Who We Are

OPEN MINDS

Navigating contemporary culture for communities near and far.

Art and the creative process belong to all people. The CAC provides experiences through exhibitions and performances as well as educational and outreach programs, to engage and interact with the art, artists, and ideas of our time. Working with our regional community of visitors, patrons, and partners, and with our global community of artists and institutions, we explore and celebrate the unfolding landscape of art and expression.

History

In 1939, Betty Pollak Rauh, Peggy Frank Crawford and Rita Rentschler Cushman took the advice of Edward M.M. Warburg, the founding father of the American Ballet and a founder of the Museum of Modern Art. He suggested that rather than stress about finding non-existent art jobs in New York, “Why not starting something in Cincinnati? Plenty of room there. If you decide to try, come and see me and I’ll help you.”

Modern Art Society Floor at Cincinnati Art Museum.

By August of that year, Peggy Frank Crawford, Betty Pollack and Rita Rentschler raised $5000 and created the Modern Art Society (MAS). For almost a year their “office” consisted of a letter file and a portable typewriter set up in one or another living room. Within a few years, the MAS had exhibited Renoir, Van Gogh, Gauguin, Picasso, Beckman, Klee and many more in the lower levels of the Cincinnati Art Museum. In 1952, the MAS changed their name to the Contemporary Arts Center and in 1964 they earned a space of their own in downtown, Cincinnati. In 2003, the CAC moved into the Lois & Richard Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art by architect Zaha Hadid. The NY Times called the structure, “the best new building since the Cold War.”