A Brief History of MOCAD
The Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit began in 1995 when Detroit Free Press art critic Marsha Miro and the late Susanne Feld Hilberry, renowned owner of the former Susanne Hilberry Gallery, envisioned a new museum to expand Detroit’s contemporary art community. By connecting to the national and international art world, MOCAD is a nexus for educating the public about contemporary arts and music and plays a critical role in helping regenerate Detroit through the arts.
MOCAD’s Founding Director, Miro, began working with a small circle of contemporary art lovers and collectors to help realize the idea. Miro approached the Detroit Institute of Art’s Richard Manoogian, who immediately saw the project’s importance and agreed to support it. In January 2004, Miro and an advisory group of Masco Foundation and Manoogian Foundation directors—Lillian Bauder, Sharon Rothwell, and Melonie Colaianne–began envisioning the Museum with the help of the arts community. At their suggestion, Manoogian purchased and began renovating a former car dealership on Woodward Avenue and Garfield Street in Midtown Detroit for what would become the Museum’s home. Miro suggested that the 22,000-square-foot building designed by famed Detroit industrial architect Albert Kahn at the turn of the century be rethought using architect Andrew Zago. Rather than building the ubiquitous “white box,” Zago designed the structure to reflect the building’s evolution, making it an assemblage of periods old and new.
We needed a place that anyone would feel comfortable walking into. I’ve always believed art is critical for everybody, not just the artists, the people who can afford to buy it, or those initiated in the intellectual ramifications of it. Art adds so much to you as a human being. In this city, we need the healing qualities of creativity more than anything.
Miro began planning with the help of Lynn Crawford, Cate Strumbos, Burt Aaron, Mitch Cope, John Corbin, and Julie Reyes Taubman. Taubman was critical in bringing MOCAD’s acceptance to the corporate community. She organized the first major fundraiser, developed various art projects, and assembled the first Board of Directors, which included Keith Pomeroy, Linda Powers, Shelley Tauber, Linda Dresner, Terry Rakolta, and Sandy Seligman.
The Museum’s inaugural exhibitions were critical to establishing the importance and ambition of MOCAD. International curator Klaus Kertess organized the first exhibition, Meditations in an Emergency, which confirmed the Museum’s commitment to looking at issues particular to Detroit through the lens of the arts. Influential African American contemporary artists Kara Walker, Mark Bradford, and Nari Ward showed work in Detroit for the first time. Artist Barry McGee covered the front of the building in graffiti, symbolizing that the Museum would not be confined within its walls but reach out into the streets. On October 28, 2006, the Museum’s grand opening welcomed 2,500 people: they were a broad mix of the community, hungry and excited for a place to experience what was happening in the arts.
Another key date in the history of MOCAD occurred on May 11, 2013, when the Museum opened its sole permanent installation: Mike Kelley’s Mobile Homestead, a trailer-mounted life-size replica of Kelley’s childhood home in Westland, Michigan. Kelley–a former Detroiter and one of the most influential artists of our time–began working on the idea with Marsha Miro and James Lingwood of London’s ArtAngel in 2006. For years, a long-time friend of Miro’s, Kelley, had suggested that the project be located at MOCAD and worked to realize the project until his death.
MOCAD’S founders conceived the Museum as a Kunsthalle, or a non-collecting “art hall,” that organizes and hosts temporary exhibitions of new and experimental artists. In addition to visual art, the Museum is dedicated to presenting music, literature, and film made by local, national, and international artists and examining critical theory and the built environment. Except for Mike Kelley’s Mobile Homestead, MOCAD does not have a permanent collection of artwork to maintain, thus allowing more resources to be devoted to public programs for youth and adults, support for living artists, and presenting new work by emerging artists. An archive of past exhibitions is on the Past Exhibitions page.
MOCAD proudly functions as a hub for exploring emerging ideas in contemporary art and presenting art at the forefront of contemporary culture. The Museum remains responsive to the cultural content of our time, fueling crucial dialogue, collaboration, and public engagement. Admission to the Museum is donation-based, and our free or low-cost programs ensure that MOCAD remains accessible to all. We invite you to visit MOCAD today and to join us as we create the history of our future.
