Shifting Grounds: The MCA - Organizational History

The tone and reputation of an art museum is hinged on its leadership.

Even though I have attended exhibitions at the MCA since its inception in 1967, before I began this project I never seriously considered its behind-the-scenes structure - as an early museum goer and later as an artist, my focus was always within the museum's galleries.

My dear friend Greg Cameron, who served as the MCA's deputy director and chief development officer under Robert Fitzpatrick, was instrumental in introducing me to the inside of this institution and he demystified the complex process of transitioning from a smaller museum into a world class venue at an enviable location. Kevin Consey and Allen Turner, respectively the MCA's director and president of the board during the museum's transition to its current location, revealed the inner workings of a sometimes difficult growing period.

When my father turned 40 in 1966, my mother's gift to him was sculpting lessons at Chicago's Contemporary Art Workshop, and from 1966 until 1972, he worked with the lost wax process, casting bronze busts. While studying with Jack Kearney and Cosmo Campoli at the Workshop, he brought our family to what now turns out to be some of Chicago's earliest contemporary art events. I vividly recall Campoli's 1971 exhibition at the MCA on Ontario Street.

While researching the MCA for this project changed the way I think of the museum, the process has rekindled my earliest memories of how art can surprise, confuse, and enlighten.

Gallery of Contemporary Art Museum of Contemporary Art on Ontario MCA Chicago on Block 21
MCA CHAIRS OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES 1967: Joseph R. Shapiro 1974: Edwin A. Bergman 1976: Lewis Manilow 1981: Helyn D. Goldenberg 1986: John D. Cartland 1989: Paul Oliver-Hoffman 1991: Allen M. Turner 1996: Penny Pritzker 1999: Sally Meyers Kovler 2003: Helen Zell 2008: Mary Ittelson 2012: King Harris	Press clippings binders in the MCA Library & Archives.	MCA DIRECTORS Jan van der Marck April 1967 – July 1970 Stephen Prokopoff August 1971 – August 1977 John Hallmark Neff March 1978 – October 1983 I. Michael Danoff September 1984 – October 1988 Kevin Consey November 1989 – June 1998 Robert Fitzpatrick June 1998 – 2008 Madeleine Grynsztejn 2008 - present
The tone and reputation of an art museum is hinged on its leadership. Even though I have attended exhibitions at the MCA since its inception in 1967, before I began this project I never seriously considered its behind-the-scenes structure - as an early museum goer and later as an artist, my focus was always within the museum's galleries. My dear friend Greg Cameron, who served as the MCA's deputy director and chief development officer under Robert Fitzpatrick, was instrumental in introducing me to the inside of this institution and he demystified the complex process of transitioning from a smaller museum into a world class venue at an enviable location. Kevin Consey and Allen Turner, respectively the MCA's director and president of the board during the museum's transition to its current location, revealed the inner workings of a sometimes difficult growing period. When my father turned 40 in 1966, my mother's gift to him was sculpting lessons at Chicago's Contemporary Art Workshop, and from 1966 until 1972, he worked with the lost wax process, casting bronze busts. While studying with Jack Kearney and Cosmo Campoli at the Workshop, he brought our family to what now turns out to be some of Chicago's earliest contemporary art events. I vividly recall Campoli's 1971 exhibition at the MCA on Ontario Street. While researching the MCA for this project changed the way I think of the museum, the process has rekindled my earliest memories of how art can surprise, confuse, and enlighten.