Located at Columbus Circle at the southwest corner of Central Park, the Museum of Arts and Design is dedicated to collecting, documenting and displaying contemporary items and objects related to arts, crafts and design.
Going MAD at the Museum of Arts and Design, NYC
With its mission, the Museum of Arts and Design, more affectionately known as MAD, showcases an eclectic mix of exhibits. This means that you never quite know what you might find on display at the museum.
This is quite an exciting prospect if you love exploring and being exposed to something new and fresh with every visit.
What you can expect at the Museum of Arts and Design are exhibits that show how materials are turned into works that in turn enrich contemporary life.
The Museum began life as the Museum of Contemporary Crafts. It has been around for more than half a century having first opened its doors in 1956.
Its original focus was in recognizing the works and craftsmanship of contemporary American artists. This led the museum to hold exhibitions that focused on the materials and techniques associated with craft disciplines. It was guided by vision of philanthropist and craft patron Aileen Osborn Webb.
In 2002, the museum changed its name to the Museum of Arts and Design to reflect its increasingly interdisciplinary collection and educational programs.
More recently, in 2008, it moved to the present location at the Jerome and Simona Chazen Building at Columbus Circle.
The Museum of Arts and Design’s 54,000-square-foot space at Columbus Circle spans a total of four levels.
To this day, educational programs remain at the heart of what the museum does.
Review of Museum of Art’s and Design Visit Experience
We paid a visit to the Museum of Arts and Design during the Taylor Swift: Storyteller special exhibition, which was a great example of how the museum engages with popular culture.
Check in was done on the ground floor. We had pre-booked and purchased tickets online and check in was a breeze. This was a guided experience with a tour around the exhibition along with some other activities.
After a short wait, the tour began on time. Our guide gathered the crowd of mostly tween and teen girls around the lobby of the first floor.
Dressed in a sparkly dress, she engaged the group asking who were Swifties (no prizes for guessing how many were) and talking about Taylor Swift.
Then, we headed up to the exhibition on the second floor of the Museum of Arts and Design.
True to its mission of presenting how arts and design converge within the contemporary world, the museum’s exhibition presented different costumes from across different eras of Swift’s career.
Many of these outfits were iconic works of craftsmanship that are instantly recognizable to fans.
The Museum of Arts and Design Exhibition was a good way to tap on pop culture to showcase contemporary design work.
Taylor Swift: Storyteller was a deep dive into the pop artist’s music history and the iconic fashion choices that bring her songcraft to life.
It was an enjoyable experience. The museum even organised some activities like penning a birthday card for Swift since it was the songwriter’s birthday.
Other Artist Exhibitions Presented at MAD
Another example of the type of exhibitions put up by the Museum of Arts and Design is Shary Boyle: Outside the Palace of Me, a visiting exhibition.
The exhibition makes use of gouache, ink, and acrylic works on paper to offer a metaphor for the construction and presentation of self.
We had the chance to alternate between the role of observer and observed while engaging with an array of characters and objects around the exhibition.
Permanent Collection at the Museum
The museum also has a permanent collection of over 3,500 items.
MAD’s permanent collection was established from the Museum’s beginning in 1956. It was the vision of Museum founder, Aileen Osborne Webb, the collector and philanthropist. It was her who promoted the understanding of craft and the handmade as a creative driving force of art and design.
The Museum of Arts and Design’s permanent collection is organized into various themes and selected items are displayed at Craft Front & Centre.
MAD Mobile Guide
You can also download the Bloomberg Connects app that has a MAD Mobile Guide. Using this guide, you can explore the museum virtually from your mobile device from anywhere in the world.
One of the features of the MAD Mobile Guide is the chance to access an audio tour of Craft Front & Center: Exploring the Permanent Collection. It is also the best place to get a map of the Museum of Arts and Design as well as to view information about the various objects in the Museum’s collection.
Where: 2 Columbus Circle New York, NY 10019
Website: Museum of Arts and Design
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