P R E S S
R E L E A S E S 2000
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Fact Sheet
Description
MASS MoCA is the largest center for contemporary arts in the United States. The institution is dedicated to the creation and presentation of provocative visual and performing arts pieces, and of works that blur conventional distinctions between artistic disciplines. In addition, MASS MoCA functions as a laboratory for the contemporary arts, fostering experimentation by artists, encouraging collaborations among institutions, and allowing visitors a behind-the-scenes look at the creative process.
Opening Date
May 30, 1999
Campus
MASS MoCA is housed on a 13-acre campus of renovated 19th-century factory buildings in North Adams, Massachusetts. The complex occupies nearly one-third of the downtown business district.
By coupling the versatility and size of its spaces with the latest digital, fiber optic, and new media technologies, MASS MoCA is able to present and catalyze the creation of works that can be shown nowhere else in the world. These facilities serve as a testing ground to expand and redefine the nature of contemporary art.
Facilities include:
- 19 light-filled galleries with more than 100,000 square feet of exhibition space, including a single gallery as long as a football field.
- 10,000-square-foot black box theatre with a clear-span 30-foot ceiling, which can accommodate up to 650 seats.
- 3,500 square foot lab theater.
- Outdoor cinema with a 50-foot-wide movie screen and a 70 mm projector.
- Two performance courtyards, one of which spans 22,500-square feet.
- Workshop and art fabrication facilities.
- 5,000 square feet of rehearsal and production support space.
- 60,000 square feet of office and retail space for commercial tenants in the communications, high tech, and new media industries.
$31.4 million (including $3 million in contributed real estate and $4 million in environmental engineering and feasibility studies)
Project Funding
$22 million construction grant from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
$9.4 million in private funds for construction support.
Institutional Funding
$5.6 million in private contributions for programming and start- up. Programming and general operating costs will continue to be supported by admissions revenue and fundraising initiatives.
MASS MoCA Leadership
Joseph C. Thompson, Director, MASS MoCA
Meyer S. Frucher, Chairman, MASS MoCA Foundation
Mayor John Barrett III, Chairman, MASS MoCA Commission
Programming Partners
MASS MoCA to expand the region's cultural landscape, encourage interactions between the organizations' constituencies, and allow cross-disciplinary projects that further the institutions' individual missions.
- Sterling & Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, MA
- Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, Becket, MA
- Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY
- Williams College Museum of Art
- Dia Center for the Arts, New York, NY
- Williamstown Theatre Festival
- Norman Rockwell Museum, Stockbridge, MA
- Philadelphia Museum of Art
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Project Architects:
- Bruner/Cott + Associates, Inc., Cambridge, MA
Feasibility Study: - Bruner/Cott + Associates, Inc., Cambridge, MA
- F. O. Gehry + Associates, Inc., Santa Monica, CA
- Venturi Architects, Philadelphia, PA
- Skidmore, Owings, & Merrill, New York, NY
Contractor: - Peabody Construction, Braintree, MA
MASS MoCA has developed 60,000 square feet for commercial tenants in the communications and new media industries, facilitating collaborations between artists and these innovative businesses.
- Kleiser-Walczak Construction Company (computer animation firm)
- eZiba.com (e-commerce company)
- Streetmail.com (e-commerce company)
- Geekcorp.org (a non-profit organization dedicated to bridging the global digital divide)
- Storey Books (a publisher of how-to books for country living)
- The Advocate (Berkshire County's weekly newspaper)
- HealthShare Technology, Inc. (provider of health care information)
For Immediate Release
Contact: Katherine Myers
(413) 664-4481 x8113
katherine@massmoca.org
MASS MoCA 87 Marshall Street North Adams, Mass. 01247 413.MOCA.111