New Combinations

About

We are proud to launch a new MCA blog, MCA DNA. While our previous blogs have been focused on specific topics or projects, MCA DNA will be comprehensive and expansive, sparking conversations about art and culture today.

The blog's title is borrowed from our ongoing, collection-based exhibition series, MCA DNA. Just as the strands of DNA intertwine to form the backbone of a living organism, so will the stories of our exhibitions, artworks, staff, and community combine here to provide a sense of the MCA as a complex organism, full of practices, activities, and programs with narratives that may surprise you. And just as DNA required research and testing to discover, we too will use the blog to explore different kinds of posts, media, and contributors—we see MCA DNA as an experimental, multimedia platform for many voices and subjects.

In upcoming posts, you’ll hear from archivists and artists, librarians and preparators, educators and security staff—writers from across the museum. We’ll gather great stories from the MCA’s past along with previews of future exhibitions and programs. As an audience-engaged and artist-activated platform, the blog will feature many voices and describe the diverse projects of our community’s artists.

We are especially proud that many artists who exhibit in our galleries become members of the MCA family—returning repeatedly to exhibit or to participate in MCA programs. Recently, Lilli Carré, whose collaborations with the museum date back to 2009, was featured in a 2013–14 BMO Harris Bank Chicago Works solo exhibition. She and her husband, Alexander Stewart, also led a popular Family Day animation workshop in April, and work from that event is featured in a post from one of our educators.

We're eager to hear what you think, know what you want to think about, and even what you have to say yourselves. So please leave a comment below or Tweet us @mcachicago. Pitch us a story or contact our blog manager Abraham Ritchie if you are interested in writing for us. We'll do our best to track comments and respond to your requests in upcoming posts.