The museum was founded in 1979 by a group of visionary citizens of Thessaloniki. In a conversation between Maro Lagia and gallerist and collector Alexandros Iolas, after the latter had shown a keen interest in the damage inflicted on monuments by the 1978 Thessaloniki earthquake, Lagia proposed the creation of a contemporary art centre in Thessaloniki. Iolas's response was immediate –"Oh yes, no more hospitals and orphanages; a centre of contemporary art; that's exactly what Thessaloniki needs."