The Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Castilla y León, better known as the MUSAC, is a contemporary

art museum An art museum or art gallery is a building or space for the display of art, usually from the museum's own collection. It might be in public or private ownership and may be accessible to all or have restrictions in place. Although primarily con ...

in the city of León,

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. Inaugurated in April 2005 by

Felipe, Prince of Asturias Felipe VI (;, * eu, Felipe VI.a, * ca, Felip VI, * gl, Filipe VI, . Felipe Juan Pablo Alfonso de Todos los Santos de Borbón y Grecia; born 30 January 1968) is King of Spain. He is the son of former King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofía, and ...

, this cultural institution aims to be a "Museum of the Present", in the words of its

curator A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...

Agustín Pérez Rubio, and thus only collects

artworks A work of art, artwork, art piece, piece of art or art object is an artistic creation of aesthetic value. Except for "work of art", which may be used of any work regarded as art in its widest sense, including works from literature ...

from the latest generation of artists, between 1992 and 2012. The museum has won international prestige for its 21st-century collection and innovative programming, being labelled, for example, as "one of the most astonishingly bold museums to hit the Spanish cultural landscape in years" by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

''. The MUSAC building is celebrated for its

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

, and it has been awarded a number of

prizes A prize is an award to be given to a person or a group of people (such as sporting teams and organizations) to recognize and reward their actions and achievements.

, such as the 2007 European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture (Mies van der Rohe award). Designed by the architectural studio of Luis M. Mansilla and Emilio Tuñón ( Mansilla+Tuñón Arquitectos), the multicolored panels that adorn the exterior of the museum resemble the stained-glass windows of a

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...

. The architects drew their inspiration for this work from the main rose window (called ''The Falconer'') at the local 13th century

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

cathedral, Santa María de León. MUSAC has become a landmark for the city of León, and an emblem of the new 21st century

Spanish architecture Spanish architecture refers to architecture in any area of what is now Spain, and by Spanish architects worldwide. The term includes buildings which were constructed within the current borders of Spain prior to its existence as a nation, when ...

, as showcased in a 2006 exhibition at the MoMA of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

(''On-Site: New Architecture in Spain''), which selected the MUSAC as one of the arquitectural projects that make Spain today "an international center for design innovation and excellence".

Gallery

File:FachadaMusac.jpg, Facade File:AMIKEJO_at_MUSAC_with_Fermín_Jiménez_Landa_%26_Lee_Welch.jpg, AMIKEJO at MUSAC with Fermín Jiménez Landa & Lee Welch File:MUSAC SNOW.jpg, A view of MUSAC on a winter's day File:MUSAC OPENING DAY.jpg, MUSAC during its opening. File:M027.jpg, MUSAC interior. File:ARA37.jpg, MUSAC interior.

References

External links

Official Website

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20100520033450/http://wantmag.com/release/001/2010/05/musac/ Architectural analysis of MUSAC by Want Magazine {{authority control Castile Museums in Castile and León Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Castilla y León Art museums established in 2005 Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Castilla y León