This plan was eventually realized in 1961 when voters approved a $6.6 million bond issue to start the development of what would become the OMCA campus overlooking Lake Merritt in the city center.

(The museum's campus is located adjacent to the Alameda County Court House where at the time of its opening ongoing protests had been taking place to demand freedom for Huey Newton, a co-founder of the Black Panther Party.

His termination sparked controversy within the ranks of the museum staff and even provoked the newly hired director of education Julia Hare to resign.

In an effort to alleviate this tension, the OMCA decided to hire local artist Ben Hazard as the curator of special exhibits and education.

[5] The concrete building includes three tiers, one each focusing on the art, history, and natural science collections, along with temporary exhibition galleries, an auditorium, a restaurant, and other ancillary spaces.

Painters represented in the art collection include Addie L. Ballou, Albert Bierstadt, George Henry Burgess, Richard Diebenkorn, Maynard Dixon, Childe Hassam, Thomas Hill, Amédée Joullin, William Keith, David Park, Mel Ramos, Granville Redmond, Jules Tavernier, Wayne Thiebaud, and the "Society of Six" (William H. Clapp, Selden Connor Gile, August Gay, Bernard Von Eichman, Maurice Logan, and Louis Siegriest).

Its first curator, Charles P. Wilcomb, gathered a collection representing two aspects of California cultural history, Native Americans and settlers from the East Coast.

[16] Although the merged Oakland Museum focuses on California art, history and nature, some "legacy" pieces from outside the state remain, such as a collection of snuff bottles and a carved jade pagoda.