UC Irvine Acquires Orange County Museum of Art
69Oct. 1, 2025
The University of California, Irvine, has officially taken over theOrange County Museum of Art(OCMA), which it will merge with the UC Irvine Langson Institute and Museum of California Art (Langson IMCA). All OCMA employees now work for the university, which has renamed the blended entity UC Irvine Langson Orange County Museum of Art, effective immediately. The new institution’s combined holdings of contemporary and modern art, drawn from the former OCMA and Langson IMCA, number roughly 9,000 works.
“Everything is effective as of now—we are one entity now,” UC Irvine spokesman Mike Uhlenkamp told theLos Angeles Times. “OCMA as it existed no longer exists.” UC Irvine has assumed OCMA’s assets and expenses; no money changed hands in the transaction.
Though exhibitions and programs will remain separate at the two merging institutions through 2026, Langson IMCA will vacate its current, temporary home on Von Karman Avenue when its lease ends and move into the 53,000-square-foot Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa. OCMA completed construction of the facility in 2022 at a cost of $98 million. In accordance with an earlier promise, admission to the facility will be free to all through 2032, the LA Times reported.
OCMA’s board was dissolved with the acquisition, though UC Irvine officials are said to be seeking ways to involve its members in the new institution. Heidi Zuckerman, OCMA’s executive director, announced her departure earlier this year. A search is underway for an executive director for the new, blended museum.
“UC Irvine is committed to ensuring that the region benefits from a world-class art museum that enriches the cultural fabric of Orange County, advances groundbreaking scholarship, nurtures the next generation of creators and thinkers, and inspires curiosity and connection across diverse audiences,” said UC Irvine chancellor Howard Gillman in a statement.