Step into the world of Joseph Beuys and see over 400 works from The Broad’s renowned collection, including his famed “multiples.” These editioned works—designed to be affordable or even given away—were central to Beuys’s philosophy of social sculpture, his belief that art extends into all aspects of life and has the power to shape society. 

From iconic multiples like Sled (1969) and Felt Suit (1970) to pieces like Rhine Water Polluted (1981), these works illuminate Beuys’s ability to transform everyday materials into bold statements on environmental and social issues. Witness how Beuys redefined sculpture as activism and discover why his ideas remain profoundly relevant today.

Inspired by Beuys’s groundbreaking 7000 Oaks project, Social Forest: Oaks of Tovaangar brings new meaning to his vision of environmental action. In 1982, Beuys began planting 7,000 trees throughout Kassel, Germany, accompanied by stone markers, to reckon with the traumas of World War II. Now, four decades later, The Broad’s reforestation project applies this concept to Los Angeles, addressing both ecology and environmental repair and the ongoing reconciliation with historical trauma. 

The title Social Forest expresses the connection between humans and the environment, while Oaks of Tovaangar names the land in the Tongva (Gabrielino) language. The project is part of an ongoing reckoning with the historic and current impacts of colonialism and white supremacy occurring in the United States. With this context at the forefront, Social Forest is shaped in partnership with leaders from the Tongva community, in recognition of the deep history of the Tongva people who have called this land home for thousands of years, and celebrating their thrivance—their radical prosperity and resistance, beyond base survival. 

To execute the planting of 100 California native oak trees in Elysian Park’s Chávez Ridge area, The Broad has partnered with North East Trees, a community-based non-profit that engages in conservation projects throughout the city of Los Angeles. Similar to 7000 Oaks, which employed the use of basalt stones local to Germany to mark each planting, each of the new trees along Park Row Drive will grow next to a naturally shaped boulder made of sandstone local to Los Angeles. At Kuruvungna Village Springs, a sacred Tongva site where a natural spring emerges, five oak trees will be planted, accompanied by a stone mortar used for grinding acorns into flour, honoring the acorn as a traditional Tongva food source. These trees and stones support the Gabrielino Tongva Springs Foundation’s work to restore and steward this important site while nurturing Tongva culture and history. 

Public programs tied to this two-branched initiative include programs onsite in Elysian Park and at The Broad.

The focus of The Broad’s educational programs for this project is a newly developed curriculum that incorporates Tongva knowledge and practices. The curriculum was developed in consultation with Martinez and Arvizu Jr. and presents unique learning opportunities for LAUSD, Charter, and Private schools.

Southern California's landmark arts event, PST ART, returns in September 2024, presenting more than 70 exhibitions from organizations across the region exploring the intersections of art and science, both past and present. PST ART is presented by Getty. For more information about PST ART: Art & Science Collide, please visit pst.art.

Image credit: Joseph Beuys, Difesa della natura (Defense of Nature), 1984. Color offset on heavy paper. © 2024 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn. Photo by Joshua White/JWPictures.com