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CREATING A MASTERPIECE
ORANGE COUNTY MUSEUM OF ART REOPENED IN FALL 2022 IN ITS BRAND-NEW HOME AT SEGERSTROM CENTER FOR THE ARTS .
BY SHARON STELLO
A fter being closed for more than two years , the Orange County Museum of Art finally reopened in the fall of 2022 in a brand-new building at Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa . Designed by Pritzker Architecture Prize-winner Thom Mayne of Morphosis , the structure is considered the final piece in the buildout of this arts campus , which already included three theaters , a concert hall , ballet school and more .
“ I think the proximity of visual and performing arts within steps of each other is unprecedented in the U . S . and almost anywhere in the world ,” says OCMA Director and CEO Heidi Zuckerman . Previously the director of Aspen Art Museum , Zuckerman came to lead the Orange County Museum during its pandemic-era closure and patiently waited for the new building to open .
“ The idea of being able to bring an incredible cultural experience to this community is such a privilege and an honor ,” she says .
Admission is free for the first decade , thanks to a generous donation from Newport Beach-based Lugano Diamonds .
The 53,000-square-foot building doubles the size of the museum ’ s former location in Newport — the city where this institution began 60 years ago , in 1962 , first as the Balboa Pavilion Gallery and then the Newport Harbor Art Museum before assuming its current moniker , OCMA . From fall 2018 until closing due to the