MOMA Machynlleth originated as MOMA Wales in 1986 as Y Tabernacl, a centre of performing arts in an old chapel, a private initiative by businessman Andrew Lambert. In 1994 this was expanded with a new complex of art galleries, a recording studio and a language laboratory.^[1] In 2016 it gained accreditation from the Museums, Archives and Libraries Division of the Welsh Government and changed its name to MOMA Machynlleth.

The Machynlleth Festival takes place in the Auditorium in late August every year.^[2] During the week events take place ranging from recitals for children to jazz. Special features are the Hallstatt Lecture on some aspects of Celtic culture and the Glyndŵr Award for an Outstanding Contribution to the Arts in Wales.

Throughout the year MOMA shows Modern Welsh Art, a constantly changing exhibition featuring leading artists from Wales. There are also a series of temporary exhibitions.

In August the international Tabernacle Art Competition takes place.^[2]

The Tabernacle Collection contains over 400 works and concentrates largely on artists living and working in Wales in the 20th and 21st centuries. Paintings and drawings from the Tabernacle Collection are shown in rotation. Works in this permanent collection include Portrait of William McElroy by Augustus John, Toasting by Stanley Spencer and Portrait of a Woman by Percy Wyndham Lewis. MOMA Wales owns Waterfall, Ogwen, Cottages, Cilgwyn, Carreg Cennen and Road above Deiniolen by Sir Kyffin Williams. The Brotherhood of Ruralists is represented by Graham Arnold's Last Poems (A E Housman) and Journal 1997 and by Ann Arnold's Clare's Countryside (8) and The River Dyfi. There are also two drawings of Dylan Thomas by his friend Mervyn Levy.

Peter Prendergast (Early Winter, Nant Ffrancon Valley and Study for Early Winter, Nant Ffrancon Valley) received the Glyndŵr Award in 2004, while Shani Rhys James (Night Kitchen I) is the designated recipient for 2007.^{[citation needed]}

On 5 November 2014 the Montgomeryshire Branch of the Campaign for the Protection of Rural Wales (CPRW) made a special award, the Rural Wales Award, to MOMA for the restoration of the Tannery. The award was made in recognition of the sensitive and high quality restoration of the building.^{[citation needed]} The Tannery was officially opened as an additional art and sculpture gallery at MOMA in May 2014 following its restoration.^{[citation needed]} A detailed record of the building as well as the importance of the Tannery to the Machynlleth leather industry, was made before the conversion of the building into an art gallery.^[3]

The Auditorium of The Tabernacle seats 325 people. Chamber and choral music, drama, lectures and conferences regularly take place here. A Steinway grand piano has been purchased; translation booths, recording facilities and a cinema screen have been installed; the oak-beamed Foyer has a bar; and access for the disabled.

Ty Llyfnant houses music teaching rooms and an art studio while the Green Room doubles as a Language Laboratory where Lifelong learning classes are held.

• Alistair Crawford: Made of Wales (Machynlleth Tabernacle Trust, Machynlleth, 2000) ISBN 978-0-9519971-3-0
• Paul Binding: A commemorative essay commissioned by the Museum of Modern Art, Wales for the 20th anniversary of The Brotherhood of Ruralists (Machynlleth Tabernacle Trust, Machynlleth, 1995)
• David Alston, Lynda Morris & Tony Curtis: The Painter's Quarry: The Art of Peter Prendergast (Seren, Bridgend, 2006) ISBN 978-1-85411-409-9
• Shani Rhys James: The Black Cot (Gomer, Llandysul, 2004) ISBN 978-1-84323-152-3
• Walter Michel: Wyndham Lewis: paintings and drawings (University of California Press, Berkeley, 1971) ISBN 978-0-520-01612-5

• Official site in Welsh and English
• Contemporary Artists in Wales