Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach to get donation for bus

Times are tough at the Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach. In November, the museum said it had laid off its chief curator and slashed its operating budget by nearly 15% to cope with a downturn in donations.

On Thursday, the museum will announce a welcome bit of good news. The museum is receiving a $25,000 donation that will go toward the purchase of a bus to be used to provide free tours and art workshops to students from the L.A. area.

The donation comes from Hyundai Motor America, which is expected to present the check to museum leaders at a news conference Thursday. Museum officials said in a statement they expect the bus to bring in an addition 5,000 students to the museum annually.

Hyundai’s $25,000 donation is a matching gift the museum is receiving as part of its efforts to raise $50,000 to purchase the bus. The museum said the initiative arose in response to cuts in arts education that have affected the ability of local schools to pay for bus transportation to visit museums.

The Museum of Latin American Art was founded in 1996 by Dr. Robert Gumbiner, who died in 2009.

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