1967: In October, the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) opens its doors to the public in a newly renovated one-story building at 237 East Ontario Street that had been built as a bakery and for a time had served as the corporate offices of Playboy Enterprises. The MCA is founded with Jan van der Marck as the first director. The premiere exhibitions are Pictures To Be Read/Poetry To Be Seen and Claes Oldenburg: Projects for Monuments. The MCA also presents Dan Flavin: Pink and Gold, the artist's first solo museum exhibition. The board of trustees elects Joseph Randall Shapiro as its first president.

1968: The MCA is given its first work, Six Women, by Venezuelan sculptor Marisol. The most significant exhibitions are George Segal: Twelve Human Situations and Selections from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Robert B. Mayer.

1969: Christo wraps the MCA's building and galleries with 8,000 square feet of tarpaulin; it is the artist's first building wrap in the United States. The museum features its first retrospective of a Chicago artist with an exhibition of H.C. Westermann's work. In the conceptual exhibition Art by Telephone, participants phone in the specifications for their works of art.

1970: Memorable exhibitions include The Architectural Vision of Paolo Soleri and Selections from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Randall Shapiro, an exhibition of paintings, drawings, and sculpture from one of North America's leading collections of Surrealist and Dadaist art. Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Rauschenberg, and Andy Warhol are given one-person shows.

1971: In Murals for the People four artists use the MCA's galleries as their workspace to create wall-size panels which are exhibited in various Chicago neighborhoods. The MCA organizes Milanese artist Enrico Baj's first solo museum show in the United States, and White on White, an important survey of works of art that are all white. Stephen S. Prokopoff becomes director.

1972: The MCA presents the first U.S. retrospective exhibition of work by American artist Lee Bontecou. Chicago Imagist Art is the first major museum exhibition to examine the work of the Chicago imagists. Modern Masters from Chicago Collections is a survey of paintings, drawings, and sculpture created between 1910 and 1960.

1973: The MCA presents a memorial exhibition of the work of Eva Hesse, before most other institutions have recognized her importance. American artists Richard Artschwager and Alan Shields receive their first one-person museum shows at the MCA.

1974: Major exhibitions include Duane Hanson/John De Andrea: The Real and Ideal in Figurative Sculpture and a survey of Chicago artist Jim Nutt's work. The MCA opens Alexander Calder: A Retrospective Exhibition simultaneously with the unveiling of two of the artist's major public sculptures in Chicago. Edwin A. Bergman is elected president.

1975: Performance artist Chris Burden lies under a sheet of glass in the MCA's galleries for forty-five hours straight, garnering around-the-clock national media attention. The MCA gives Robert Irwin his first solo museum exhibition.

1976: Historical themes are explored in Abstract Art in Chicago and One Hundred Years of Architecture in Chicago: Continuity of Structure and Form. Among the artists featured in provocative exhibitions are Manierre Dawson, Richard Diebenkorn, Clarence John Laughlin, Joel Shapiro, and John Storrs. Lewis Manilow becomes president.

1977: The highlight of the exhibition schedule is the first showing of Antoni Tapies's work at an American museum. The MCA marks its tenth anniversary by launching a major fund-raising drive and purchasing the three-story townhouse next to the museum. The expansion of the MCA's galleries serves as the humorous focus for Claes Oldenburg's The Mouse Museum/The Ray Gun Wing.

1978: The MCA uses the renovation of the adjacent townhouse as the occasion for an exhibition. Gordon Matta-Clark saws through the walls and floors of the annex to create the first "exstallation" in the space. Other highlights include Frida Kahlo's first solo museum show in the United States, a June Leaf retrospective exhibition, and Art in a Turbulent Era: German and Austrian Expressionism. John Hallmark Neff is named director.

1979: The MCA reopens with four new galleries. Max Neuhaus's sound installation is an integral part of the expanded building. The Options series of exhibitions, focusing on younger artists or experimental projects by established figures, is inaugurated. Provocative exhibitions include Sol LeWitt, Fotographia Polska, and Wall Painting.

1980: The MCA organizes Vito Acconci: A Retrospective 1969-1980 as well as solo shows for Martin Puryear and Lawrence Weiner. The diverse exhibition schedule also includes Outsider Art in Chicago, Late Entries to the Tribune Tower Competition, and German Realism of the Twenties: The Artist as Social Critic.

