Contemporary Arts Center

Gallery hours:
Monday: 10am–9pm (FREE after 5pm)
Tuesday: Closed
Wednesday-Friday: 10am–6pm
Saturday & Sunday: 11am–6pm

CAC Store hours:
Store is open during normal museum hours and Tuesday: 10am-6pm

Directions to CAC

From Kentucky/South of Cincinnati:
From I-75/I-71: Take 1-75 North across Brent Spence Bridge. Stay in right lane. Take the 5th Street Exit. Take 5th Street to Vine Street. Turn Left on Vine. Take Vine Street to 7th Street. Turn right on 7th Street. Take 7th to Walnut Street. Turn right on Walnut. CAC is on the corner of 6th and Walnut.
From I-471: Take I-471 across the Daniel Carter Beard Bridge into Ohio. Take the 6th Street exit. CAC is on your right, at the corner of 6th and Walnut.
From North of Cincinnati:
From I-75 Southbound: Take Exit 1E West 7th Street. Take 7th to Walnut Street. Turn right on Walnut. CAC is on your right, on the corner of 6th and Walnut.
From I-71 Southbound: Exit on the left onto E. 3rd Street toward Downtown/Riverfront. Turn right on Main Street. Turn left on 6th Street. CAC is on your right, at the corner of 6th and Walnut.
From Indiana:
Take I-74 East toward Cincinnati. Take the I-75South exit. Take Exit 1E West 7th Street. Turn right on Walnut. CAC is on the corner of 6th and Walnut.
From West Side of Cincinnati:
US-50/River Road Eastbound: Becomes 6th Street Expressway. Merge onto West 5th Street. Turn left on Elm St. Turn right on 7th Street. Turn right on Walnut. CAC is on your right, on the corner of 6th and Walnut.

Glenway/8th Street Viaduct: Take 8th Street toward downtown. Merge onto West 7th Street. Turn right on Walnut St. CAC is on your right, on the corner of 6th and Walnut.

Harrison/Western Hills Viaduct: Cross Viaduct and take Exit 2B onto I-75 South. Take exit 1E to merge onto West 7th Street. Turn right on Walnut St. Turn right on 6th Street. CAC is on your right, at the corner of 6th and Walnut.
From East Side of Cincinnati:
US-50 Westbound/Columbia Parkway: Take US-50 toward downtown. Take the 6th Street Exit. CAC is on your right, at the corner of 6th and Walnut.

About the Contemporary Arts Center
Founded in November 1939 as the Modern Art Society by three visionary women in Cincinnati, the Contemporary Arts Center was one of the first institutions in the U.S. dedicated to exhibiting the art of our time. In May 2003, the CAC relocated to its first free-standing home, the Lois & Richard Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art, designed by Zaha Hadid. Throughout its distinguished history, the CAC has earned a reputation for stimulating thought and introducing new ideas by presenting the work of diverse artists from around the world, including hundreds of now-famous artists such as Laurie Anderson, Jasper Johns, Louise Nevelson, Nam June Paik, I.M. Pei, Pablo Picasso, Robert Rauschenberg, Kara Walker and Andy Warhol. The CAC focuses on new developments in painting, sculpture, photography, architecture, performance art and new media, presenting six to 12 exhibitions and over 20 performances annually. The CAC receives ongoing support from: Fine Arts Fund; Ohio Arts Council; The Carol Ann and Ralph V. Haile, Jr. /U.S. Bank Foundation, City of Cincinnati Arts Grant Recipient; The National Endowment for the Arts; the generous contributions and grants of individuals, corporations and other foundations; CAC memberships, facility rentals, special events and sales from the CAC Store. UnMuseum programs and artists are sponsored in part by the Charles H. Dater Foundation, Josephine Schell Russell Charitable Trust, PNC Bank, Trustee, and The Ladislas and Vilma Segoe Foundation.

The UnMuseum®

Can you hear, smell or touch art?
You can in the UnMuseum!

The Contemporary Arts Center's Sara M. & Patricia A. Vance Education Center: The UnMuseum® represents a groundbreaking new concept in museum education for children, schools and families. Occupying the entire sixth floor of the new Lois & Richard Rosenthal Center, the UnMuseum is a gallery of participatory art designed to offer children and parents an enjoyable experience with the most innovative art of our time.

Introducing audiences to contemporary art, the UnMuseum reaches far beyond gallery guides and learning stations by commissioning first-rate artists to create works of art especially for young audiences. Children, along with their teachers and parents, can experience and interpret works of art on a multitude of levels. The UnMuseum presents a variety of programming to serve the needs of wide audiences, including hands-on art projects, school tours, after-school clubs, family days and other programs that serve young people.

Weekday mornings, the UnMuseum becomes an experimental "classroom" where school groups have a unique, multi-layered experience with art, led by a trained guide.

On weekends and afternoons, the UnMuseum becomes an inviting environment where children, parents or caregivers share an enjoyable art experience together.

Not just for children, the interactive installations in the UnMuseum appeals to visitors of all ages and levels of familiarity with art. The UnMuseum is a model for museum education for the art world at large.

UnMuseum programs and artists are sponsored in part by the Charles H. Dater Foundation , Josephine Schell Russell Charitable Trust, PNC Bank, Trustee, and The Ladislas and Vilma Segoe Foundation.

Exhibitions:

Julião Sarmento

Realms of Intimacy: Miniaturist Practice from Pakistan

Matthew Monahan

Event calendar

Julião Sarmento
September 24, 2011-January 22, 2012

Julião Sarmento, Portugal’s most influential and celebrated artist, creates a new exhibition that explores literature and books as a theme.

The show presents the book as a visual object and addresses the artist’s unique relationship to certain books that have informed his work. It includes large-scale, re-imagined covers of books that have impacted the artist, as well as portraits of the actress Sasha Grey, star of Steven Soderbergh’s film The Girlfriend Experience, photographed in the act of reading.

Sarmento was born in 1948 in Lisbon and studied painting and architecture at the University of Fine Arts in Lisbon. Today he lives and works in Estoril, Portugal. His exhibition history is extensive. He has represented Portugal at the Venice Biennale and his works are included in the collection of the MoMA and Guggenheim in New York, and the Centre Pompidou in Paris.

Realms of Intimacy: Miniaturist Practice from Pakistan
September 24, 2011-January 22, 2012

Curated by Justine Ludwig

This exhibition explores the method of miniaturist painting as a stylistic foundation of art in Pakistan. Realms of Intimacy addresses the ability of art forms to adapt to different environments and to exist as a language with universal relevance. It features the work of Ambreen Butt, Faiza Butt, Imran Qureshi, Nusra Qureshi, and Saira Wasim, who all studied at the National College of Art in Lahore, Pakistan (NCA). These artists, now living in different countries, deal with overcoming geographic separation and the cultures of their new homes. The exhibition also provides these artists with the opportunity to produce works that go beyond the bounds of their usual practice, allowing them to follow lines of inquiry that they have previously presented.

In the 1980s, NCA revived the artistic practice of traditional Mughal miniature painting by infusing it with individual thought and contemporary subject matter--turning it into a fresh and relevant art form. Living abroad, the five artists in the exhibition are all greatly influenced by their current environments, and their works address the political, social and cultural realities of their new homes. Saira Wasim, for example, critiques American politics; Faiza Butt merges images of western consumerism with conservative Pakistani imagery; and Nusra Qureshi looks to Bondi Beach in Sydney for inspiration. In this way, Realms of Intimacy presents how the miniaturist method evolves as it is brought into different contexts.

A special thanks to an anonymous sponsor and ArtsWave Corporate Partner: P&G.

Calendar