CLEVELAND — The Regional, the first major multi-museum survey devoted to Midwestern contemporary artists, will be launched in December 2021. The first museum to be visited is the Contemporary Arts Center (CAC), Cincinnati. The exhibition will travel from Cincinnati through Kansas City from December 10, 2021, through September 11, 2021.
The presentation was first co-organized by the CAC, the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art (Kemper Museum) in Kansas City, and the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland (moCa), but moCa has drawn back from the project due to its equity-centered culture development project at the museum.
“Our goal is to keep the spotlight on the artists presented in this exceptional exhibition, moCa remains committed to demonstrating to our community, artists, and supporters the ways in which we can embody and advance the values of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility. It has been our privilege to collaborate with these partners in conceptualizing this project and we look forward to seeing its realization at CAC in December,” said moCa Interim Executive Director Megan Lykins Reich.
The survey will celebrate the artistic and cultural complexity of the midwest, giving the audiences a more comprehensive understanding of the art. The exhibition will display new and recent works, including several site-responsive commissions, by more than20 artists focused on photography, installation, and performance.
“The Regional is a testament to the range of creative practices and rich cultural heritage alive in the Midwest. The focus of The Regional needs to remain on our creative communities and the artists in the exhibition, and we therefore endorse moCa stepping back at this time. This exhibition is an incredible opportunity to collectively uplift and amplify some of our region’s most talented artists, and we look forward to providing a compelling platform to tell their stories,” said Raphaela Platow, the CAC’s Alice & Harris Weston Director and Sean O’Harrow, Executive Director of Kemper Museum.
The exhibition plans to gather new and recent works by various Midwestern artists from different backgrounds based in Detroit, Cincinnati, Chicago, Cleveland, Columbus, Kansas City, Madison, Minneapolis, and St. Louis, among other locales.