The Orange County Museum of Art

The arts are alive and well in Orange County! The new Orange County Museum of Art, located at 3333 Avenue of the Arts in Costa Mesa, California, is a dynamic building designed by Pritzker Prize winning-architect Thom Mayne. The structure Mr. Mayne began designing 14 years ago came to fruition in October of 2022.

The Orange County Museum of Art is a timeless 53,000-square-foot building. The masterpiece is the result of a collaboration between Thom Mayne and Brandon Welling, both Pritzker Prize award winners. Welling is the managing principal of Morphosis, a Pritzker Prize award-winning architectural firm.

There’s a grand staircase designed with the energy of the steps seen at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, meant to encourage visitors to a sense of community and gathering point.

The mezzanine is strategically built with curved architecture to foster intimacy between the audience, the architecture, and the art itself. A light-filled window inspires a relationship between the art and the exterior landscape.

Andy Warhol once said, “Everything has its beauty, but not everyone sees it.” The Orange County Museum of Art is a visceral lesson in training the eye to witness subtle beauty by correct placement. It’s sheer genius. 

Speaking of lessons, the Orange County Museum of Art has an Education Pavilion. In this area, hands-on, innovative learning techniques are used to arrive at the meaning of art. This opportunity is a first of its kind. Centrally located in the upper plaza right by the cafe and bar, the Education Pavilion precisely does what we just described, where the museum educators are part of the educational experience.

The Orange County Museum of Art is a must for all to see, especially for those on the fence about art. Art is experienced, and those involved in creating art must arrive at their result, making it an interactive and interdisciplinary experience. 

Photo Credit: Locale Magazine 

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by Gerald Olesker, CEO, ADG Lighting