Museum of Photographic Arts
The Museum of Photographic Arts (MOPA) is a museum in Balboa Park in San Diego, California. First founded in 1974, MOPA opened in 1983. MOPA is one of three museums in the US dedicated exclusively to the collection and preservation of photography, with a mission to inspire, educate and engage the broadest possible audience through the presentation, collection, and preservation of photography, film and video.
Museum of Photographic Arts

CC BY 2.0
- Name
- Museum of Photographic Arts
- Founded
- 1983
- Headquarters
- San Diego
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
The Museum of Photographic Arts (MOPA) is a museum in Balboa Park in San Diego, California. First founded in 1974, MOPA opened in 1983. MOPA is one of three museums in the US dedicated exclusively to the collection and preservation of photography, with a mission to inspire, educate and engage the broadest possible audience through the presentation, collection, and preservation of photography, film and video.
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Museum of Photographic Arts. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
gnd · 5093454-5 · loc · n86029571 · wikidata · Q9046984 · wikipedia · Museum of Photographic Arts
In this article
Overview
Overview
The museum's address is 1649 El Prado, San Diego, CA, 92101.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Museum of Photographic Arts • Location — Casa de Balboa San Diego, California, U.S. • Website — www.mopa.org • Illustration — Gallery at Museum Of Photographic Arts located in Balboa Park, California • Illustration — Museum of Photographic Arts
History
History
Arthur Ollman was the museum's first executive director. Deborah Klochko is the current (2013) executive director. In March 2000, the museum re-opened to the public after a twelve-month renovation project. It expanded its gallery space and added a classroom, a theater, a print viewing room and a 20,000-volume library. The Museum of Photographic Arts celebrated its 50th anniversary (2023). It has changed in many ways from the past, from photography development to styles, to location, and understanding.(Seth Combs) Deborah Klochko, MOPA’s executive director and chief curator, believes combining the two museums will create a better space and generate more interest. The museum now hosts a 22,000-piece art collection and contains 20 photographic exhibitions. It also talks about what the future plans of the museum will look like, and according to the article, they plan on adding more art collections, which include video portraits, Victorian-era portraits, and a vibrant large-scale photograph collection.(Pam Kragen) Before the establishment of MOPA, It was previously devoted to a photography gallery in Balboa Park as an instrumental non-profit organization. Gradually, with other associated businesses' help, the non-profit organization was finally installed as an official museum, the Museum Of Photography Arts at Balboa Park. Commemorating what Klochko states The-40th represents the Opening of the Museum “Permanent Home”.
Identity and overview
Identity and overview
The following is established of the heading itself. Institutional cataloguing adds that museum of Photographic Arts is recorded from 1983. It is also recorded that museum of Photographic Arts is associated with United States.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
- United States
Collection
Collection
• Illustration — Photo Wall in Museum of Photographic Arts in Balboa Park Over the years, MOPA has collected thousands of photographs that currently reside in the museum’s permanent collection, which includes photographs that span the history of photography. It includes collections from film maker Lou Stoumen’s estate as well as the entire Nagasaki Journey: The Photographs of Yosuke Yamahata, August 10, 1945, by Yōsuke Yamahata.
Documents and archives
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Museum of Photographic Arts”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q9046984: Museum of Photographic Arts
Reputable secondary · Wikidata
scholarly index
- OpenAlex bibliographic index, 12 indexed publications naming Museum of Photographic Arts.
General reference · OpenAlex
- OpenAlex institution record I4210141291 for Museum of Photographic Arts.
General reference · OpenAlex
authority file
- Library of Congress Name Authority File, Museum of Photographic Arts (San Diego, Calif.) (n86029571).
General reference · Library of Congress
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witnessauthority file
Library of Congress Name Authority File, Museum of Photographic Arts (San Diego, Calif.) (n86029571).Library of Congress
Secondary witnessscholarly index
Secondary witnessscholarly index
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Institutions
3,152 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Museum of Oriental ArtOrganisation
- Museum of Oriental Ceramics, OsakaOrganisation
- Museum of Outdoor ArtsOrganisation
- Museum of Performance + DesignOrganisation
- Museum of PhotographyOrganisation
- Museum of Photography, SeoulOrganisation
- Museum of Popular Arts of ParaíbaOrganisation
- Museum of Prehistoric TheraOrganisation
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own an object connected with Museum of Photographic Arts?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.