LOS ANGELES — In 1979, Joel Wachs, Marcia Simon Weisman, and Mayor Tom Bradley discussed L.A.’s need for a museum devoted entirely to contemporary art. 

And now, 40 years later, the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) is celebrating its heritage with an exhibition called “40 for L.A.”, the centerpiece of which is a wall displaying the names of more than 1,500 artists who have been part of MOCA’s heritage. 

Assistant curator and manager of publications Bryan Barcena said it's the artists that have kept MOCA vital over the years.

“For me and for everyone else here at the museum, it was a really important to have everyone's name on this wall because this is where we take our directions from,” said Barcena. “We wanted to make a very strong and simple gesture that sort of pointed to these people, this amazing list of artists, who give us basically our nutrition here at the museum.”

The exhibit which consists of a timeline, original architectural designs, and a display of ephemera was designed to not only to show some of MOCA’s trajectory over the years, but also to show how it has helped elevate L.A. as an important center for contemporary art. 

“I think that L.A. for a long time was thought of a provincial art place,” said Barcena. “MOCA and other art schools and other galleries and other institutions over the course of 40 years have really worked together to cement L.A.’s place as one of the leading global centers for contemporary art.” 

The museum houses more than 7,000 pieces. Well-known names like Mark Rothko and Dan Flavin appear alongside newer works like Cameron Rollin’s found object piece called D37. 

Barcena who's been with MOCA since 2015 said for him contemporary art provides a perfect lens through which to gaze at our times.

“It’s all the things I'm interested in,” he said. “It’s psychology, it's history, it's anthropology, sociology. Art is a way of tracking that," he said.

Rounding out of the “40 for L.A.” show are spaces devoted to MOCA’s permanent collection, as well as “Open House,” an ongoing series which gives L.A.-based artists a chance to curate exhibits pulling from the museum’s vast collection. 

“Being here in L.A. where there's so many artists that we can go to learn from, speak to, see…it's really an amazing opportunity to be a curator here in L.A.,” said Barcena.

Together, these anniversary exhibitions demonstrate the depth and breadth of MOCA’s collection and point the way for the next 40 years.