Contemporary Arts Center
A non-collecting contemporary art museum in Cincinnati known for presenting emerging and experimental work.
Last updated November 4, 2026
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Overview
The Contemporary Arts Center, commonly known as the CAC, is a contemporary art museum in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio. Established in 1939 as the Modern Art Society, it is one of the earliest American institutions devoted specifically to modern and contemporary art. Rather than building and maintaining a conventional permanent collection, the CAC concentrates on temporary exhibitions, commissions, performances, educational programs, and other forms of public engagement with current artistic practice. The institution was founded by Betty Pollak Rauh, Peggy Frank Crawford, and Rita Rentschler Cushman. The founders raised funds from local supporters to present modern art at the Cincinnati Art Museum, and their first exhibition, Modern Painting from Cincinnati Collections, opened in December 1939. The organization benefited in its early years from advice and encouragement associated with Edward M. M. Warburg and Alfred H. Barr, figures connected to major American modern-art networks. In 1954, the Modern Art Society adopted the name Contemporary Arts Center. The change accompanied the creation of two dedicated galleries in remodeled space at the Cincinnati Art Museum. The CAC subsequently moved through several temporary and leased locations as the museum expanded and as the organization sought a more suitable home. Its locations included space at the Taft Museum of Art, 608 Main Street, the Carew Tower, the Women’s Exchange building at 113 West Fourth Street, and later the Mercantile Center near Government Square. The Mercantile Center premises opened in 1970 and gave the organization approximately 12,000 square feet of exhibition space. Although the CAC experienced financial difficulties in the early 1970s, it continued an active exhibition program and eventually secured a permanent lease for the location through a city bond in 1982. The museum became particularly associated with a forward-looking curatorial philosophy summarized by the phrase “the art of the last five minutes.” Its programming has covered painting, sculpture, photography, architecture, performance, installation, video, digital practice, and other new media. The CAC has frequently presented artists before they achieved broad international recognition, including Andy Warhol, and has used exhibitions and commissions to connect Cincinnati audiences with experimental developments in contemporary art. A major institutional turning point came with the decision to construct a purpose-built building at the corner of Sixth and Walnut streets. After an international architectural search that began publicly in the 1990s, the CAC selected Zaha Hadid in 1998. Construction began in 2001, and the new building opened on May 31, 2003, as the Lois and Richard Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art. The project was Hadid’s first completed American building and brought substantial international attention to the museum. Its seven-floor, approximately 80,000-square-foot design incorporates the concepts of “Urban Carpet,” “Jigsaw Puzzle,” and “Skin/Sculpture,” creating a building intended to function as both an urban cultural destination and an exhibition instrument. The CAC’s history also includes a landmark free-expression controversy. In 1990, the museum and its director, Dennis Barrie, were prosecuted over Robert Mapplethorpe photographs shown in The Perfect Moment exhibition. The case was widely described as the first criminal trial of an American art museum over exhibition content. The jury acquitted both the institution and Barrie, and the proceedings became an important episode in debates about artistic freedom, public funding, obscenity law, and museum responsibility. The controversy later received broader popular exposure through the television film Dirty Pictures. The CAC continues to operate as a non-collecting institution focused on temporary exhibitions and interdisciplinary programming. Its building, location across Walnut Street from the Aronoff Center for the Arts, places it within Cincinnati’s central cultural district. In addition to exhibitions, the organization has supported public art, architectural design projects, auctions, performances, educational activities, and collaborations that extend contemporary art beyond traditional gallery formats.
