Stories
Join us as we explore art and ideas through the voices of artists, thinkers, and community members.
Featured
Exploring the History of Queer Art and Activism in Chicago
City in a Garden curator Jack Schneider writes about Chicago cultural practitioners who have played a key role in the histories of queer art and activism.
The future is queerness's domain.
—Jose Esteban Muñoz, Cruising Utopia: The Then and There of Queer Futurity
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New to the MCA Collection: Firelei Báez
The artist discusses abstraction against the backdrop of her painting, The Earth That Remains (2025), which will enter the MCA’s permanent collection as a promised gift of Laura and Michael Werner. -
The Sounds of Revolution
Scholars and artists from Jamaica and Puerto Rico discuss the power of dancehall and reggaetón as transformative musical genres and cultural movements. -
Explore the MCA’s New Digital Guide
Art and ideas come alive in our new digital guide, which brings together special features including self-guided tours, interviews with artists, and fun activities for our youngest visitors.
Articles
Read essays, interviews, and other digital publications from across the museum community.
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Article
The Earth We Can’t See: Experiential Works of Art About Place
Lilia Rocio Taboada discusses the multisensory ways in which artists convey the textures, feelings, and hidden histories of a place. -
Article
Black Sound and Silence: 1960s Avant-Gardes and Their 21st-Century Reverberation
Andrew Hansung Park explores the legacy of the Black sonic avant-garde of the 1960s—and its echoes in the present day. -
Article
On the MCA’s Newest Collection Exhibition
What does it take to develop new relationships between a museum's collection and its publics? Curator Pablo Helguera and Deputy Director and Chief of Curatorial Affairs Joey Orr sat down to discuss. -
Article
Beyond the Screen: 10 Years of Unfiltered Storytelling
"What might be possible if artists—particularly Black, queer, trans, disabled, women, and immigrant storytellers—were given the resources, trust, and freedom to tell their stories without compromise?," asks Elijah McKinnon.
Audio & Video
Take a digital tour, listen to artists discuss their work, and explore other multimedia content.
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Video
Mike Cloud: Worldless Obstruction
In this short documentary, Chicago Works artist Mike Cloud discusses his process in the studio and what motivates his curiosity about symbols, abstraction, and meaning. -
Video
Dancing the Revolution: From Dancehall to Reggaetón
Interspersed with footage from inside dancehalls and clubs, hear artists and scholars discuss the power of dancehall and reggaetón. -
Audio
Voices From City in a Garden
Learn more about the artworks and history on view in three interviews with artists and cultural leaders. -
Video
Six Scores for Yoko Ono
View documentation of six performances that track the destruction of a violin, smashing boundaries between everyday sound and music.
Books
Browse the museum’s latest print publications as well as past volumes.
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Book
Kenzi Shiokava
Hardcover; 192 pages with 115 color illustrations. Copublished by the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago and DelMonico Books•Prestel. -
Book
Dancing the Revolution: From Dancehall to Reggaetón
Hardcover; 304 pages with 120 color illustrations. Copublished by the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago and DelMonico Books. -
Book
Nick Cave: Forothermore
Hardcover; 304 pages with 250 color illustrations. Copublished by the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago and DelMonico Books•Prestel. -
Book
Andrea Bowers
Hardcover; 208 pages with 200 color illustrations. Copublished by the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago and DelMonico Books•Prestel.
Dig into our Archive
Explore new horizons and cultivate a deeper understanding of the ever-evolving landscape of contemporary art.