1981: Among the highlights are exhibitions of Roger Brown's paintings, Robert Smithson's sculptures, and Chuck Close's paintings and photographs. The MCA organizes solo shows for Margaret Wharton and Charles Simonds, who creates a permanent wall installation in the museum's café. Helyn D. Goldenberg is elected president.

1982: The MCA mounts the ground-breaking traveling exhibition Magdalena Abakanowicz, the Polish artist's first exposure in the United States. New Music in America, a festival of experimental music, is warmly received by the community. Also featured during the year are works by Laurie Anderson, Yves Kline, and Nam June Paik.

1983: MCA founding president Joseph Shapiro and his wife, Jory, promise more than thirty works of art as gifts to the MCA's Collection. In addition, the legendary George Costakis collection is featured in Art of the Avant-Garde in Russia. The MCA also presents retrospective exhibitions for Chicago photographer Kenneth Josephson, New York sculptor Louise Bourgeois, and British painter Malcolm Morley.

1984: Dada and Surrealism in Chicago Collections examines the extraordinary concentration of art from these movements that exists within the city. Hockney Paints the Stage fills the museum with colorful opera set designs. Expressions: New Art from Germany introduces such artists as Anselm Kiefer and Georg Baselitz to Chicagoans. I. Michael Danoff begins his tenure as director. The board of trustees commissions an independent study on the museum's prospects for growth.

1985: Options exhibitions showcase four emerging local artists: Jo Anne Carson, Jin Soo Kim, Paul Rosin, and Ken Warneke. Other provocative exhibitions include Eric Fischl: Paintings and a Gordon Matta-Clark retrospective exhibition. The MCA presents Robert Ashley's Atalanta (Acts of God) in cooperation with Goodman Theatre as part of The Electronic Language performance and new media series. A planning study confirms the critical need for a larger MCA facility.

1986: The MCA mounts Jannis Kounellis: A Retrospective in its galleries and at four other sites around the city. Memorable exhibitions celebrate Ludwig Mies van der Rohe's career and Robert Morris's work from the 1980s. A group of nine trustees commit $5 million as seed money for building a new museum. Governor James R. Thompson appoints a task force to determine the future of the Illinois National Guard Armory on Chicago Avenue. John D. Cartland becomes president.

1987: The MCA organizes Donald Sultan and A Quiet Revolution: British Sculpture since 1965 and hosts David Salle and The Spiritual in Art: Abstract Painting 1890-1985. The museum is awarded a $450,000 National Endowment for the Arts challenge grant. Governor Thompson's task force recommends demolition of the Armory and development of the site as a park with a museum and sculpture garden. The MCA submits a proposal to the governor.

1988: Christian Boltanski: Lessons of Darkness and Gerhard Richter: Paintings are organized by the MCA and tour internationally. Other highlights include Jeff Koons's first solo museum show and the first comprehensive survey of Nancy Spero's work. Governor Thompson grants the Armory site to the MCA in exchange for the Donnelley building on Calumet Avenue, which will be renovated for the National Guard's use. The MCA begins working with architectural consultant Marcy Goodwin to develop the building program document.

1989: The touring exhibition Robert Mapplethorpe: The Perfect Moment draws the highest attendance in the MCA's history, without a whisper of controversy. Other provocative exhibitions include Chicago Artists in the European Tradition and Object, Site, Sensation: New German Sculpture. Paul W. Oliver-Hoffmann becomes chairman of the board of trustees. A fundraising study confirms strong support for a new museum building. Jerome H. Stone accepts chairmanship of the Chicago Contemporary Campaign, which raises funds to operate and endow a new facility. A campaign goal of $55 million is established. The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation awards a $2 million grant to the MCA. Kevin E. Consey is named director and chief executive officer.

1990: The MCA's galleries and front facade are installed with monumental sculptures for A Primal Spirit: Ten Contemporary Japanese Sculptors. Alison Saar and her mother, Betye, exhibit together at the MCA, which also presents a survey of Robert Longo's work. The MCA signs a 99-year lease on the Armory site with the Illinois Department of Conservation and turns over the Donnelley building to the National Guard. The international search for an architect begins.

1991: Cuba-USA: The First Generation and Memory and Metaphor: The Art of Romare Bearden 1940-1987 reflect the increased emphasis on diverse programming. Sigmar Polke and Jean-Pierre Raynaud receive solo exhibitions. Allen M. Turner becomes chairman of the board of trustees. The trustee phase of the Chicago Contemporary Campaign surpasses all expectations, as the board contributes $37.5 million toward the goal of $55 million. In March, Josef Paul Kleihues of Berlin is named architect of the new building and conceptual design begins. In December the board of trustees approves Kleihues's conceptual design for the new building and sculpture garden.

