Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego

MCASD traces its origins to November 1940, when President Roosevelt's National Art Week prompted La Jolla artists to exhibit in the home of Ellen Browning Scripps. The success of this exhibition led to the purchase of Scripps's residence in 1941 for $10,000, paid to Scripps Memorial Hospital, and the establishment of The Art Center in La Jolla as a formal non-profit with Freda L. Klapp as its first Director. The institution became the La Jolla Art Museum in 1964, then the La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art in 1971 when it narrowed its focus to art since 1950. The name changed to San Diego Museum of Contemporary Art in 1990, and finally to Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego in 1992 to distinguish itself from the San Diego Museum of Art and acknowledge its broader regional context. Major milestones include the 1996 $9.2 million La Jolla expansion by Venturi Scott Brown & Associates, the 2007 opening of a $25 million downtown facility designed by Richard Gluckman, and the 2017-2022 $105 million La Jolla expansion and renovation by Annabelle Selldorf of Selldorf Architects, which broke ground in 2018 and reopened on April 9, 2022. Kathryn Kanjo was appointed as The David C. Copley Director and CEO, and the museum celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2016.

MCASD's collection encompasses more than 5,700 works in a variety of media, including painting, sculpture, works on paper, photography, video, and installation. The collection is defined by its concentration on art created after 1950, with particular depth in California Light and Space art, Minimalism, and work by artists exploring the United States-Mexico border experience. Significant bequests have shaped the collection's character, including over 40 works from Ruth and Murray Gribin featuring John Altoon, Robert Irwin, and Ed Ruscha; more than 30 works from the estate of Vance E. Kondon and Elisabeth Giesberger strengthening Minimalist holdings with Piero Manzoni, Brice Marden, and Robert Ryman; and over 40 works by Christo from David C. Copley's collection. The museum's binational mandate has produced major exhibitions such as La Frontera/The Border: Art About the Mexico/United States Border Experience, Strange New World: Art and Design from Tijuana, The Very Large Array: San Diego/Tijuana Artists in the MCA Collection, and Being Here With You / Estando aquí contigo: 42 Artists from San Diego and Tijuana.

The collection features significant works by major contemporary artists, with particular strengths in Light and Space and Minimalist art. Robert Irwin, a central figure in the Light and Space movement, is represented through multiple works and his site-specific commission Robert Irwin: Light & Space at the downtown location. Sol LeWitt's Six-Part Modular Cube (1976) occupies a prominent position museum's collection. The museum commissioned Richard Serra's Santa Fe Depot (2004), six cube-like structures weighing a collective 156 tons, installed behind the Jacobs Building. Jenny Holzer's For MCASD employs thousands of LEDs in clear plastic tubes displaying phrases such as 'Abuse of power comes as no surprise' and 'An elite is inevitable.' Roman De Salvo created light fixtures of industrial materials for the Copley Building stairwell. The collection also includes Niki de Saint Phalle's Madame, or Green Nana with Black Bag (1968), displayed in the reimagined Strauss Galleries under a carefully positioned linear skylight. Maya Lin's Systematic Landscapes has been featured in the Jacobs Building.

MCASD operates two sites approximately 13.2 miles apart. The La Jolla flagship at 700 Prospect Street occupies a 3-acre oceanfront campus. Its origins lie in Ellen Browning Scripps's 1916 residence, South Molton Villa, designed by Irving Gill after fire destroyed the original 1897 structure. The concrete building with its signature arched porch was purchased in 1941 and has undergone successive expansions by Mosher & Drew in 1950, 1960, and the late 1970s; a 1996 renovation by Venturi Scott Brown & Associates; and the 2017-2022 Selldorf Architects expansion. The $105 million project added the two-story Jacobs Wing with 30,000 square feet of exhibition space, converted Sherwood Auditorium into the Strauss Galleries, added Jacobs Hall as a flexible event venue, and created the Art Park and Sahm Seaview Room. The design features travertine panels, velvety concrete floors, white walls, and 17-foot cast-in-place concrete ceilings. The downtown location at 1100 Kettner Boulevard comprises the Joan and Irwin Jacobs Building, a renovated 1915-16 Santa Fe Depot baggage building, and the David C. Copley Building, designed by Richard Gluckman and opened in 2007 with 30,000 additional square feet. The downtown interiors were originally designed by artistsConcrete facts only. No speculation or inference beyond what is directly stated in sources.

MCASD's La Jolla location at 700 Prospect Street, La Jolla, CA 92037, is open Thursday through Saturday from 11 AM to 7 PM and Sunday from 11 AM to 5 PM; it is closed Monday through Wednesday. The museum offers free admission to visitors age 25 and younger, courtesy of the Qualcomm Foundation. The downtown location at 1100 Kettner Boulevard, San Diego, CA 92101, provides additional exhibition space and programming. MCASD maintains an active exhibition schedule, with upcoming presentations including An Artful Life: A Tribute to Matthew C. Strauss (March 20, 2025 to August 3, 2025) and Yan Pei-Ming's A Burial in Shanghai (April 17, 2025 to January 4, 2026), the latter's first United States presentation. The museum's website is http://www.mcasd.org.