Museum of Contemporary Art Australia

Museum of Contemporary Art Australia

Museum from the east, with newer Mordant Wing[1] at right.
Location in The Rocks
Interactive fullscreen map
Established	1991; 33 years ago (1991)
Location	George Street, Sydney, Australia
Coordinates	33°51′36″S 151°12′32″E / 33.86000°S 151.20889°E / -33.86000; 151.20889
Type	Contemporary art
Collections	Raminging, Maningrida, Arnott's, Smorgon
Collection size	4,500
Visitors	1,014,021 (2019)[2]: 5  367,849 (2020)[3]
Founder	John Power; University of Sydney
Director	Suzanne Cotter
Chairperson	Lorraine Tarabay
Curator	Lara Strongman
Architect	William Henry Withers, Andrew Andersons, Sam Marshall
Public transit access	Circular Quay trains Circular Quay ferries Sydney Buses CBD and South East Light Rail
Website	mca.com.au

The Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA), formerly the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, is located on George Street in The Rocks neighbourhood of Sydney. The museum is housed in the Stripped Classical/Art Deco-styled former Maritime Services Board (MSB) building on the western side of Circular Quay. A modern wing was added in 2012.

While the museum as an institution was established in 1991, its roots go back a half-century earlier. Expatriate Australian artist JW Power provided for a museum of contemporary art to be established in Sydney in his 1943 will, bequeathing both money and works from his collection to the University of Sydney, his alma mater. The works, along with others acquired with the money, were exhibited mainly as a travelling collection in the decades afterward, stored in two different university buildings. This collection was known as the Power Gallery of Contemporary Art.

When the MSB building became available the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney was established in 1991. It rapidly outgrew its space and ran into financial difficulties that were alleviated in the early 21st century under new director Elizabeth Ann Macgregor, who eliminated regular admission fees and diversified the museum's funding sources. After two proposed expansions failed, a design by local architect Sam Marshall met with sufficient approval to raise money for its construction. From 2010 the building underwent a major expansion and re-development, reopening in 2012 as the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia.

Power's original intent was for the museum to exhibit contemporary art from all over the world, with work by Australian artists shown only if it was relevant to the other works, but its focus has since changed primarily to Australian contemporary art. The museum's collection contains over 4,000 works by Australian artists acquired since 1989. They span all art forms with strong holdings in painting, photography, sculpture, works on paper, and moving images, as well as significant representation of works by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists. The museum runs programs to engage the interest of youth and disabled communities in appreciating and making art.