2014 has come to close and it’s time for some reflection on the past year, and of course, end-of-year lists. The critics and writers from Chicago and beyond have weighed in and we’re sharing their selections here, but we will also share our audience’s picks in a later post. Leave your “Best of 2014” MCA moment in a comment for consideration in a subsequent post.

Michael Darling
—Chicagoan of the Year, Chicago Tribune

Unbound: Contemporary Art After Frida Kahlo
—Exceptional Art Exhibitions of 2014, Chicagoist

Elevator Repair Service, Arguendo
—Christopher Borelli’s “Favorite Things of 2014,” Chicago Tribune

MCA-featured artists, exhibitions, performances, and programs all garnered notable mentions in Newcity‘s “Top 5 of Everything 2014”:

THE MUSEUM OF CONTEMORARY ART, ESPECIALLY DURING FAMILY DAY
—Top 5 Places that Aren’t Explicitly Tot-Oriented but Will in Fact Make Your Half-Pint Feel Right at Home

ISA GENZKEN: RETROSPECTIVE
—Top 5 Bricolage Exhibitions

ANNE COLLIER
—Top 5 Confrontations of the Male Gaze and Ugly Patriarchy

WU TSANG, MISHIMA IN MEXICO & SHIRIN NESHAT, TURBULENT
—Top 5 Video Artworks Shown in Major Museums

WILLIAM POPE.L
—Top 5 Gratifying Talks and Performances I Made It To

MARIA GASPAR
—Top 5 Artworks as Activism

LILLI CARRÉ, THE NEGOTIATION
—Top 5 Drawing Shows

WILLIAM J. O’BRIEN
—Top 5 Subversively Conceptual Crafters

MILLER & SHELLABARGER
—Top 5 Sweater Weather Artists

MCA STAGE
—Top 5 Dance Venues of 2014