The Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA Denver), in

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the ...

, was founded in 1996 as the first dedicated home for contemporary art in the city of Denver. For seven years, MCA Denver occupied a renovated fish market in

Sakura Square Sakura Square ( ja, サクラ・スクエア, ''Sakura Sukuea'') is a small plaza located on the north/east side of the intersection of 19th Street and Larimer Street in Denver, Colorado. The square contains busts of Ralph L. Carr, Governor of C ...

in lower downtown Denver.

History

MCA Denver was founded in 1996, when philanthropist Sue Cannon and a group of volunteers (such a
Marina Graves
Mark Sink, Dale Chisman and Lawrence Argent) created the first dedicated home for contemporary art in the city of Denver. For seven years, MCA Denver occupied a renovated fish market in

in lower downtown Denver. In 2003, developer Mark Falcone and designer Ellen Bruss, members of MCA Denver's Board of Trustees, donated land in Denver's

Platte Valley Platte may refer to: Geography United States * Platte, Minnesota, an unincorporated community * Platte, South Dakota, a city * Platte Canyon, Colorado * Platte City, Missouri * Platte Lake (disambiguation), also Lake Platte * Platte River (di ...

– which was later appraised at $1.5 million – to facilitate the building of a permanent building. The Board subsequently started an $18.6 million capital campaign in June 2005 and assembled a committee that gathered interest from 47 architects, selecting 6 finalists.Carol Kino (November 12, 2007)
A Museum Rises, but Not the Usual Way
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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 ...

''. In a public process, each architect was required to give a lecture to the community. In October 2007, under the directorship of Cydney Payton, MCA Denver opened its new, 27,000-square foot, environmentally sustainable facility in lower downtown Denver designed by architect

David Adjaye Sir David Frank Adjaye (born 22 September 1966) is a Ghanaian-British architect. He is known for having designed many notable buildings around the world, including the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D. ...

of Adjaye Associates (UK). The building, Adjaye's first museum commission, was designed to minimize boundaries between the exterior spaces of the city and the interior galleries of the museum. Hidden skylights fill the interior spaces with natural light, and large windows look out on the city streets. The building has five galleries as well as dedicated education spaces, a shop, library and rooftop cafe. In March 2009, Adam Lerner was appointed as the director of MCA Denver. Lerner had previously been working at The Lab in Belmar, an institution that offered modern art as well as lectures and interactive activities. Upon Lerner's move to MCA Denver, the Boards of Trustees agreed to merge the two institutions. In August 2019, Nora Burnett Abrams was appointed as the new Mark G. Falcone Director of MCA Denver.

Collection

There is no permanent collection at MCA Denver. Exhibitions are on view for a period of 2–4 months, and are rotated about 3-4 times a year.

Major exhibits

Some of the artists who have exhibited at MCA Denver include: Tatiana Blass,

Brian Bress Brian Bress (born 1975 in Norfolk, Virginia) is an American video artist living and working in Los Angeles. Bress received a BFA in film, animation and Video from the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, Rhode Island in 1998, an MFA in ...

Damien Hirst Damien Steven Hirst (; né Brennan; born 7 June 1965) is an English artist, entrepreneur, and art collector. He is one of the Young British Artists (YBAs) who dominated the art scene in the UK during the 1990s. He is reportedly the United Kingd ...

, Jonas Burgert, David Altmejd,

Chris Ofili Christopher Ofili, (born 10 October 1968) is a British Turner Prize-winning painter who is best known for his paintings incorporating elephant dung. He was one of the Young British Artists. Since 2005, Ofili has been living and working in T ...

, Wangetchi Mutu, Lorraine O'Grady, Jane Hammond, Dana Schutz, Paul Sietsema,

Mark Mothersbaugh Mark Allen Mothersbaugh (; born May 18, 1950) is an American composer, singer, and multi-instrumentalist. He came to prominence in the late 1970s as co-founder, lead singer and keyboardist of the new wave band Devo, whose " Whip It" was a top 20 ...

Tara Donovan Tara Donovan (born 1969 in Flushing, Queens, in New York City)) is an American sculptor who lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. Her large-scale installations, sculptures, drawings, and prints utilize everyday objects to explore the transformati ...

, and others.

Programs

The brainchild of Elissa Auther and Gillian Silverman — Feminism & CO at The Lab at Belmar — was incorporated into MCA Denver programming when the two organizations officially merged. As a program unique to MCA Denver, there are no other dedicated programs in any museum in the United States that specifically references the intersection of feminism and contemporary art.

Management

Directors

* 2001–2009: Cydney Payton * 2009–2019: Adam Lerner * 2019–present: Nora Burnett AbramsLauren Messman (August 20, 2019)
MCA Denver Names a New Director
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''.

Board of Trustees

MCA Denver is also managed by a Board of Trustees, which is currently chaired by Michael Fries.

References

External links

*
MCA Denver blog

''Westword'' article

''Denver Post'' article
{{authority control Art museums established in 1996 Art museums and galleries in Colorado Museums in Denver Contemporary art galleries in the United States David Adjaye buildings