, sound, scent, light, history, and science to highlight elements of the Black diaspora that are often left out of mainstream history.
The LACMA is free to enter after 3 pm on weekdays for L.A. County residents.
Monuments – The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA
Monuments, a controversial new exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art, features decommissioned Confederate statues. Exploring the collision of American history and trauma, this moving and sometimes heartbreaking exhibition recontextualizes who the U.S. puts on a pedestal and the lasting effects of the Civil War hundreds of years later.
The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA is free to enter on the first Friday of each month. RSVPs are recommended.
The Museum of African American Art
Located in Baldwin Hills, the MAAA features a permanent installation of over 40 works from Palmer C. Hayden, a leading artist of the Harlem Renaissance.
Admission to the museum is free.
These Walking Glories – CAAM
Artist Sage Ni’Ja Whitson has crafted a ceremonial exhibit grieving and honoring the Black transgender people who were murdered or committed suicide across the United States. The moving exhibit includes a ceremony and performance, an oral history recording, recordings of the moon cycle, and more.
This CAAM is free to the public. This exhibit is open through April 5, 2026.
Sometimes I Feel Like I Am Almost Home – CAAM
This short film by J.J. Anderson explores the artist’s ancestral roots in North Carolina and her hometown’s racist history. The film features archival imagery and intergenerational interviews.
This CAAM is free to the public. This exhibit is open through March 22, 2026.
Dear Mazie – CAAM
This exhibition is an ode to Amaza Lee Meredith, aka Mazie, the first Black queer woman architect in the United States. Eleven contemporary artists, architects, and designers were commissioned to display her life, legacy, and impact on a field that didn’t welcome her.
This CAAM is free to the public. This exhibit is open through April 5, 2026.
Giving you the best that I got – CAAM
Dozens of artists are featured in this CAAM exhibition honoring every facet of the sacred journey of Black motherhood.
This CAAM is free to the public. This exhibit is open through April 5, 2026.
Highly Favored – Los Angeles LGBT Center
This year’s Highly Favored exhibit at the Los Angeles LGBT Center highlights Black queer nightlife and will honor the life of Jewel Thais-Williams, the owner of the L.A. bar Catch One who died in 2025.
An opening night ceremony on February 13 will showcase the work of visual artist Nikko Lamere. Half art show, half dance party, guests will honor the club space as a pillar of joy and community building.
The exhibit is free to the public with an RSVP.
Photography and the Black Arts Movement – Getty Center
This upcoming Getty Center exhibit explores African American photography, culture, and the struggle for civil rights. It will reportedly cover a range of “artists and activists—from studio and street photographers to graphic designers and community organizers—used photography as a tool for social change.”
This exhibit opens February 24 in the lower level of the museum’s West Pavilion.
Made In L.A. – Hammer Museum
Photo by Iwan Baan, art is “Erasing Shadows” by Greg Breda
28 artists actively working in and around Los Angeles contributed to this biennial exhibit in the Hammer Museum. “The works presented in this year’s biennial include film, painting, theater, choreography, photography, sculpture, sound, and video,” reads a press release. “Each engages with this city in ways alternately literal, formal, material, and metaphoric. Conceived or made in Los Angeles, they are of this city and nowhere else.”
The Hammer Museum is free to enter. This exhibit runs through March 1, 2026.