Spaces that tell stories

As a center for contemporary art, the McDonough Museum is a place to share stories, to be challenged, and to reflect on what matters currently in our world. Designed by the nationally known and award-winning architectural duo Charles Gwathmey and Robert Siegel, it is a sleek modernist landmark built into the hillside. The interior galleries and transitional areas are lit by skylights that offer, on their own, shifting aesthetic experiences for the visitor, and appear from the outside as sculptural elements within the overall design. It includes both traditional gallery spaces and experimental areas where creativity and innovation are made visual. The two equal sized traditional wood floor galleries are connected by a balcony space that also doubles as an exhibition space. The raw space and two-story skylight installation gallery with concrete floors were intentionally designed to accommodate contemporary installation works. Outdoor sculpture terraces and grounds for site-specific work are also used for exhibition and special projects. It is a pleasure and a privilege to work in this discrete and elegantly ordered space — by virtue of its inherent beauty and openness, it reminds us every day why we are there — it’s about the present and the future.