Los Angeles, California
Allison
Littrell
Curator and writer. Co-founder and director of Murmurs, the Downtown Los Angeles art space that championed experimental and emerging practices from 2019 to 2026.
01About
Building rooms where emerging voices are taken seriously.
Allison Littrell is a curator and writer based in Los Angeles, working at the intersection of exhibition-making, publishing, and the practical question of how artists are supported.
She studied art history and literature at Bard College and curatorial practices at USC Roski, and led the arts magazines ALL-IN and Third before turning to physical space. In 2019 she co-founded Murmurs with Morgan Elder — a curatorial partnership that began as two friends from Santa Monica and became one of the most closely watched independent art spaces in Los Angeles.
Her curatorial approach favors engagement over commodification: work that asks something of its audience, artists early enough in their careers that an institution's attention still changes the trajectory, and programming built for a community rather than a market.
02Murmurs
Murmurs, 2019–2026
An art space in Downtown Los Angeles focused on championing experimental and emerging art practices.
The name was chosen for its meaning — the collective undercurrents running through a society that are not obviously apparent. Housed in a warehouse just south of the Fashion District, Murmurs was conceived as a new model: a multifaceted platform for modalities of expression with the power to transform reality.
Across seven years it presented exhibitions, installations, performances, and public programs alongside a café and a shop of artist-made goods — honoring the truths of its community and championing creative voices that were not being heard by other institutions. It became a regular fixture in national art press and a first serious platform for a generation of Los Angeles artists.
- Years
- 2019 — 2026
- Location
- 1411 Newton St, DTLA
- Role
- Co-founder & Director
We are choosing to redirect our energy into modalities that can more sustainably support the artistic ecosystem while mitigating financial pressures placed upon artists.
— On closing Murmurs, July 2026
03Practice
Selected roles & projects
- 2021 Guest Curator Foundwork
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2019–26 Co-founder & Director, Murmurs Los Angeles
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Prior Third — arts magazine Editorial lead
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Prior ALL-IN — arts magazine Editorial lead
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Education MA, Curatorial Practices — USC Roski Los Angeles
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Education BA, Art History & Literature — Bard College Annandale-on-Hudson, NY
04Press
In the press
- 2026 LA’s Murmurs Gallery, Known for Its Eye for Rising Talent, to Close After Seven Years ARTnews
- 2026 Los Angeles’s Murmurs Gallery Closes After Seven Years Artforum
- Feature 6 Young Los Angeles Galleries Expanding the City’s Art Scene Artsy
- Feature LA Art Stars Wear the Season’s Hottest Looks Los Angeles Magazine
05Contact
For curatorial projects, writing, and advisory.
Currently in Los Angeles and open to conversations with artists, institutions, and publications.