Museum of Contemporary Art

Founded in 1979, the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) is the only museum in Los Angeles devoted exclusively to contemporary art. In a remarkably short time, MOCA has developed one of the nation's most renowned permanent collections. Now numbering over 5,000 works and steadily growing, MOCA spans three different locations: the MOCA Grand Avenue, The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, and MOCA at The Pacific Design Center. The Geffen, originally called the Temporary Contemporary, is the original space but was so conducive to displaying artwork and so popular that it has been retained as the largest of MOCA's three locations. It is ideally suited to large-scale sculptural works and conceptual, multi-media or electronic installations.

The MOCA Grand Avenue opened in 1986, a design by the celebrated Japanese architect Arata Isozaki, and the home to almost 5,000 artworks from 1940 to the present. This location generally showcases the museum's permanent collection, including such artists Jean-Michel Basquiat, Willem de Kooning, Richard Diebenkorn, Kim Dingle, Sam Durant, Sam Francis, Arshile Gorky, David Hockney, Jasper Johns, Ellsworth Kelly, Franz Kline, Roy Lichtenstein, Agnes Martin, Piet Mondrian, Robert Motherwell, Elizabeth Murray, Claes Oldenburg, Raymond Pettibon, Jackson Pollock, Robert Rauschenberg, Mark Rothko, Julian Schnabel, George Segal, Joel Shapiro, Frank Stella, and Cy Twombly.

Complementing these two location, MOCA opened a 3,000 square ft. exhibition space in 2000 at the Pacific Design Center, which includes an auditorium and space to present to present new work by emerging and established artists.