Director's Statement

MASS MoCA is an open platform that fosters a dynamic dialogue between artist, artwork, place, and visitor. It is a laboratory for the fabrication and presentation of new works in the visual and performing arts - and those that merge the two disciplines - as well as emerging areas of the arts that incorporate new media and forge new vocabularies.

We are an institution focused on the future. What began more than a decade ago as an idea for the display of large, static works has evolved into a lively cross-disciplinary institution that multiplies the possibilities for contemporary art-making and presentation. Our goals are to provide artists with unprecedented space, tools, and time, and, of equal importance, to bring a broad spectrum of the public face-to-face with the energy and dramatic scale of contemporary art.

Our programs exploit the unparalleled size, range and versatility of our indoor and outdoor spaces. MASS MoCA has specifically been conceived as a platform for collaborations among cultural institutions and artists, a laboratory for artists to create new work, and a venue for visitors to experience works in progress. Our location "off center" in a rural area is also significant since it creates a sense of pilgrimage for those who visit. It also frees us from the pressures and limitations that both contemporary art and contemporary art centers face in urban settings.

MASS MoCA has also been designed to be responsive to changes in art-making and art-presentation environments. Our decision to keep our principal spaces open for a variety of uses, as opposed to committing them to the long-term installation of art from a narrow fixed period, was crucial in shaping our role as a forward-looking creative enterprise. MASS MoCA itself is a work in progress, as we have only begun to develop the potential of our extraordinary site. We will adapt our spaces, programs and presentation strategies in support of the visions of artists and interests of audiences well into the future.

Joe Thompson
Founding Director

Contact: Katherine Myers
(413) 664-4481 x8113
katherine@massmoca.org