1992: Robert Rauschenberg: The Early 1950s and John Cage: Scores from the Early 1950s are presented simultaneously and draw record crowds. The Museum organizes touring exhibitions of work by Yasumasa Morimura and Lorna Simpson, the first major one-person shows for each. Art at the Armory: Occupied Territory transforms the future site of the MCA's new building from a military facility to a temporary art museum featuring eighteen installations. The MCA unveils designs for the new building at its twenty-fifth anniversary gala.

1993: Exhibitions are mounted for Russian artist Ilya Kabakov and British artist Rachel Whiteread. The MCA hosts three major traveling exhibitions: In the Spirit of Fluxus; Susan Rothenberg: Paintings and Drawings; and Hand-Painted Pop: American Art in Transition, 1955-1962. Mrs. Beatrice Cummings Mayer is recognized for giving $7.5 million to establish the Mayer Education Center in the new building. The facility will include a 300-seat auditorium, classrooms, and a 15,000-volume library. The Armory is demolished. On November 30 a ground-breaking ceremony for the MCA's new building is held with new National Endowment for the Arts Chair Jane Alexander as the keynote speaker.

1994: Radical Scavenger(s): The Conceptual Vernacular in Recent American Art is the first exhibition organized by Richard Francis, the museum's new chief curator and James W. Alsdorf Curator of Contemporary Art. Jeanne Dunning, Jim Lutes, Dan Peterman, Kay Rosen, Vincent Shine, and Hollis Sigler are featured in a series of one-person shows focusing on artists who live and work in Chicago. Trustee Gerald S. Elliott passes away; his bequest of 105 Minimalist, conceptual, and Neo-Expressionist works is the largest gift of art received in the MCA's history. The Kresge Foundation awards the MCA a $750,000 challenge grant to assist the Museum in reaching the $55-million campaign goal. The "topping out" of the new MCA structure is celebrated on December 10 in a public ceremony attended by Mayor Richard M. Daley and 700 guests.

1995: The MCA organizes Jeff Wall and Beverly Semmes, the first major solo museum exhibitions for each artist. Beyond Belief: Contemporary Art from East Central Europe is the first American museum exhibition to examine recent art from the region. The final showings of the MCA's Collection in the current facility feature installations of work by Bruce Nauman and Robert Smithson. The Museum hosts Franz Kline: Black and White 1950-1961 and Andres Serrano: Works 1983-1993, as well as the only U.S. presentation of Some Went Mad, Some Ran Away..., which features works chosen by British artist Damien Hirst. The Lannan Foundation announces it will divide its collection among three museums, including the MCA.

1996: The MCA's Ontario Street building closes in January. The new building and sculpture garden opens on June 21-22, hosting more than 25,000 visitors during a 24-hour public preview, held on the summer solstice. Enjoying five times the gallery space of the old facility, the museum, for the first time in its history, can display its collection and mount temporary exhibitions simultaneously. Shadow of Storms: Art of the Postwar Era from the MCA Collection features 125 works from the collection, while the major inaugural exhibition, Negotiating Rapture: The Power of Art to Transform Lives, explores art's transcendent power. Art in Chicago, 1945-1995, celebrating five decades of Chicago's rich artistic legacy, opens in November. The MCA launches the Refco Projects Series, featuring new work by young and emerging artists, such as Jennifer Pastor and Jorge Pardo. The MCA premieres its monthly after-hours event First Fridays.

1997: Ground-breaking exhibitions continue at the MCA, which mounts the interactive exhibition Performance Anxiety and Palestinian artist Mona Hatoum's first major solo show in America. The MCA also renews its commitment to bringing important touring shows to Chicago, such as Richard Misrach's Desert Cantos series, Hall of Mirrors: Art and Film Since 1945, and a major retrospective focusing on the dean of American photography, Harry Callahan. The Museum receives one of the largest gifts of art in its history: 85 artworks from Lannan Foundation. Penny Pritzker becomes chairman of the board of trustees. After one year of operations in its new home, MCA attendance, revenues, and membership have quadrupled. The Chicago Contemporary Campaign reaches $72.5 million, far surpassing the original $55 million goal.

