Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego

Founded in 1941 as the La Jolla Art Center, the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego (MCASD) began as a small community arts center that has evolved into the foremost contemporary arts institution in San Diego. The Museum has been an important part of the region's cultural fabric and is renowned for its world-class collection, vanguard programming, commitment to today's artists—both established and emerging—and engagement overall with the Southern California region.  

MCASD is located on an extraordinary three-acre oceanfront setting in La Jolla. Building upon the long-term vision of the Board of Trustees, the Museum embarked on a transformational expansion of its site in 2016 led by architect Annabelle Selldorf. This expansion created 40,000 square feet of exhibition space, enabling MCASD to showcase powerful selections from the collection concurrently with large temporary exhibitions. It has become a fitting home for its renowned collection as well as its ambitions—for greater public access, educational encounters, and civic engagement. 

Since reopening in 2022, MCASD has welcomed over 300,000 visitors. The Museum's core audience is drawn from greater metropolitan San Diego—a vast region reaching from the Pacific Ocean to the desert, north to Los Angeles, and south to the U.S./Mexico border. Youth are a key audience and since 2007, the Museum has offered free admission to all visitors ages 25 and under. The military is another important constituency, and MCASD provides free admission for military service members and their families as well.  

MCASD's collection of more than 5,700 works is one of the most significant collections of contemporary art in the United States. MCASD is known for collecting works by promising emerging artists and under-recognized, mid-career artists, as well as by major figures in international contemporary art. In additional to organizing groundbreaking special exhibitions and touring shows, the Curatorial Department has a long history of producing exhibitions and publications drawn from the collection. 

As a complement to the exhibitions, the Museum also presents robust programs of curator talks, tours, lectures, film screenings, and performances, nearly all of which are free with museum admission. Additionally, MCASD brings high-quality arts-based learning experiences to thousands of local students, as well as workshops for older adults to promote intergenerational learning. MCASD is the only organization in San Diego that is devoted to introducing students to the art of our time and integrating contemporary art into K-12 curriculums. Programs for young people include the Extended School Partnership, Teen Art Collective, Play Days, and K-12 School Group Tours. 

The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego invites all people to experience our world, our region, and ourselves through the prism of contemporary art.

At MCASD, we believe:

• art is essential to our well-being.
• artists are visionary thinkers and innovators.
• contemporary art illuminates the issues of our time.
• the preservation and care of art is critical for the future.
• in listening and responding to the needs of our diverse publics and communities.
• in respecting our differences and challenging our biases.
• in embracing the vibrancy of our binational region.

MCASD seeks to harness the potency of contemporary art to inspire expansive thinking and an inclusive world.