MCA Leader Madeleine Grynsztejn Will Step Down After Nearly 20 Years

Madeleine Grynsztejn to leave the MCA Chicago at end of 2026

The Museum of Contemporary Art has put on blockbuster shows featuring the work of Nick Cave, David Bowie and, most recently, Yoko Ono — and seen its endowment triple in the past two decades.But the downtown institution has also struggled with labor issues, ones that have afflicted countless other arts organizations in the post-COVID world.Madeleine Grynsztejn, the woman who steered the MCA during those sometimes-turbulent times, says 2026 will b…

MCA leader Madeleine Grynsztejn will step down after nearly 20 years

After nearly two decades at Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art, director Madeleine Grynsztejn is stepping down

Madeleine Grynsztejn on Her Decision to Step Down From Her Role as Director of MCA Chicago

Portrait of Madeleine Grynsztejn courtesy of the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. The world looked a lot different when Madeleine Grynsztejn took the reins at MCA Chicago back in 2008. Chicago-born senator Barack Obama was taking the world by storm, and hope was a word uttered not just with sincerity but conviction. Grynsztejn has never lost that hope. Over the last 18 years, the Venezuela-raised museum director and curator steered some of MC…

Transformative Director Madeleine Grynsztejn to Leave MCA Chicago

Madeleine Grynsztejn, who has served as director of the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago since 2008, has announced that she will step down at the end of 2026, after eighteen years in the role. A search for her successor will begin this spring. Though Grynsztejn did not detail her post-MCA plans beyond saying she would remain supportive of […]

MCA Chicago Director Madeleine Grynsztejn to Depart After 18 Years

Madeleine Grynsztejn, one of the key figures of Chicago’s art scene, will leave her post as director of the city’s Museum of Contemporary Art at the end of the year, bringing to an end an 18-year-long tenure that has seen a range of celebrated retrospectives and a dramatic expansion of the institution’s collection and operating budget. In a phone interview, Grynsztejn pointed out that next year will mark the MCA’s 60th anniversary, and said th…