Campaign For A Home

MOCA’s Capital Campaign for a Home is a generational opportunity for MOCA to boldly claim its place within the American cultural narrative and safeguard the stories, legacies, and experiences of the Chinese in America. In the wake of a three-story five alarm fire in January 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic, and increased anti-Chinese bigotry, MOCA’s place within the cultural landscape is more important and urgent than ever. An updated and expanded national Museum of Chinese in America will make a defiant and celebratory statement in the fight against anti-Asian discrimination and ensure the museum’s sustainability within the New York cultural landscape.

An Historic Moment

For the first time, MOCA is uniting the visionary designs of artist and architect, Maya Lin, with the cutting-edge innovation of Ralph Applebaum Associates to revolutionize a museum that integrates the past, present, and future aspirations of the Chinese American journey. This collaboration will result in an icon in New York City and will propel MOCA to new heights as a museum of conscience that is transnational in scope and impact.

Begin the journey home with MOCA.

Email development@mocanyc.org for more information about the new national MOCA.

Unparalleled Excellence In Design

Located at 215 Centre Street, the new facility will replace MOCA’s current home and expand its current footprint from 12,000 square feet to more than 68,000 square feet. The building will feature a center for research and genealogy, theater, classrooms, a cooking demonstration kitchen, exhibit space, a canteen, and outdoor gathering spaces. The new space, expected to open in 2025, will offer visitors a welcoming place for research, exploration, education, creation, and gathering.

The unveiling of the new national institution comes at a critical time when anti-Asian hate crimes rose to 10,905 incidents nationwide since March 2020. The new facility will make a statement in the fight against anti-Asian American Pacific Islander discrimination while ensuring the museum continues its mission of preserving and protecting the history of the Chinese American community as well as the larger Asian American diaspora.

Just as the space will welcome visitors from across the country and around the world, it will also provide Chinatown and the surrounding neighborhoods a place for local groups to collaborate and showcase work, share multigenerational experiences, and create new works of art – the first state of the art location of its kind in the area.