The Museum of Contemporary Art has put on blockbuster shows featuring the work of Nick Cave, David Bowie and, most recently, Yoko Ono \u2014 and seen its endowment triple in the past two decades.<\/p>\n
But the downtown institution has also struggled with labor issues, ones that have afflicted countless other arts organizations in the post-COVID world.<\/p>\n
Madeleine Grynsztejn, the woman who steered the MCA during those sometimes-turbulent times, says 2026 will be her last year as the institution\u2019s Pritzker director.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have enormous gratitude for what my team and I, and especially our board, has accomplished in the last 18 years. We set out to make a great museum of contemporary art, and now it is recognized globally as well as locally,\u201d Grynsztejn said in an interview Monday.<\/p>\n
Grynsztejn, 64, said she plans to be \u201cfully dedicated\u201d to the MCA through the end of 2026, before stepping down.<\/p>\n
\u201cMadeleine is one of the defining leaders of her generation. Her exceptional tenure has elevated the MCA Chicago to new heights \u2014 nationally and internationally \u2014 while remaining deeply rooted in and responsive to our Chicago culture and community,\u201d Board Chair Bill Silverstein said in a statement.<\/p>\n
The MCA this week touted the high-profile artist retrospectives held at the museum during Grynsztejn\u2019s tenure, including those dedicated to renowned painter Kerry James Marshall, whose work explores the African-American experience and Takashi Murakami, the Japanese artist, sculptor and filmmaker.<\/p>\n
Grynsztejn also highlighted the museum\u2019s bilingual initiative<\/a>, which means visitors can now find Spanish descriptions in the galleries, as well as bilingual programming for families and kids.<\/p>\n Grynsztejn was also clearly delighted with the public reception for the Yoko Ono retrospective<\/a>, which closed last month.<\/p>\n After opening at London\u2019s Tate Modern and stopping in Germany, Chicago was the show\u2019s only U.S. stop. The exhibit featured more than 200 items that showcased the breadth of Ono\u2019s prolific artistic output and activism over seven decades.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was an extraordinarily warmly received and popular as well as accessible exhibition,\u201d she said, noting that the show had the highest attendance of any show since 2019.<\/p>\n