This collection is not for every senior art lover, especially those who revere the traditional masters of past art history. When wandering the halls and rooms of the SDMCA, you won't see any works by Michelangelo, Da Vinci, David, Rembrandt, Whistler, Goya or others of the old schools.

The SDMCA's collection mostly contains art produced since 1950. It includes such popular artists as Johns, Duchamp, Warhol, Lichtenstein, Calder, Picasso, Chagall, Pollock, Rauschenberg and many newer painters, sculptors and photographers. Additionally, the museum's public policy is also to encourage newly-emerging artists. At this time, the search is concentrated on those from California and Mexico. Many many examples of their art are also on current and scheduled for future exhibit.

The beginnings of the SCMCA originated as an art school in 1941 at a quaint oceanside vacation suburb of San Diego just up the Calfornia coast a few miles. It was then called The Art Center of La Jolla. The Center later added a museum building, a large former mansion donated by the prominent Scripps family, founders of La Jolla's world-renowned Scripps Institute of Oceanography.

The Center''s name later became the La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art, and in 1990, it opened its downtown San Diego branch and merged into the overall title of Museum of Contemporary. The third segment of the museum was added recently, and is located just across the street from the MCASD, in what had once been the city's early 20th Century Santa Fe railroad depot.

In the three building complexes today, there are 3,000 works of art, including video, computer-generated, multimedia, paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints and many other modern forms.

The museums also offer children's programs, regular classes in art and music, lectures and seminars. There's always a busy schedule of special exhibits featuring local artists, as well as traveling art on loan from other museums throughout the world.

The MCASD La Jolla branch is at 700 Prospect Street, La Jolla CA 92037, 858-454-3541. Hours are from 11 am to 5 pm Thursdays through Tuesdays, and 11 am to 7 pm on the 3rd Thursday of each month. The museum is closed on Wednesdays. Check for current admission prices.

The MCASD downtown branches in the Jacobs and Copley Buildings are on Kettner Boulevard between Broadway and B Streets, 858-454-3541. Same hours and admission prices are in effect as at the La Jolla branch.