Through their annual contributions, MCASD's premiere membership groups (International Collectors and Contemporary Collectors) provide significant funds for the acquisition of new works for the permanent collection. Each year, the Museum organizes an exhibition of works to be considered for acquisition by these groups and the pieces are selected by ballot at their annual Selection Dinner each February.

Thanks to the Collectors' generous support, MCASD has added over sixty important paintings, sculptures, photographs, and installations to its collection (valued at more than $2,043,000), including major works by Matthew Barney, Damien Hirst, Sol LeWitt, Yasumasa Morimura, Tony Oursler, and Cindy Sherman. This year's selections will include a sculpture made of electric fireplace logs by artist Helen Altman, a major "codex" work on paper from Enrique Chagoya's Enlightened Savage series, a recent painting by the San Diego-based artist Manny Farber, a seminal 1983 photograph by Barbara Kruger, a new sculptural work by Paul McCarthy, and new photographs direct from Larry Sultan's San Francisco studio.