1998: The MCA presents Cindy Sherman: Retrospective, the most comprehensive exhibition of Sherman's work ever mounted. The MCA also organized the major exhibitions: California Scheming, Envisioning the Contemporary: Selections from the MCA Collection, Jana Sterbak and Mariko Mori. Joe Scanlan, Jacob Hashimoto, and Abigail Lane are each given their first U.S. museum shows. Adam Brooks created DeNaturalized, the first of four electronic tour projects commissioned by the MCA. There were several major acquisitions to the MCA Collection including Chuck Close's Cindy, Anselm Kiefer's Banner, Dan Peterman's Accessories to an Event (plaza), Jorge Pardo's Vince Robbins, and Rauschenberg's Retroactive II. Robert Fitzpatrick is named director and chief executive officer.

1999: The MCA presented Unfinished History, featuring the work of 23 artists from 16 countries and five continents and continued to exhibit installations from its collection including Apposite Opposites, Decades in Dialogue: Perspectives on the MCA Collection and Envisioning the Contemporary: Selections from the MCA Collection. Major exhibitions Roy Lichtenstein: Interiors and Robert Heinecken: Photographist are organized by the MCA. The MCA also presented major exhibitions Charles Ray and Examining Pictures: Exhibiting Paintings. The MCA is the first U.S. venue to present At the End of the Century: One Hundred Years of Architecture, jointly organized with the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA). The exhibition is the largest in the MCA history, occupying three floors of gallery space with companion exhibition, Material Evidence: Chicago Architecture at 2000. Sally Meyers Kovler is elected chairperson of the board of trustees.

2000: The MCA presents a number of project exhibitions by artists from around the world including a video installation by French filmmaker Pierre Huyghe; a large-scale photographic installation by Swiss photographer Beat Streuli; an installation of sculpture and works on paper by Japanese artist Yoshitomo Nara; a sculptural garden installation by German artist Tobias Rehberger; and a film installation and suite of photographs by British filmmaker Isaac Julien. The MCA also presented a number of collection exhibitions including the major exhibition Age of Influence: Reflections in the Mirror of American Culture; the first full installation of African-American artist Glenn Ligon's Runaways and Narratives; Tom Friedman, the first survey of the artist's work debuts at the MCA; and Chicago artist Anne Wilson receives her first solo museum exhibition. The MCA also presents major exhibitions Sol LeWitt: A Retrospective, Ed Ruscha, and Catherine Opie. Greg Cameron becomes associate director. Major acquisitions include David Hammons's Praying to Safety and Jeff Koons' Rabbit.

2001: A major MCA-organized retrospective of H.C. Westermann debuts at the MCA before touring the country. The MCA also debuts a survey on photographer Sharon Lockhart and a site-specific installation by German sculptor Katharina Fritsch. Project exhibitions A.A. Bronson, Gilbert & George: 1999, and Christian Marclay are presented along with works by Chicago artist Tony Fitzpatrick. The MCA also takes part in a citywide exhibition of Polish art with a site-specific installation by Pawel Althamer. The year comes to a close with a dedication to Africa as the MCA presents The Short Century: Independence and Liberation Movements in Africa, 1945-1994 and the retrospective of South African artist William Kentridge.

2002: Local artists are selected to participate in the MCA's new 12 x 12: New Artists/New Work monthly exhibition series highlighting emerging Chicago artists. Maurizio Cattalan's commissioned sculpture Felix, a dinosaur-sized cat skeleton, is installed in the MCA atrium becoming a signature work. The MCA/Studio Museum of Harlem organized survey of Gary Simmons is presented opposite the heralded Mies in America. Project exhibitions Donald Moffett: What Barbara Jordan Wore and Matta in America: Paintings and Drawings of the 1940s are organized by MCA James W. Alsdorf Chief Curator Elizabeth Smith and a major retrospective of Andreas Gursky boosts museum attendance. The MCA also debuts Gillian Wearing: Mass Observation alongside the traveling exhibition Archigram: Experimental Architecture 1961-1974. Manilow Senior Curator Francesco Bonami is named Curator of the 2003 Venice Biennale.

2003: The MCA coproduces John Currin's first solo museum exhibition in the United States. Kerry James Marshall: One True Thing, Meditations on Black Aesthetics presents five years of the Chicago artist's new work. Solo exhibitions of artists Hiroshi Sugimoto and Thomas Struth display works of their photography. Helen Zell becomes Chair of the Board of Trustees.

