[AMPAS] – We wanted to share with you information about the future visitor experience anticipated for our new museum. The nearly 300,000-square-foot Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will become a significant cultural landmark attracting visitors from across Southern California and around the world.

Among the museum’s offerings:

* Interactive family-friendly moviemaking labs, guided discussions and structured seminars on media literacy and industry-wide topics

* Screenings of works by established and emerging filmmakers

* Multidisciplinary presentations by artists, craftspeople and technologists illustrating the creative collaborations behind the movies

Designed by architects Renzo Piano and Zoltan Pali, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will be an environmentally sensitive, adaptive reuse of the historic 1939 May Company Building anchoring the west end of the city’s Miracle Mile on the campus of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). It will feature six levels of exhibition and programming spaces.

The museum design includes:

* More than 30,000 square feet of flexible exhibition galleries

* A 15,000-square-foot landscaped public piazza that will serve as a gathering space for visitors and connect the museum with the LACMA campus

* Special event spaces for groups of up to 1,000 people and a rooftop terrace with views of the Los Angeles basin and Hollywood hills

Slated to open in 2017, the museum will be located on two major bus lines and across the street from the upcoming Metro Purple Line subway station.

To date, the museum’s capital campaign has raised more than half of its goal of $300 million for building construction and exhibition development. The campaign is chaired by Bob Iger and co-chaired by Annette Bening and Tom Hanks.

Photos from 4/11/2013 Inaugural Gala

The inaugural celebration for the future home of The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures on Thursday, April 11, 2013 at the historic Wilshire May Company Building in Los Angeles. Matt Petit / ©A.M.P.A.S.

Jeffrey Katzenberg (left), Academy Governor Kathleen Kennedy (left center), Academy CEO Dawn Hudson (right center) and Laura Dern during the inaugural celebration. Todd Wawrychuk / ©A.M.P.A.S.

Academy CEO Dawn Hudson (left), Design Architect of The Academy Museum Renzo Piano (center) and Academy Governor Kathleen Kennedy. Todd Wawrychuk / ©A.M.P.A.S.

Bob Iger (left), Chair of The Academy Museum, Michael Govan (center) and Brian Grazer. Todd Wawrychuk / ©A.M.P.A.S.

Warren Beatty during the inaugural celebration for the future home of The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. Todd Wawrychuk / ©A.M.P.A.S.