“This will become one of the most talked about institutions in North America.”

When Michael Ames, the Museum’s director at the time, spoke those words at the official opening of Arthur Erickson’s building for the Museum of Anthropology at UBC in May 1976, he could not have known just how enduring that statement would become. Fifty years later, MOA remains one of Canada’s most celebrated museum spaces: a place where architecture, art, research, teaching, and community continue to meet.

But the story of MOA began long before the opening of its iconic Arthur Erickson-designed building.

In the Museum’s early decades, founders Harry Hawthorn and Audrey Hawthorn worked to build and care for a growing global collection, including many objects and belongings from Northwest Coast Indigenous cultures, at UBC . By the late 1960s, however, the collection had dramatically outgrown its original home in the basement of UBC Library. As one 1976 Vancouver Sun article noted, “one of the finest collections in the world … has been kept crammed in the basement of UBC Library.”

A turning point came in 1969, when MOA’s Northwest Coast collection travelled to Montreal for a major exhibition at Man and His World, built on the former Expo ’67 site. More than 2,000 works were displayed. Robert Davidson and Bill Reid were present, too, carving and speaking with visitors. Altogether, this milestone project helped introduce audiences across Canada to the richness and significance of Northwest Coast Indigenous art. The exhibition was a tremendous success and helped build momentum for a new museum building at UBC.

On July 1, 1971, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau announced a federal contribution of $2.5 million toward the construction of a new museum to mark the centenary of British Columbia’s entry into Confederation. UBC added another $1.8 million, and Erickson — already internationally recognized as one of Canada’s leading architects — was commissioned to design the building.

Construction began in 1973, the same year the institution was formally named the Museum of Anthropology at UBC. The following year marked the beginning of a new era for MOA, with Ames becoming Director. Under his leadership, the museum deepened its political and collaborative engagement with First Nations communities while also expanding its global scope through exhibitions, research, and programming.

When the new museum opened in 1976 on the cliffs overlooking the Salish Sea, it immediately captured public imagination. Vancouver Sun writer Joan Lowndes described the building as “a supremely poetic experience of great art in great architecture.” She wrote that “descending the ramp imparts the same sense of expectancy as a path leading to the sea.” That path opens into the soaring Great Hall — a dramatic gathering place for stunning Northwest Coast massive carvings that soar towards the sky.

The building itself was unlike most museums of its time. Erickson designed it in dialogue with the landscape, drawing on light, water, concrete, cedar, and post-and-beam forms that echoed the Northwest Coast environment.

At the same time, MOA embraced experimentation. The museum introduced its innovative concept of “visible storage,” allowing visitors unprecedented access to collections usually hidden behind the scenes. “The Museum of Anthropology has decided on a unique experiment: it is sharing with the public everything it owns through the concept of visible storage,” The Vancouver Sun continued in the same article.

MOA was envisioned not only as a museum, but as an active teaching and research institution. Students were involved in exhibitions, collections care, and programming. Artists, knowledge keepers, and community members shaped the Museum’s direction in lasting ways. Located on the unceded territory of the Musqueam people, MOA has long been shaped by relationships with Indigenous artists and communities — from Andrew and Christine Charles, Ellen Neel, Mungo Martin and Bill Reid to Susan Point and Debra Sparrow and many others whose work and knowledge continue to influence the Museum today.

Over the decades, MOA has continued to evolve. Under directors Ruth Phillips, Anthony Shelton, and current Director Sue Rowley, the Museum expanded its collaborative initiatives, research partnerships, exhibitions, and public spaces. Major renovations completed in 2010 increased gallery and event space while preserving the spirit of Erickson’s original design. That original design was painstakingly preserved again with the seismic upgrades to the Great Hall, completed in 2024, ensuring that the building and the belongings housed within are safeguarded for generations to come.

Today, MOA’s collections extend far beyond the galleries. The Audrey and Harry Hawthorn Library and Archives preserve photographs, architectural drawings, correspondence, exhibition records, and other materials documenting both the museum’s own history and the work of artists, anthropologists, linguists, and community collaborators from around the world. These records reveal the long and evolving story behind the museum visitors know today.

MOA continues to be defined and shaped by the people who gather within it: artists, students, researchers, Elders, visitors, and communities from around the world. In the words of MOA’s current director, Sue Rowley, “Since the founding of the Museum through today, MOA has been a place of connectivity. It is a place where people come together and ideas are shared. We are deeply grateful to all those who have passed through ours doors to engage, connect, and walk alongside us in our work.”

50 Years of MOA: Weekend Celebration

MOA is celebrating 50 years with 50% off all weekend long! Join us on Saturday, May 30 and Sunday, May 31 for special tours, pop-up displays, family programming, and opportunities to reflect on memories shared at MOA over the past five decades. Learn more on the event page.

Sources

The Vancouver Sun. May 28, 1976.
The Vancouver Sun. May 31, 1976.
The Province. August 16, 1981.
Mayer, Carol E., and Anthony Shelton, eds. The Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia. Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre, 2009.
“From the Archives: Designing a Museum.” Museum of Anthropology at UBC. October 2022.
“Man and His World Exhibition, Montreal.” Museum of Anthropology at UBC. April 2020.
“A Look Back to the Beginning: Seventy Years of MOA in the Making.” Museum of Anthropology at UBC. December 2019.