In 1999, the Oltmans commissioned the Los Angeles architectural firm MDA Johnson Favaro Architecture and Urban Design to create the Museum. They broke ground in December 2000, and the Museum opened to the public in June 2002.
In March 2015, the PMCA contributed to the Google Street Art Project, a collection of images and online exhibitions from organizations around the world. Included as part of the Project are: Layer: A Loose Horizon (2012); Street Cred: Graffiti Art from Concrete to Canvas (2011); Susan Silton: Inside Out (2007); and artist Kenny Scharf’s Kosmic Krylon Garage (2004).