DETROIT, MI — As the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD) approaches its 20th anniversary in 2026, it is preparing for a transformation and lineup of new exhibitions. Celebrating two decades at the heart of Detroit’s cultural and artistic movements, MOCAD will temporarily close its main building for essential renovations beginning AUGUST 25, 2025, and reopen in early 2026 with a refreshed building and bold Winter season of programming. 

The renovation will focus on critical infrastructure upgrades, including HVAC improvements, and will feature a redesigned Woodward Avenue facade with a new public window display, reflecting the museum’s ongoing commitment to accessibility and its visitors who travel to the museum from across the globe. 

While the main building is closed, MOCAD will continue programming in the Mike Kelley Mobile Homestead. Opening October 24, Heart Land, a solo exhibition by Detroit-based artist Mary-Ann Monforton, will be free and open to the public. Through sculptural works, the show reimagines icons of American wealth and ambition, challenging the spectacle of power and offering hope and play as alternatives to the status quo.

The anniversary year will kick off with a dynamic series of exhibitions featuring artists Carole Harris, Martha Mysko, and the first museum retrospective of legendary Detroit artist Olayami Dabls. Known for founding the MBAD African Bead Museum, Dabls has spent over four decades blending African spiritual symbolism, Black history, and Detroit’s industrial landscape into transformative public art. 

Guided by the theme “Radical Imagination, Intersectional Futures,” the anniversary program will honor MOCAD’s roots as a site of civic engagement, experimentation, and collective visioning. It will invite artists, neighbors, and culture-bearers to celebrate MOCAD as a platform for knowledge sharing, joy, and community building.

“As we celebrate our twentieth year, we’re honoring MOCAD’s role as a civic commons,” said Jova Lynne and Marie Madison-Patton, Co-Directors of MOCAD. “This renovation is an investment in the museum’s future—one that will allow us to better serve artists, audiences, and the city of Detroit. As we look ahead, it’s just as important to reflect on our past as it is to imagine what’s possible.”

The museum will remain open through AUGUST 24, 2025, the Gun Violence Memorial Project on view (closing August 24). Visitors are encouraged to experience this impactful installation before the renovation begins.

To stay informed about the upcoming Mobile Homestead exhibition and reopening plans, please visit our website or follow MOCAD on social media @mocadetroit.