Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) Grand Avenue

MOCA shuns the elitist mentality that pervades much of the modern art world. The museum makes bold and interesting exhibit selections with layperson accessibility in mind, such as their wildly popular Basquiat and Warhol retrospectives. In addition to exhibiting the work of contemporary heavy hitters, the museum also does its part to expose the public to artists' artists, like Robert Rauschenberg, who pioneered the "combine" (a piece of art that straddles the line between painting and sculpture) and Minimalist Eva Hesse. MOCA also doesn't restrict itself to showcasing traditional artists, they also make space for fashion designers like Viktor & Rolf and Hussein Chalayan and architects like Shigeru Ban.  The museum's permanent collection is also worth a good look: Ellsworth Kelly, Cy Twombly, Roy Lichtenstein and Claes Oldenburg are just a few of the names on MOCA's impressive roster. During the summer months the museum stays open late on Saturday nights for the popular "Night Vision: MOCA After Dark" series. Besides letting visitors explore the galleries late into the evening, the series brings hip music and DJ acts to the museum courtyard like The Like, Thurston Moore (of Sonic Youth), Gram Rabbit, Steve Aoki, Cut Chemist and more. Throughout the week museum educators offer free, informal introductions to current exhibitions at 12pm, 1pm and 2pm. A stop at the museum cafe, Patinette, after one of those tours is a frequent reason Downtown workers take an extra hour at lunch.

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