MCASD's Expanded Galleries To Rival NYC's Whitney In Size At Opening In April

By Chris Jennewein, Times of San Diego

December 15, 2021

Modern art is poised for a major expansion in San Diego as the Museum of Contemporary Art in La Jolla nears reopening in early April with as much gallery space as The Whitney in New York City.

Architect Annabelle Selldorf‘s design has expanded the gallery space four-fold, from 10,000 square feet to 40,000, while integrating older parts of the museum that include Ellen Browning Scripps’ 1915 home designed by Irving Gill and later additions by other architects.

For the first time the museum will be able to keep a large selection from its 4,700-object permanent collection on display, while also staging major special exhibitions.

“We’re excited to bring pieces back and have them on long-term view,” said Kathryn Kanjo, CEO of the museum. “San Diego deserves this; we’re not a sleepy little town.”

Kanjo led local journalists on a tour of the new galleries Wednesday as workers put the finishing touches on the building. She said installation of art will begin in January in preparation for the reopening and a major public celebration.

The expansion turned the former Sherwood Auditorium into a gigantic gallery space with 22-foot ceilings and excavated two lower-level galleries out of the La Jolla hillside, while opening up older portions of the facility and incorporating adjacent space on the property.

“We went big, we went deep,” said Kanjo.

The new, higher walls will permit exhibition of some of the largest works of modern art, while new event spaces will allow the museum to host a variety of meetings and celebrations.

The first special exhibition in the reopened museum will feature beloved San Diego artist Niki de Saint Phalle’s innovative work from the 1960s.

Debuting at the Menil Collection in Houston in September, the exhibition is the first to focus on the artist’s experimental and prolific work during this decade, from the famous “shooting paintings,” created by shots from a .22 caliber rifle, to the exuberant sculptures of women known as Nanas.

MCASD broke ground in late 2018 for the $95 million renovation and expansion, which experienced a number of months of delays due to permitting issues and the coronavirus pandemic.

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