Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego — Attraction in San Diego

This is a bummer to write, but I need to warn people about going with kids before they drop a decent amount on their ticket as after speaking with other friends they have had similar experiences where they were basically ushered out after 20 minutes.

I went with a small group on a weekday morning so as to miss the crowds because we knew we had small kids with us and that could pose a disturbance to some people. I’ve never had an issue until this time bringing my kids to museums and they’ve been to museums in the UK, NY, The Art Institute in Chicago, Artpace San Antonio, every museum in Balboa park, among others. To give an accurate view there were 3 adults and 6 kids ages 2-6 in our group.

We arrived about the time they opened and headed first to the bathroom and the front desk lady asked if she could help us. When we said we going to the bathroom, with complete annoyance yelled emphatically over to us, “No, CAN I HELP YOU?”. So right off the bat it was awkward. We guessed we had to check in before using the bathroom?

Once everyone was ready, one of the adults and I headed in with some of the kids and 2 docents blocked our way from entering one of the rooms. My friend responded, “oh, should we go that way?” And they said “yeah”. Mind you, there isn’t a particular sequence to visit the museum. And of course that first room had a giant sculpture that looked like a jungle-gym. 🤦‍♀️

Each room had more than half a dozen docents and when the 3rd adult met up with us she said it was hilarious because we had 8 docents slowly creeping up behind us. Of course they would ask the kids not to touch the artwork, but instead of engaging the kids with questions like “do you like this piece, how does it make you feel?” they asked us through clenched teeth to go out into the sculpture garden after 20 minutes.

So after Pretty Woman-style being asked to leave, we went into the small underwhelming sculpture garden. On the way outside, one of the 6-year-olds saw a room where he’s done kids’ activities on special events and he was curious to see someone in there. He opened the door to peek in and a staff member came over and closed the door in his face saying it was a “private camp”. Why she didn’t say “hi, we’re doing a private camp right now. Would you or your mom like some info on our future ones?” is baffling. Even despite all that, the boy said he wanted to do a camp there and his mom was like “no way.”

So after wandering the tiny sculpture garden, we left. My 5-year-old had brought his allowance for the gift shop, but I was so pissed I didn’t even want to give him a chance to look.

I was sad because one of the 6-year-olds had been told right before our trip that she “wasn’t coloring correctly” and stayed up all night trying to conform to somebody else’s ideals. Her mom brought her here to show her that anything can be art.

There were about 24 docents working and we were the only ones in the museum other than one other couple I saw at the bag check. I’m not asking the museum to cater to kids, but they could make it more welcoming and if you’re going to creepily follow us around, make it fun and act like a guide. The museum obviously has the staff available. When you see that little girl in such awe with her mouth gaping open that she feels the need reach out and try to stroke the painting, don’t just ask her not touch it and usher her outside. Ask her not to touch it and then talk about the work and ask the her what she thinks about it.

I’ve worked in the non-profit industry in the past and people would always complain that San Diegans don’t care about the arts and don’t want to support the arts. But if we don’t expose kids to it now, who will appreciate it in 10...

25 June 2018 Museum is closed for renovations, without any clear notice. We checked the hours online, even went directly on the museum website. Drove all the way out to La Jolla and parked, walked all the way around the building looking for the entrance. No signs said anything about closure, but there were no open, unlocked doors. Also nothing posted about when it's reopening. The lack of consideration for patrons & visitors is frustrating. I flew all the way out here from Boston and wasted about 3 hours on my last day on this farce. Wish I had known to spend my last afternoon at Balboa Park hitting all those museums instead. UPDATE I hunted on their confusing website to see if I could figure out when they are open. Apparently they have a temporary downtown location during construction, but it's anybody's guess what the hours are because they list 2 completely contradictory hours of operation, listed one right after the other without any clarification whatsoever. Either they're open daily, or open Thursday through Sunday. I can't tell which is correct. I copied & pasted below directly from the website in case this makes more sense to anybody than it does to me.

Hours MCASD La Jolla is currently closed for a major renovation and expansion project. Please visit us at MCASD Downtown during the closure Please note: the Museum will be closed on Wednesday, July 4, 2018.

1100 Kettner Blvd. 11 AM – 5 PM daily. Closed Wednesday. Free on the third Thursday of every month from 5-8 PM.

1001 Kettner Blvd. 11 AM – 5 PM Thursday through Sunday. Closed Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. Free on the third Thursday of every month...

Beautiful ocean view, cool artwork and exhibits. However, as other reviewers have noted, horribly bad security staff to ruin your experience. We recently had our wedding reception here and it was unfortunately staffed by the worst security team I’ve ever seen in any situation, let alone for a museum/event space.

One of them began the reception by yelling at us (the bride and groom) in front of all our guests for taking pictures outside. Infuriating, but we tried to let it go. Meanwhile they let one of our guest’s toddlers walk past them and get into an elevator by herself before her mother rushed to stop the doors from closing. Also, while not a huge deal, they should really implement a dress code. While some of the staff were dressed in uniforms, others were wearing very casual street clothes (jean jacket, tshirt, gold chains, sneakers). I’m all for people being comfortable but clearly not appropriate for the setting.

Finally, when it was time to leave the reception, another security staff member was loudly telling people they needed to get out because they were closing. Much like a bouncer would do at a dive bar. This was a nice wedding and they were talking to our elderly parents, aunts and uncles. Completely inappropriate and a little shocking.

All of the time, effort, and money spent on our event and it was largely soured by aggressive and poorly trained staff. We obviously expected a lot more from this type of venue. A real shame because it could...