MOCA Los Angeles: Free Contemporary Art in the Heart of LA

The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) is Los Angeles's only museum dedicated exclusively to contemporary art—work created from 1940 to the present. With a permanent collection of over 7,500 works spanning painting, sculpture, photography, video, installation, and performance art, MOCA provides one of the most comprehensive surveys of postwar and contemporary artistic production available anywhere. And since 2020, admission is free for all visitors, making this world-class collection accessible to everyone.

MOCA operates across three locations in Los Angeles: the main Grand Avenue building designed by Arata Isozaki in Downtown LA, The Geffen Contemporary in Little Tokyo (a converted warehouse that provides expansive space for large-scale installations), and the MOCA Store on West Hollywood's iconic Sunset Boulevard. This multi-site model allows the museum to present its collection and temporary exhibitions across diverse architectural settings, each offering a distinct viewing experience.

The Collection

Postwar American Art

MOCA's collection is particularly strong in Abstract Expressionism, Pop Art, Minimalism, and Post-Minimalism—the movements that defined American art's global dominance in the second half of the twentieth century. Major holdings include works by Mark Rothko, Willem de Kooning, Robert Rauschenberg, Claes Oldenburg, Dan Flavin, and Donald Judd, providing a comprehensive survey of the period's most significant artistic developments.

Los Angeles Art Scene

As LA's contemporary art museum, MOCA maintains a strong commitment to documenting and celebrating the city's distinctive artistic contributions. The collection includes significant works by LA-based artists across movements from Light and Space to street art, reflecting the city's role as one of the world's most dynamic contemporary art centers.

Diversity and Representation

Under recent leadership, MOCA has significantly expanded its collection to include more works by artists of color, women artists, and artists from underrepresented communities. This commitment to representational breadth ensures the collection reflects the true diversity of contemporary artistic practice.

The Three Locations

MOCA Grand Avenue

The main Grand Avenue building, designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Arata Isozaki, is one of the finest purpose-built contemporary art spaces in the United States. The building's sunken courtyard entrance, barrel-vaulted galleries with natural skylighting, and intimate gallery proportions create viewing conditions that serve contemporary art exceptionally well. The Grand Avenue location is situated within Downtown LA's growing cultural corridor, near Walt Disney Concert Hall and The Broad museum.

The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA

The Geffen Contemporary in Little Tokyo occupies a converted warehouse space that provides the expansive, flexible volumes needed for large-scale installations, performance art, and ambitious temporary exhibitions. The industrial character of the building—preserved and enhanced by architect Frank Gehry—creates an atmosphere that complements contemporary art's often raw and experimental character. The Geffen regularly hosts exhibitions that would be impossible in conventional gallery spaces.

MOCA Store

The MOCA Store on Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood provides a retail presence that extends the museum's reach into one of LA's most visited commercial districts, offering art books, exhibition catalogs, artist-designed merchandise, and curated design objects.

Free Admission and Accessibility

MOCA's free general admission policy, implemented in 2020, transformed the museum from a ticketed institution into a genuinely public resource. This policy has dramatically increased visitorship and diversified the museum's audience, making world-class contemporary art accessible to communities that financial barriers previously excluded. The free admission policy reflects a growing recognition among major museums that public accessibility is not just desirable but essential to institutional mission and relevance.

Exhibition Programming

MOCA's temporary exhibition program consistently produces some of the most critically acclaimed and culturally significant contemporary art shows in the United States. The museum has a particular strength in mounting survey exhibitions that provide comprehensive overviews of important artists' careers, often bringing together works that have never been shown together before. These exhibitions frequently travel to other major institutions, extending MOCA's curatorial influence beyond Los Angeles.

The museum also maintains a strong commitment to emerging and mid-career artists, providing exhibition opportunities and institutional validation that can be career-defining. For artists working in Los Angeles—one of the world's most dynamic contemporary art scenes—a MOCA exhibition represents significant professional recognition.

Education and Community Programs

MOCA's education department offers programs for schools, families, teens, and adults that use the museum's collection and exhibitions as platforms for creative learning and critical thinking. School programs serve thousands of Los Angeles students annually, many from communities with limited access to cultural institutions. Teen programs provide creative mentorship and portfolio development opportunities for young artists considering creative careers.

Public programs including artist talks, panel discussions, film screenings, and performance events extend the museum's role beyond visual art exhibition into broader cultural programming that engages diverse audiences with contemporary creative practice.

The Bottom Line

MOCA is an essential destination for anyone interested in contemporary art, offering a world-class collection across three distinctive Los Angeles locations in a city that increasingly rivals New York as the center of the American art world. Its free admission policy, ambitious exhibition programming, strong commitment to diversity and emerging artists, and comprehensive education programs make it one of the most accessible and vital major art institutions in the country.