Editorial

Throwback Thursdays: Archives Month Edition

White text on an orange horizontal rectangle reading Museum of Contemporary Art May June 1970

MCA calendar from 1970

Image © MCA Chicago

October is National Archives Month and, throughout the country, museums, libraries, and other institutions devoted to preserving history are sharing items and insights from their archives and collections. In the tradition of Throwback Thursdays we’re sharing some items from the museum’s past today.

Photo from 1968 of, from left to right, artist Claes Oldenburg, artist Fay Peck, and the MCA's first director, Jan van der Marck © MCA Chicago
Contact sheet featuring images of Charlotte Moorman and Nam June Paik presenting a performance art piece at the Art by Telephone opening. © MCA Chicago
Additional images of Charlotte Moorman and Nam June Paik presenting a performance art piece at the Art by Telephone opening. This contact sheet includes early MCA staff members like director Jan van der Marck and curator David Katzive.
© MCA Chicago
Schedule for A History of the American Avant-Garde Cinema series
A History of the American Avant-Garde Cinema was a weekly film program we hosted in the summer of 1977—and of course we continue to screen avant-garde films to this day. © MCA Chicago
Invitation to the members' opening in 1985 of Option 26: Man and Trout. The next image shows the back of the invitation with the exhibition description. © MCA Chicago
The reverse of the invitation to Option 26: Man and Trout © MCA Chicago
An internal publication, our Staff and Trustee Newsletter from April 1997 mentioned several notable museum visitors from a cross-section of American life: musician David Byrne, actor Jim Carey, actress Joan Cusack, Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, and the Reverend Jesse Jackson. © MCA Chicago
Saxophonist Roscoe Mitchell (lower left) performs in 1998. Mitchell is a founding member of the AACM and a member of the Art Ensemble of Chicago. In the summer of 2015, we present The Freedom Principle, an exhibition that explores the artistic and musical contribution of black collectivities, including the AACM and Art Ensemble of Chicago. © MCA Chicago
A camera crew films Chris Burden lying on the floor under a piece of glass

Witness what will become archival art lore now!

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