Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, Contemporary art museum in Madison, United States
The Madison Museum of Contemporary Art is an art gallery in downtown Madison, Wisconsin, presenting contemporary works across four dedicated exhibition spaces. The collection brings together pieces by both long-established and newer artists, with new shows rotating throughout the year.
The museum was founded in 1901 as a small art association before growing into a standalone institution over the following decades. The current building on State Street opened in the early 2000s, replacing an older and smaller facility that could no longer hold the growing collection.
The museum sits on State Street, one of Madison's most walked streets, where students, locals, and visitors all pass through. Its closeness to the University of Wisconsin shapes the kind of audience it draws and the conversations its exhibitions tend to open up.
Admission to the museum is free, which makes dropping in without much planning easy. It sits in the middle of downtown Madison and can be reached on foot from most parts of the city center.
The building was designed by Cesar Pelli, the architect behind the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur. On the roof sits a sculpture garden that opens up a wide view over downtown Madison, a spot that many visitors do not expect to find inside an art gallery.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 60,000 contributors worldwide.
