The Vigo Museum of Contemporary Art (, abbreviated MARCO) is an

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 (artwork), collection. It might be in public or private ownership, be accessible to all, or have restrictions in place. Although ...

Vigo Vigo (, ; ) is a city and Municipalities in Spain, municipality in the province of province of Pontevedra, Pontevedra, within the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, Spain. Located in the northwest ...

, ( province of Pontevedra),

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. It displays changing exhibitions of contemporary art, but has no permanent collection.

History

The building dates from the 19th century, originally having been built as a public prison. Following a request for a new prison, the Ministry allowed the construction of the building, on May 16, 1861. This project was carried out by the architect José María Ortiz y Sánchez. The building, which was supposed to be a simple jail but eventually became a courthouse with courts, prisons and a small shelter for the guards, was completed in 1880. A century later, the city council considered demolishing the building to create a leafy square in its place, but after a strong rejection of this new project by the architect Alvaro Siza Vieira and Javier Sainz de Oinza and the History Professor From Madrid High School, Pedro Navascués Palacio, this idea was abandoned. On 6 October 1990, the Directorate General of Heritage of the Galician

regional government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...

declared the building as a Cultural Property. In 1995, a new cultural project with the objective of rehabilitating the building and transforming it into a contemporary art museum was approved. The work was commissioned to a team of architects formed by Salvador Fraga Rivas, Francisco Javier García-Quijada Romero y Manuel Portolés Sanjuán. Years later, after refurbishment costs of 2 million Euros, the museum was opened in 2002 under the name of "MARCO"

External links

MARCO

Vigohoxe

Museum at Google Maps
{{authority control Contemporary art galleries in Spain Vigo Contemporary Art Vigo Museums in Galicia (Spain) Buildings and structures in the Province of Pontevedra Buildings and structures completed in 1880 Art museums and galleries established in 2002 2002 establishments in Spain

History

See also

External links