Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland — Attraction in Cleveland

The building itself is a great piece of architecture. The spaces are well conceived and located. Just to be in the building was an experience to be enjoyed. However----- The art inside was not enjoyable. I am a local artist with pieces in a few of the nearby buildings. They would qualify for a museum such as the MOCA. I get contemporary art. It's the message, but it's also visual . A museum ,if it wants to succeed should fill its galleries with art for the general public as well as trying to be inovative. Yes you can fill a large space with a specific genre, which a small amount of people will get or enjoy. However when you come to your museum and you don't "get it" you expect to go to the next gallery and the next gallery and the next gallery to find something you "get". I got the tree when I walked in . I kind of got the ceramics. But for the general public to pay for parking then the $8 for admission to see that little of substance is not going to make a successful "must come back to see what they have" museum... When we asked we were told to go to all 4 floors for art. Aside from the tree piece on the first floor and some small pieces on the second floor (the documentery room was not showing anything), and the culinary stuff which is something for a culinary museum, there was nothing of real substance in the place. Do you really expect the general public to come. A suggestion would be to at least have one floor dedicated to a variety of sculpture paintings and installations that are there on a regular basis. Now when the public comes to your beautiful building they will have at least seen something that will have made them...

It's really a shame that so much talent was so tarnished by the acts of staff members. 2 out of the 5 people we encountered working here treaded us as children, with zero respect and with zero reason. On the first floor of installations, my husband gestured towards a piece of art (nowhere near it, may I add -- we know how this works..) and was told "pointing is the gateway to touching.. how do you tell her without using your hands?" in a condescending tone as if she were talking to a child then proceeded to push him for an answer. Really? Then on the 3rd floor, someone came over and was explaining the installation (which was appreciated), then another woman interrupted and asked if my husband had another mask because gators are not recommended. Somehow we made it to the second to last floor and nowhere does it specify gators are not permitted. We visit every museum we can when traveling, we belong to museums at home, and have great appreciation for the arts. We were looking forward to our visit, but will never return after our experience, under any circumstance. Even free, this was unacceptable. We 100% would have donated and planned on it, but just couldn't feel good about it. If you're ever in Pittsburgh, the CMOA is a wonderful place and respectful...

This museum is overall really unique and interesting. The staff are very friendly and are happy to assist you with anything you need and answer any questions you have. Their gift shop, while not the cheapest place to get stuff (that's kind of expected, though), is just as nice a place to look around as the exhibits.

As for the exhibits themselves, I often find them to be a hit or a miss. The second floor always has one or two great interactive exhibit(s) that both kids and adults can enjoy, like making your own collage or writing down on a piece of paper what you imagine your future to be. There's a staircase inside the main staircase that's painted yellow along the floor and walls where cool music echoes around the inside as you go up.

The main exhibits wildly vary in terms of artistry. On one side of the coin, the exhibits show something really ingenuitive and imaginative, while in other times, it's the stereotypical pretentious let's-paint-a-black-dot-on-a-white-canvas-and-call-it-art bullcrap.

For that, however, it's best to go to the main website and check to see what they have first. If you feel like you don't mind paying money to go see the newest exhibit, then I absolutely recommend this...