Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago in Illinois, USA

The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, commonly called MCA Chicago, presents contemporary visual art alongside performance, public programs, and work drawn from its permanent collection. The museum opened in 1967 and now operates at 220 East Chicago Avenue in Chicago’s Streeterville neighborhood. Its collection contains more than 3,700 works and continues to grow through purchases and donations.

What the Museum Focuses On

The MCA focuses on art and ideas connected to contemporary culture, with particular attention to living artists and experimental practices. Temporary exhibitions remain central to its program, while collection-based exhibitions give visitors access to works acquired over the museum’s history.

The permanent collection covers works dating from the 1920s to the present and crosses different media and artistic movements. The museum’s online collection includes works by artists such as Henry Darger, Magdalena Abakanowicz, Catherine Opie, Arthur Jafa, Cindy Sherman, Ellsworth Kelly, and Willem de Kooning. What is installed in the galleries changes, so the works visible during one visit may differ from those shown at another time.

Performance has also been part of the institution since its earliest years. Music, dance, theater, artist talks, workshops, and other live formats have developed alongside the gallery program rather than functioning as a separate historical addition to the museum.

From a Noncollecting Art Hall to a Museum Collection

The idea for the MCA began in 1964, when collectors, artists, dealers, critics, and architects in Chicago sought to establish a museum devoted to new art. The founders initially envisioned it as a Kunsthalle, a model centered on temporary exhibitions rather than maintaining a permanent collection.

The museum opened in 1967 at 237 East Ontario Street, in a small converted building that had previously been occupied by Playboy Enterprises. Its first director, curator and art historian Jan van der Marck, promoted an interdisciplinary program in which exhibitions could be accompanied by lectures, films, discussions, music, and experimental performance.

Artists and projects presented during the early period included Allan Kaprow, Dan Flavin, George Segal, Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Rauschenberg, and Andy Warhol. In 1969, Christo wrapped the museum building in one of the institution’s best-known early projects. That year the MCA also organized Art by Telephone, in which artists communicated instructions by telephone and museum staff carried out the works on site.

During the 1970s, the MCA moved away from its original noncollecting model and developed into a collecting museum. This change established the permanent collection that now operates alongside temporary exhibitions and live programming.

The Present Building

The MCA’s current home was designed by German architect Josef Paul Kleihues. The museum selected Kleihues for the project in 1991, and the building was completed in June 1996. It was his first architectural commission in the United States.

The exterior combines limestone and cast aluminum rather than following the glass façades common among many nearby high-rise buildings. Kleihues organized the interior to accommodate temporary and collection exhibitions as well as education, performance, and research activities. The original design included a 300-seat theater, studio-classrooms, a sculpture garden, and an art library.

An interior redesign completed in 2017 converted about 12,000 square feet into new public gathering areas without changing the building’s exterior footprint. The project was led by architects Sharon Johnston and Mark Lee of Johnston Marklee.

Planning a Visit

The museum is open Tuesday from 10 am to 9 pm and Wednesday through Sunday from 10 am to 5 pm. It is closed on Mondays as well as New Year’s Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day. Because hours and admission policies can change, the museum’s official visitor information should be checked before traveling.

Current listed admission for Chicago residents is $19 for adults and $10 for students, teachers, and visitors aged 65 or older. For visitors who do not live in Chicago, the listed rates are $22 for adults and $14 for students, teachers, and visitors aged 65 or older. The MCA also offers an in-person pay-what-you-can policy.

Admission is free for anyone 18 and under. Illinois residents can enter free on Tuesdays from 5 to 9 pm. The museum also provides free admission to several other groups, including visitors with disabilities and their caregivers, eligible Illinois school teachers, veterans, active military personnel, police and fire department members with identification, and MCA members. Visitors presenting a LINK (EBT) Card can receive Museums for All admission of $3 per person for up to six people.

The building stands one block east of Michigan Avenue. Its front faces Mies van der Rohe Way, and the museum directs visitors to use the street-level entrance on the north side of the building. The Chicago Avenue station on the CTA Red Line is about four blocks west of the MCA, and several CTA bus routes serve the surrounding area.

Paid parking is available in a garage adjacent to the museum on Chicago Avenue, just west of Fairbanks Court. The garage does not connect directly to the museum interior, so visitors exit the garage onto the street before walking to an MCA entrance.

Accessibility

Wheelchairs are available without charge at the museum’s first- and second-floor coat checks, subject to availability. Visitors with disabilities and their caregivers receive free museum admission when obtaining tickets in person.

For scheduled performances and programs, the MCA may provide services such as sign-language interpretation, open captions, assistive listening devices, and audio description. EnChroma glasses for visitors with color-vision deficiencies are also available for individual visits and tours. The museum recommends arranging additional accessibility services in advance through its accessibility staff.