Generation MOCA.

It started as a beloved outpost on the edges of Little Tokyo, a makeshift arts venue with the funky name: Temporary Contemporary.

Those tentative beginnings matured into the Museum of Contemporary Art, which threw itself a party over the weekend to celebrate its 25th anniversary.

MOCA has always focused on the Los Angeles art scene. A controversial Temporary Contemporary show in 1992 called "Helter Skelter: L.A. Art in the 1990s," showcased some of the more challenging visions of working Los Angeles artists, including Chris Burden and Robert Williamson. In 1997, a large gift from the Lannan Foundation increased the museum's holdings of work by local artists.

In the spring of 1979, the museum was started by a group of private citizens, led by philanthropist and modern art lover Eli Broad. "A lot of people tried to create a contemporary art museum, but they were short on money and long on wind," he said.

With the support of former Mayor Tom Bradley, MOCA received about $12 million from the Community Redevelopment Agency's Public Art Fund, under which 1 percent of the budgets for Bunker Hill office towers went to pubic art. "But the mayor said you couldn't do that unless you raise $10 million for an endowment. We raised $13 million," said Broad.

In 1983, MOCA opened the Temporary Contemporary at a former police garage in Little Tokyo. The building was renovated by Los Angeles architect Frank Gehry, who also did the stage design for its first event, a performance piece called "Available Light."

The Temporary Contemporary is now permanent. MOCA's rent-free lease on the building (renamed The Geffen Contemporary in 1996) expires in 2053.

In 1984, MOCA made its first major purchase: 80 works of abstract expressionism and pop art from the collection of Count and Countess Giuseppe Panza. MOCA has since obtained over 5,000 objects in all media, including sculptures, photographs, multimedia, and an earthwork in the Nevada Desert.

MOCA's main venue at the California Plaza opened in 1986, with an inaugural exhibition that featured more than 400 works from 1945 to 1986, several of which were commissioned for the show.

MOCA also scheduled a series of exhibits to celebrate the anniversary. On display now are the first complete retrospective of Robert Smithson, best known for his "Spiral Jetty," a 1,500-foot rock coil dramatically situated in Great Salt Lake; Ed Ruscha's "Chocolate Room," his only installation work; and a retrospective of 250 of Ruscha's works on paper.

In coming months, MOCA will present a show of masterworks from its permanent collection, a retrospective of 125 works by celebrated New York painter Jean-Michel Basquiat, and "Visual Music," an examination of the relationship between music and visual art.