It appears the effort expended by the city of Torrance during the three-year renovation of the art museum at the Cultural Arts Center is paying off.

The venue's second exhibit, which includes work by William Lees Judson on display through March 11, more than validates the vastly improved site.

Based on the enthusiastic crowd that showed up at the show's opening in January, the new Torrance Art Museum -- formerly the Joslyn Fine Arts Gallery -- is likely to continue to attract not only art enthusiasts from the South Bay, but those from the greater L.A. art community as well.

It certainly didn't hurt the museum's image to open in the fall with an exhibit by artist De Wain Valentine, a renowned member of the light and space movement and one of the "old lions" of the Venice, Calif., art scene of the 1960s.

Topping -- or just equaling -- Valentine's caliber in subsequent exhibits could be a problem for some curators. But not for Kristina Newhouse, whose goal is to have the museum recognized by major Southern California artists, collectors and gallery owners.

During the three years the building was under construction, the Torrance curator steadfastly combed galleries throughout Southern California, following up with visits to studios of the most talented and provocative artists.

As a result, Newhouse already has lined up solo exhibits by 45 artists over the next 36 months. And she's just getting started.

Her first consideration when scouting for an artist to exhibit, she said, is quality, followed by the opportunity to raise the consciousness of museum visitors with what she calls "bridge," or more contemplative, pieces.

Newhouse is always mindful, she said, of the museum's goal to become accredited by the lofty American Association of Museums, which the city hopes will attract more prestigious artists, grant money and visitors.

All this she tackles while attempting to stay within the confines of the city's stated mission for the museum: "To invigorate, delight and fascinate Torrance residents and the South Bay community."

But it takes more than architecturally sound gallery space, humidification systems and superb lighting to mold a community museum into a defining force and important art destination. For Newhouse, it requires fine representational pieces along with art that extends local traditions.

The three exhibits now on view at the museum address Newhouse's requirements well.

The main gallery houses work by enough emerging Southern California artists to significantly influence the California art scene. But in the second gallery, the exhibit of 16 never-before-displayed oil and watercolor paintings by California plein-air painter Judson is icing on the cake.

In a lucky twist of fate, the paintings were residing in Harbor City, in the collection of Judson's great-grandson, H. Douglas Judson.

"I received this phone call from someone saying, 'My great-grandfather used to paint ...' and I thought 'Uh oh, I'm in trouble now' -- I get a lot of calls like that," said Newhouse. "And then I Googled the name and thought, 'Oh, wow!' "

By 1893, the British-born William Lees Judson had immigrated to the United States and was painting in the scenic Arroyo Seco area of Los Angeles. He rendered plein-air scenes of mountains, valleys and deserts and in 1895 became head of the art department at USC.

His work is in collections at the Orange County Museum of Art, the Irvine Museum, the Autry National Center's Museum of the American West and the London Museum in Ontario, Canada.

Judson's work was the catalyst for the landscape show in the main gallery. Titled "Plainer: A Contemporary Take on Landscape," it is a play on the plein-air theme. In this exhibit, artists bypass the romanticized pastoral images of 17th-century landscape to incorporate influences of the industrial, urban scene in their work.

The gallery pulsates with a multimedia mix of line, color, form, 3-D art, animation and sound.

It's the sound that first grabs the attention of visitors, as the soundtrack from the 1968 Sergio Leone film "Once Upon a Time in the West" draws them to a wall-mounted flat screen. It's there that artist Kyle Riedel's digital animation of images from the Mojave desert are superimposed onto the classic gunfight scene from the film.

In the center of the gallery is a thought-provoking, free-standing installation by George Raggett titled "Tar-Pit," depicting the artist's response to the Iraq war.

"I wanted to bump things up a bit," said Newhouse. "In the other gallery we have William Lees Judson's classical plein-air landscapes, but this is one of the pieces in this room that will be very challenging for people to look at. They even may find themselves out of their realm of what art is."

Raggett had a solo installation at UCLA's Hammer Museum two years ago.

Karen Carson, though, may be the most famous artist in the exhibit. Her dramatic abstract acrylic and ink on silk, titled "Red Wind," is 5-by-21 feet of vibrant color in motion. The artist, who lives part-time in Montana, did the piece in response to the winds that whip around the prairie.

"She is one of the grand dames of the L.A. art scene," said Newhouse.

Lucas Reiner's abstract, titled "Redentore #1," deals with his reaction to a fireworks display after 9-11.

"It struck him how much less exciting the fireworks were after 9-11," said Newhouse. "The fireworks have burst and they are starting to fade and the air is filled with smoke. He is definitely a painter's painter. Artists are always examining the brush work and the layering of color," she said.

By far, the visitor favorite is a 5-by-18-foot murallike painting by Constance Mallinson called "See the World." The piece incorporates little vignettes. Idyllic scenes from Yosemite Valley, ancient Greece, and rippling waterfalls are juxtaposed with scenes of impending urban sprawl and man's assault upon nature.

With occasional nods to Thomas Kinkade and Grandma Moses, Mallinson interweaves these pastoral feasts for the eye into sections of jarring urban landscapes.

"It is like a fantasy of what once was. People have returned just to look at it again," said Newhouse.

In the gallery's center is a metaphoric piece by Terri Phillips called "The Joyous Lake," made up of dozens of glasses -- wine, champagne and highball -- filled with blue water. Above are billowy clouds made from old wedding gowns.

In addition to the first two galleries, a third, smaller gallery will feature South Bay artists. On view now is the work of Portuguese Bend plein-air painter Steve Shriver. His watercolor series reveals the correlation between modern landscape and the conventions of classical decorative arts. His exhibit, "Road Show," offers viewers the images of the urban roadway at twilight.

Want to go?

• The Torrance Art Museum is open from noon to 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays, at 3320 Civic Center Drive, Torrance. Admission is free. For more information, call 310-618-6340.

• David Judson, great-great-grandson of William Lees Judson, will discuss the elder Judson's involvement in the Arts and Crafts movement in Southern California from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday. Tickets are $10, $5 for seniors and students with I.D. To purchase tickets, call 310-618-2720; the event identification number is 6901-101.