The Contemporary Arts Center has unveiled a future exhibition schedule that emphasizes what museum leadership described as the CAC’s bold new stance.
The 2024-2025 season, which runs from September through next June, consists of six shows. Combined, these exhibitions showcase established and emerging artists who are “chronicling the ideas of our time,” according to Christina Vassallo, the CAC’s executive director.
Included are a pair of photography exhibits, a comprehensive display of work by late American artist Vivian Browne, a collection featuring works by Ohio contemporary artists and the first museum solo exhibition dedicated to Brooklyn-based figurative painter Marcus Leslie Singleton.
Vassallo – who joined the CAC in March 2023 – is curating a long-term collaboration with New York City-based design studio SOFTlab. Led by Michael Szivos, the project involves suspending lightweight, colorful structures from the ceiling in the CAC lobby to play off the signature floating geometric forms of the Zaha Hadid-designed building. The installation will be visible from the streets surrounding the museum in downtown Cincinnati.
The full schedule is below.
“We thought about our greatest assets, what’s happening in the world around us, and how to best express developments in the ever-evolving field of contemporary art. From these conversations, we understood that our purpose is to build empathy,” Vassallo said.
CAC’s ‘bold new stance’
Vassallo stated that schedule planning for 2024-25 was driven by themes outlined in the museum’s recently released strategic plan. She described the upcoming shows as a way for the museum to serve as a “lab for understanding ourselves, others, and the world around us through the experience and creation of all contemporary art forms.”
Another key element of the CAC’s planning involved regular collaborations with community a range partners and other arts organizations, such as the upcoming one with SOFTlab. The season features other partnerships including two with Cincinnati-based FotoFocus, The Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C. and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Cleveland.
Moving forward, the CAC’s intention is to use its exhibition seasons to comprise new bodies of work and experiments, with new commissions each year, Vassallo said.
“We will take great care to help our visitors feel more connected to the works on display by revealing the artistic process,” she continued. “We invite the public to visit and join us in this next chapter of creating and experiencing contemporary art in all its forms at the CAC.”
2024–25 exhibition calendar
Chip Thomas and The Painted Desert Project – Sept. 6, 2024 to Jan. 5, 2025
Thomas combines photography and street art to make work that celebrates Navajo culture and draws attention to the negative effects of capitalism on the landscape and people of the Navajo reservation. Exhibition curated by Kevin Moore, FotoFocus’ artistic director.
Barbara Probst: Subjective Evidence – Sept. 27, 2024 to Feb. 9, 2025
First American survey of German photographer Barbara Probst, whose work questions the notion of truth in the face of multiple perspectives. Exhibition curated by Kevin Moore, FotoFocus’ artistic director.
SOFTlab – October 2024 to October 2026
The design is inspired by the shape and surface tension of soap bubbles and the colorful palette will stand out against the neutral-colored building.
Vivian Browne My Kind of Protest – Jan. 31, 2025 to May 25, 2025
Curated by guest curators Amara Antilla and Adrienne L. Childs, co-produced by The Phillips Collection, this is the first museum retrospective of the work of American artist, activist, and educator Vivian Browne (1929-1993), showcasing how Browne’s art and activism helped develop discourse associated with race, intersectional feminism and ecologies. (Will appear at The Phillips Collections from June 28, 2025 to Sept. 14, 2025)
Only in Ohio – April 2025 – August 2025
Produced in partnership with the Museum of Contemporary Art. The exhibition, consisting solely of artworks made by artists living and working in Ohio today, focuses on an important part of Ohio’s identity—its natural resources, scenic beauty, and its resilience in a changing climate. The names of the artists aren’t yet available. (Will appear at MoCa in winter/spring 2025)
Marcus Leslie Singleton: New Steps – June 20, 2025 – Oct. 5, 2025
The first solo museum exhibition for the Brooklyn-based painter Marcus Leslie Singleton, who creates figurative paintings from notes, sketches, recordings and photos that he takes of his surroundings. Combining flat planes of expressive color with sensuous brushstrokes, Singleton portrays both the intimacy and joy, as well as the challenges, that Black Americans routinely experience.
Additional information about each exhibit is available on the CAC website.
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