History
The Contemporary Arts Center originated in Cincinnati in 1939 as the Modern Art Society. Betty Pollak Rauh, Peggy Frank Crawford, and Rita Rentschler Cushman established the organization to bring modern art to local audiences, raising funds to mount exhibitions at the Cincinnati Art Museum. Its inaugural presentation, Modern Painting from Cincinnati Collections, opened in December of that year. Early guidance from Edward M. M. Warburg and Alfred H. Barr helped connect the young organization with broader developments in American modernism. The organization became the Contemporary Arts Center in 1954. At that time it obtained two permanent galleries in the lower level of the Cincinnati Art Museum. These rooms provided a dedicated venue for local collections and modern-art exhibitions, but the arrangement ended when construction of the museum’s Emery Wing displaced the CAC’s original premises. From 1962 onward, the center used several temporary or leased sites, including the Taft Museum of Art, 608 Main Street, the Carew Tower, and the Women’s Exchange building on West Fourth Street. In 1970 the CAC moved to the Mercantile Center on Fifth Street. The new premises, designed by Harry Weese, offered roughly 12,000 square feet and overlooked Cincinnati’s Government Square bus terminal. The institution faced financial problems during the early 1970s but remained productive, mounting more than 400 exhibitions during its approximately three decades at Government Square. A permanent lease for the site was obtained in 1982 through a city bond, providing greater institutional stability. The CAC’s exhibition identity developed around current and experimental practice. It did not seek to become a collecting museum; instead, it emphasized temporary presentations of painting, sculpture, photography, architecture, performance, installation, and new media. Its stated interest in “the art of the last five minutes” reflected a willingness to show emerging artists and untested forms. Artists such as Andy Warhol were presented relatively early in their careers, reinforcing the center’s reputation as an institution willing to take curatorial risks. The organization’s most consequential controversy came in 1990, when it and director Dennis Barrie faced criminal obscenity charges over Robert Mapplethorpe’s The Perfect Moment exhibition. Prosecutors focused on seven photographs among the 175 works in the exhibition, including images depicting sadomasochistic activity. The proceedings also raised questions about the role of National Endowment for the Arts funding and whether public support could be used for controversial art. The jury acquitted both the museum and Barrie. The case became a major American free-expression landmark and was later dramatized in the television film Dirty Pictures. While still operating from the Mercantile Center, the CAC began developing plans for a permanent, purpose-built facility. In the late 1960s and subsequent decades, possible sites included the Civic Masonic Memorial Building, but by the 1990s the organization had focused on the intersection of Sixth and Walnut streets. In 1997 an architectural selection committee reviewed 97 statements of qualification and reduced the field to 12 semifinalists, including several internationally recognized architects. Zaha Hadid received the commission in 1998. Construction began in 2001, and the new building opened on May 31, 2003. Named the Lois and Richard Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art in recognition of major donors, the building was Hadid’s first completed project in the United States. It contains approximately 80,000 square feet over seven floors on an approximately 11,000-square-foot footprint. Its design uses interlocking urban and gallery ideas described as “Urban Carpet,” “Jigsaw Puzzle,” and “Skin/Sculpture.” Architecture critics gave the project substantial attention, making the building an important part of the CAC’s public identity as well as a venue for art. The museum has also supported public art and design-oriented programming. Nam June Paik’s Metrobot was installed outside the former Fifth Street location in 1988, placed in storage in 2009, and reinstalled outside the Walnut Street building in 2014. In 2008, the CAC organized FORM: Contemporary Architects at Play, an exhibition and auction involving works by architects including Peter Eisenman, Michael Graves, Zaha Hadid, Thom Mayne, Bernard Tschumi, and others. Christie’s auction activities connected to the project raised $425,000. A related initiative later traveled to New Zealand in connection with the Auckland Arts Festival, where a local design competition called Formica Formations was organized. Today, the Contemporary Arts Center remains a non-collecting museum centered on contemporary practice. Its activities combine exhibitions, commissions, performances, architecture and design projects, education, and public engagement. The institution’s role is defined by presenting new work, supporting dialogue around difficult cultural subjects, and maintaining a prominent contemporary-art presence in Cincinnati’s downtown cultural district.
- 2014
Metrobot returns to public display
[1]After a period in storage, Nam June Paik’s work was reinstalled outside the Walnut Street building.
- 2008
FORM: Contemporary Architects at Play presented
[1]The CAC organized a design exhibition and auction featuring works by prominent architects.
- 2005
Rosenthal Center receives an American Architecture Award
[1]The Chicago Athenaeum recognized the building with an American Architecture Award.
- 2004
Rosenthal Center receives a RIBA Award
[1]The building received recognition from the Royal Institute of British Architects.
- 2003
Rosenthal Center opens
[1]The CAC opened its Zaha Hadid-designed building on May 31.
- 2001
Construction begins on the Rosenthal Center
[1]Construction started on the new downtown Cincinnati building.
- 1998
Zaha Hadid selected for new building
[1]Following an international architectural competition, the CAC awarded its first purpose-built facility to Zaha Hadid.
- 1990
Mapplethorpe trial concludes with acquittal
[1]The CAC and director Dennis Barrie were acquitted in the obscenity case related to The Perfect Moment.
- 1988
Metrobot installed
[1]Nam June Paik’s Metrobot was placed outside the CAC’s Fifth Street location.
- 1982
Permanent lease secured
[1]A city bond enabled the CAC to secure a permanent lease for its Government Square location.
