Orange County Museum of Art prepares for an Oct. 8 opening

After more than a decade of dreaming, planning and building, the Orange County Museum of Art is ready for its debut at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts campus in Costa Mesa.

Museum leaders in a media preview Wednesday celebrated the completion of the $93-million space, designed by Thom Mayne of Morphosis Studio, offering a sneak peek at its inaugural exhibitions.

The museum opens to the public Oct. 8 at 5 p.m. with a 24-hour celebration featuring performances, film screenings and art-making workshops. OCMA admission — on opening night and for the next 10 years — is free, thanks to a donation from Lugano Diamonds in Newport Beach.

A view of “13 Women,” one of five exhibitions that will be on display when OCMA opens to the public Oct. 8 in Costa Mesa.

(Kevin Chang / Staff Photographer)

“Access to art is a basic human right, it’s not a privilege, and we want to provide that access so that everyone feels welcome and at home here,” Museum Chief Executive Heidi Zuckerman said Wednesday.

Read the Daily Pilot Sunday for coverage of the museum’s opening, including the exhibit “13 Women,” honoring the women who founded the Balboa Pavilion Gallery, OCMA’s predecessor, in 1962.

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