Creative Curating
Collection Curatorial Exhibitions Staff
The MCA curatorial team is encouraged to be loose and playful in presenting the collection.
When you have the responsibility of a collection, you need to put it out on view, and it's—I think it's—it feels like an old model to just put up a static collection display that kind of marches through history in kind of a linear fashion. So I really encouraged our team to kind of look at things much more loosely and playfully, making combinations that are unusual, bring out things that have never been shown before as well as iconic pieces and really try to find some kind of thematic that will bring out a new way of looking at things, and so that's been one of the really fun aspects of our programming. I think, in the last several years are these collection shows that are very tightly focused and tightly thematic but that offer new ways of looking at the collection. And I always find that when I hear from the registrars that, "oh, we've never shown that before or it's been 20 years" or something, that's really encouraging, and I want all of us to do more of that because if you have it and you don't show, it's not doing anybody any good. So cycling through the collection, I think, is really important.
A Kaleidoscope of Contemporary
The task of balancing local and global is one of the curatorial team's ongoing challenges.
Artists Chicago Curatorial Global Staff
Early Bets and Bully Pulpits
Bringing in emerging artists, such as Wu Tsang or Ellen Berkenblit, makes the museum a driver of discourse.
Artists Collection Staff
A Local Approach
Monique Meloche
Chicago gallerist Monique Meloche commends the curatorial team's support for Chicago-based artists.
2000s 2010s Chicago Collection Curatorial