Museum of Contemporary Arts San Diego

1941

The residence of Ellen Browning Scripps, designed by Irving J. Gill, is purchased by the Museum’s founding trustees for $10,000, paid to Scripps Memorial Hospital on July 26. Trustees obtain formal non-profit organization status as The Art Center in La Jolla.

1950

Architects Robert Mosher and Roy Drew (Architects Mosher Drew, San Diego) modify the Ellen Browning Scripps home to include formal galleries.

1960

Sherwood Auditorium, designed by Architects Mosher Drew, opens.

1964

Museum changes name to La Jolla Museum of Art.

1971

Name changes to La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art.

1980

Moser and Drew renovation.

Front of MCASD La Jolla 1981, a couple of station wagons parked in front.

1986

Museum establishes a presence in downtown San Diego with a series of storefront gallery spaces.

1992

Name changes to Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego (MCASD).

1993

MCASD Downtown opens at One America Plaza building, 1001 Kettner Blvd. Exterior designer: Helmut Jahn. Interiors designed by artists Robert Irwin and Richard Fleischner, and architect David Raphael Singer.

A trolly arrives, ready to load a crowd of transporters. — One America Plaza

1996

La Jolla facility undergoes major expansion and renovation. Architects Venturi, Scott Brown and Associates, Philadelphia, restore Scripps House facade, and expansion includes Axline Court, Edwards Sculpture Garden, and Museum Café

Inside the main entrance of abstract building MCASD La Jolla. — Axline Court

2007

Joan and Irwin Jacobs Building and David C. Copley Building open on site of former ‘‘baggage building’’ of the Santa Fe Depot train station. The new facility expands the Museum’s downtown presence, and provides space for large-scale sculptural installations. Architect: Richard Gluckman, Gluckman Mayner Architects, New York.

Neon sign that reads Museum of Contemporary Art of San Diego. Downtown location.

2016

MCASD celebrates its 75th anniversary and announces capital campaign to expand La Jolla facility. Annabelle Selldorf, Selldorf Architects, New York creates expansion design that will quadruple the gallery space from 10,000 to 40,000 square feet and nearly double the Museum’s square footage.

MCASD Rendering of building seen from above

2017

MCASD’s La Jolla facility is closed for renovations. More than 2,500 works of art transported from the vaults and galleries in La Jolla to off-site storage. Staff offices temporarily move downtown. Pre-construction maintenance begins.

Construction Fence with images plastered for the public.

2018

MCASD breaks ground on its long planned for expansion project on October 18, 2018, the Museum’s 77th anniversary.

Professionals with shovels. Can you dig it?

2022

The La Jolla expansion project is complete and the building reopens to public on April 9, 2022.

Niki de Saint Phalle shooting paintings in a gallery with very tall, white walls and light wood paneled floors — studio MAHA