Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA)
A chance seating at a 1979 Beverly Hills Hotel fundraiser sparked a conversation that led six collectors to pledge up to $6 million — and accidentally build LA's defining contemporary art institution.
Coming soon on iOS — be first to walk Los Angeles offline.
Nearly 8,000 objects of American and European art made after 1940, assembled from scratch after a single dinner conversation. The collection reflects a multi-disciplinary approach from the start — not a donation of existing stock but a purpose-built institution that recruited artists, curators, and collectors simultaneously.
What to look for
- The Geffen Contemporary in Little Tokyo — MOCA's original space, intended as temporary while the main building was constructed, that became a permanent venue in its own right.
- The Grand Avenue main branch in Downtown LA, positioned near the Walt Disney Concert Hall.
- Works grounded in the post-1940 scope — everything here falls within that hard founding boundary set by the original trustees.
Two separate locations — Grand Avenue (Downtown) and the Geffen Contemporary (Little Tokyo) — are not the same visit; check which has the exhibition you want before you go.
Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA) is one of 33 sights worth the detour in Los Angeles, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Los Angeles pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Los Angeles
- Hollywood Walk of Fame2,850 names pressed into pink terrazzo underfoot — actors, inventors, fictional characters, all at six-foot intervals for 1.3 miles.
- Dolby TheatreThe red carpet runs up these stairs every awards season — where Hollywood officially crowns its year.
- SoFi StadiumA million-square-foot canopy embedded with 27,000 LED pucks bright enough to be seen from planes descending into LAX.
- Hollywood SignA 1923 real-estate billboard that refused to come down — and ended up owning the word "Hollywood" itself.
- U.S. Bank TowerLA sold the sky above a fire-gutted library to fund its own rebuilding — and got its second-tallest tower in the bargain.
- Rose BowlA century-old sunken oval where the 1994 World Cup Final was settled — and the 2028 Olympics will return to do it again.