[3][4] Kanner was inspired by a similar museum he had visited in Helsinki, Finland.
[4] The museum first opened its doors in January 2001 in the Bradbury Building, located at 304 South Broadway (3rd Street and Broadway) in downtown Los Angeles; a space donated by Ira Yellin.
When the Bradbury building was sold in 2003 the museum moved to a temporary location on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood.
In 2006 it moved to 5900 Wilshire Boulevard; across the street from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
[4] Displaced by the extension of the Metro Purple Line, A+D Museum returned to downtown Los Angeles to a former warehouse in the Arts District in the summer of 2015.