Luna Luna, an endeavor described as “the world’s first art amusement park,” opened its doors in Los Angeles this past December, over 30 years since it originally wowed audiences in Hamburg, Germany. Featuring contributions from more than 30 different artists of the late 20th century, the carnival-museum hybrid now shows original works from the artistic visionaries of the late 1980s, from the neighborhood of Boyle Heights to downtown L.A. as a whole.

Luna Luna was the brainchild of visionary Austrian artist André Heller and his mission to bring together the most innovative creators on Earth to give the public a taste of their artistry in a way that had never been done before.

Daily headlines, sent straight to your inbox.

Subscribe to our newsletter to keep up with the latest at and around USC.

The project boasted one-of-a-kind works from famed artists like Jean-Michel Basquiat and Salvador Dalí, but all of these were hidden away in storage containers in Texas for decades on end — until just a few years ago. Thus, the new project was born, dubbed “Luna Luna: Forgotten Fantasy” in honor of the many years that the world was deprived of its joys. Collection manager Autumn Beck spoke on how she was first approached about reviving the project for a new audience and generation.

“In the summer of 2022, I was contacted by an agency that had this secret project … It was all very much under wraps at that time, but it piqued my interest,” Beck said. “All [the works and attractions] were just in the intermediate state of being put together, and it was just astounding.”

Suddenly, an art historian’s dream: being presented with relatively unknown works from some of the 20th century’s most famed creatives. Better yet, Beck and the Luna Luna team were not only rediscovering these pieces, but they were given the opportunity and mission to piece it all together and make it cohesive again. They also had the chance to take advantage of the media landscape as it is now, giving Luna Luna a new, wider audience.

“A lot of it has just been an uncovering,” Beck said. “All of these pieces were in storage for 35 years and kind of missed the internet in so many ways.”

But soon enough, these pieces would be shown to a whole new world. Since opening last year, Beck says the reception has been overwhelmingly positive — and has plaudits from all different kinds of audiences, even beyond L.A. Part of this she attributed to the sheer importance and particularity of the project from an artistic and entertainment standpoint. After all, where else might one ride a carousel designed by Keith Haring?

“This was really organic, heartfelt, of the time … It was contemporary 40 years ago,” Beck said. “It is such a unique moment, this kind of thing does not happen very often.”

So, on Dec. 15, audiences flocked to witness a splice of the history of art, just as they had when it debuted on European soil in 1987. The ingenuity of mixing an art installation with a festival manifested itself in bringing audiences something unlike any of its predecessors. Contrasting it to other amusement parks, Beck highlighted some of the key traits that differentiate Luna Luna.

“There’s amusement, there is joy and there’s some great delight, [but] they touched on different topics and there’s some realness in it too,” Beck said. “It has a little bit more vibes, dare I say.”

In alignment with the joy, delight and “vibes” that Luna Luna has brought, Beck made sure to clarify that one of the principal objectives of the installation is to make this type of art, which otherwise would hang on sterile white walls within aging museums, more accessible to people who usually operate outside those spaces. It is fine art outside its traditional presentation, in order to supply audiences outside its traditional reach.

“[The goal] is bringing art and bringing that energy out of the more stuffy, formal fine art realms and bringing it to everyone,” Beck said.

Beck has spent much of her life among this more traditional fine art world. Registrar work and arts logistics services takes one to traditional museums and art dealers, but not to carnivals and fairgrounds. This opportunity to unearth a treasure trove of art and provide it to the world in a tremendously unconventional manner represents a thrill that is hard to come by in the realm of fine arts. Beck relished in this, and reflected on how such a chance differs from her usual work.

“Working in fine art, and working in the art world, it’s not often you get to be a part of what feels like a startup and a new experience,” Beck said.

From a wedding chapel by Luna Luna’s original founder André Heller to the exhibition’s key pavilion brought forth by Roy Lichtenstein, each contribution to this experience’s whole being made it, and still makes it, entirely unique and truly unprecedented. Through its new life in Los Angeles, it has gone from a lively outdoor fairground in northern Germany to a more contained and carefully curated display of art that captivates audiences in a whole new way.

Beck helped paint the picture for any prospective attendee of which emotions are invoked when walking among these awe-inspiring pieces.

“It’s definitely a real immersive [set of] lights and music and a sensorial environment that is both very tactile and real and also really delightful and captures your imagination and your senses too,” Beck said.

Luna Luna will keep its doors open to Angelenos until March 31.