Museum of Contemporary Art Australia

It is housed in the art deco-style former Maritime Services Board Building on the western edge of Circular Quay. The museum was opened in 1991 as the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, and from 2010 underwent an A$58 million expansion and re-development, reopening on 29 March 2012 under its current name as the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. The collection contains over 4,000 works by Australian artists that have been acquired since 1989. The collection spans all art forms with strong holdings in painting, photography, sculpture, works on paper and moving image, as well as significant representation of works by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists. 

History

The establishment of the MCA was mandated in the will of Australian expatriate artist JW Power (1881–1943), who bequeathed his personal fortune to the University of Sydney with the express purpose of informing and educating Australians in the contemporary visual arts.

In December 1970 the University of Sydney also received the Seymour Bequest for the purposes of a performing arts centre, and sought to combine the two bequests into an arts complex that would include within it the Seymour Centre and the Power Institute facilities, including a home for the Power Gallery. The Seymour centre was opened in 1975 without designs for the Power Institute of Fine Arts being integrated into the final building.

This collection of artworks thus took the form of the ‘Power Gallery of Contemporary Art’, a travelling collection of artworks without a permanent address. Between John Power’s death and the eventual establishment of the museum as we know it today, the collection was mainly housed in the University of Sydney. They were stored in the University’s Fisher Library during the 1970s. The collection functioned as an exhibition within the Madsen Building on campus between 1980 and 1989.

With the relocation of the Maritime Services Board (MSB) from the 1949 built five-storey building to larger premises in 1989, the building and site was donated by the Government of New South Wales to the Museum of Contemporary Art.[9] Funded by the University of Sydney and the Power Bequest, restoration and refurbishment of the building commenced in 1990 under the direction of Andrew Anderson of Peddle Thorp/John Holland Interiors and in November 1991 the Museum of Contemporary Art officially opened.

Extensions made in 2010–2012 were to a design by Sydney architect Sam Marshall. The new extension, called the Mordant Wing, opened in March 2012.[10][11] The wing was named after the chairperson of the museum’s board, Simon Mordant (2010-2020). In July 2020, Lorraine Tarabay took over the role of chairperson.

The MCA is a not-for-profit, charitable organisation which receives ongoing funding and support from the NSW State Government through Arts NSW and the Commonwealth Government through the Australia Council. Every year, the MCA raises approximately 70% of its income from a variety of sources such as exhibitions and events, sponsorship, donations and venue hire.

Address: 140 George St, The Rocks NSW 2000, Australia
Hours: Closed ⋅ Opens 10AM Thu
Tickets: free · mca.com.au
Phone: +61 2 9245 2400