Products and positioning
A pioneering, non-collecting contemporary art institution positioned around experimentation, emerging practices, interdisciplinary programming, and rapid engagement with current cultural ideas. The CAC emphasizes access to new work rather than stewardship of a permanent collection and uses its Zaha Hadid-designed building as a highly visible part of its identity.
Museum exhibitions · 1939
Temporary exhibitions
The CAC’s core offering is a rotating program of temporary exhibitions devoted to contemporary painting, sculpture, photography, architecture, installation, performance, video, and new media. As a non-collecting museum, it uses exhibitions rather than a permanent collection to introduce audiences to new artistic developments and artists at different stages of their careers.
Live arts
Performance and interdisciplinary programs
The center presents live and interdisciplinary activity alongside gallery exhibitions. These programs extend the museum’s focus beyond objects to include performance, public events, discussion, and other time-based forms that reflect its interest in experimental contemporary practice.
Architecture and design · 2008
Architecture and design projects
Architecture and design have been recurring areas of CAC programming, including the FORM: Contemporary Architects at Play exhibition and auction. Such projects connect contemporary art with the built environment and have involved internationally recognized architects and designers.
Public art · 1988
Public art
The CAC has supported art placed in public or highly visible urban settings. Nam June Paik’s Metrobot became a notable example, first displayed outside the former Fifth Street premises and later returned to public view outside the Rosenthal Center.
Controversies
1990
Robert Mapplethorpe obscenity trial
The CAC and director Dennis Barrie faced criminal obscenity charges over seven photographs in Robert Mapplethorpe’s The Perfect Moment exhibition. The case became a national debate over artistic freedom, museum governance, public funding, and obscenity law. A Cincinnati jury acquitted both defendants.
Marketing campaigns
- 2011Formica Formations
New Zealand
A related FORM collection was taken to New Zealand for the Auckland Arts Festival, where New Zealand architects and design professionals were invited to submit work for a domestic collection.
Outcome. Graham Roebeck won the professional category and Norman Lin won the emerging-designer category.
- 2008FORM: Contemporary Architects at Play
United States
The CAC organized an exhibition and auction centered on creative work by architects, including Peter Eisenman, Michael Graves, Zaha Hadid, Thom Mayne, Bernard Tschumi, and other prominent practitioners.
Outcome. Christie’s sold eight pieces and one concept, generating $425,000 for the project.
Brand decisions
2003
Moved into the Rosenthal CenterStrategyBackground
The museum had operated from a succession of temporary and leased facilities since leaving its original Cincinnati Art Museum space.
Action taken
The CAC opened its first purpose-built facility on May 31, 2003.
Aftermath
The new building strengthened the CAC’s architectural and cultural profile while providing a dedicated multi-floor venue for contemporary exhibitions.
2001
Began construction of the Rosenthal CenterStrategyBackground
The CAC needed a permanent home capable of supporting its expanding contemporary-art program.
Action taken
Construction began on the Zaha Hadid-designed facility at Sixth and Walnut streets.
Aftermath
The building opened in 2003 as the Lois and Richard Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art.
1998
Selected Zaha Hadid to design a purpose-built museumStrategyBackground
After decades in adapted and leased premises, the CAC pursued its first free-standing building through an international architectural selection process.
Action taken
The board awarded the commission to Zaha Hadid after the field had been narrowed from 97 statements of qualification to 12 semifinalists.
Aftermath
The resulting Rosenthal Center opened in 2003 and became a major architectural landmark for Cincinnati and the institution.
Project cost. $34 million (2003)
1954
Adopted a contemporary-art institutional identityStrategyBackground
The Modern Art Society had operated as an organization presenting modern art through borrowed or shared spaces.
Action taken
It changed its name to the Contemporary Arts Center and established dedicated gallery space at the Cincinnati Art Museum.
Aftermath
The change formalized the institution’s role as a dedicated contemporary-art presenter.
Recent events
- 2014
Nam June Paik’s Metrobot reinstalled outside the CAC[1]
Other
The public artwork, previously displayed outside the CAC’s former Fifth Street location and later stored, was returned to a position outside the Walnut Street building.
- 2008
FORM: Contemporary Architects at Play exhibition and auction announced[1]
Campaign · Other
The CAC presented a design-focused exhibition and auction involving works by prominent architects; the auction later raised $425,000.
- 2003
CAC opens the Lois and Richard Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art[1]
Other
The museum moved into its first purpose-built home, designed by Zaha Hadid, in downtown Cincinnati.
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