2004: The MCA organizes an immensely popular, first-ever retrospective of the work of Lee Bontecou. The first in-depth survey of the work of Chicago-based artist Dan Peterman opens at the museum, and the MCA hold its first show devoted to fashion, Skin Tight: The Sensibility of the Flesh. Between Past and Future: New Photography and Video from China, co-organized with the Smart Museum of Art at the University of Chicago and the International Center of Photography, New York, arrives at the MCA. In conjunction with About Face Theatre, the MCA produces I Am My Own Wife, which traveled to New York and won a Pulitzer Prize and two Tony Awards.

2005: The MCA joins nine other museums to become one of the Museums in the Park, a collective of Chicago cultural institutions partially sponsored by the Chicago Park District. Francesco Bonami curates Universal Experience: Art, Life, and the Tourist's Eye examining art, history, space, and identity through the point of view of a tourist. The renowned Paul Taylor Dance Company performsat the MCA during its fifty-state fiftieth anniversary tour, and the Asian American Jazz Festival celebrates its tenth anniversary at the MCA and other venues throughout the city. After mounting the first solo museum exhibition of Dan Flavin's work in 1967, the MCA presents Dan Flavin: A Retrospective, the first comprehensive retrospective of his important contribution to contemporary art. Aernout Mik: Refraction, a part of the 3M project with the New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York, and the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, brings a haunting video installation from the Dutch filmmaker to Chicago. Tropicália: A Revolution in Brazilian Culture showcases one of the most significant modern cultural movements in South America, and the MCA presentation appears in conjunction with a gala; five concerts; a film series; and more than a dozen lectures, classes, tours, workshops, and family programs. The Green Team begins meeting to reduce the museum's environmental impact through revising resource-wasting practices and expanding the recycling program.

2006: ANDY WARHOL/SUPERNOVA: Stars, Deaths, and Disasters, 1962-1964 brings enormous crowds to the galleries while early Warhol films are screened in the theater. Massive Change: The Future of Global Design, organized by guest curator Bruce Mau, raises important questions of how design can influence the way we live and brings together an unprecedented array of related programs throughout the city. The museum presents the first major United States retrospectives of German photographer Wolfgang Tillmans and American artist Richard Tuttle. The MCA is instrumental in co-organizing the first-ever Bodies of Work: The Festival of Disability Arts and Culture, a city-wide festival showcasing the work of artists with disabilities. In recognition of the MCA's commitment to providing access to the arts for people with disabilities, the museum is awarded the Arts Presenters/MetLife Foundation Award for Excellence in Arts Access.

2007: In January, the MCA presents Rudolf Stingel in the artist's first solo museum exhibition in the United States. The collection-based exhibition MCA EXPOSED: Defining Moments in Photography, 1967-2007, features the work of more than sixty artists and highlights the collection's unique strength in conceptual photography. Following the passing of Sol LeWitt in April, the museum presents Sol LeWitt in Memoriam. Also in April, the Martha Graham Dance Company takes the stage in celebration of the long-time collaboration between the mother of modern dance and sculptor Isamu Noguchi. Proceeds from the sold-out Martha Graham Dance Company Opening-Night Benefit Celebration benefit MCA Performance Programs. The groundbreaking exhibition Escultura Social: A New Generation of Art from Mexico City portrays the city as a hub of innovation and explores contemporary Mexican art through Joseph Beuys's multifaceted concept of social sculpture. The museum celebrates its 40th anniversary from September 29 to November 14 with forty days of free admission, more than 120 events, 70,000 visitors, and thrilling performances including the spectacular MCA@40 Gala that features a performance by pioneering rock legend Patti Smith. The museum also presents several collection-based exhibitions including Upon an Ether Sea: Water and Ship Imagery from the MCA Collection, featuring work by Hiroshi Sugimoto and Jeff Koons, among others; and Record Times: 40 Years from the MCA Archive, celebrating the MCA's history. In October, the MCA and Intonation Music Festival team up for Rock/Art, an afternoon concert featuring local musicians. Legendary singer Diamanda Galás also performs to sold-out crowds in the theater. The Complaints Choir comes to the MCA in November, creating a new work out of complaints from the greater Chicago area. In December, the Peter Brötzmann Chicago Tentet celebrates their 10th anniversary with a performance at the MCA. Rounding out 2007, the museum curates Sympathy for the Devil: Art and Rock and Roll Since 1967, an examination of the relationship between visual art and rock culture, reaching back to the same year that the MCA first opened its doors.

2008: Developed and presented exclusively in Chicago, guest-curator Francesco Bonami, along with the MCA, revisit the long-standing career of Jeff Koons with an exhibition that explores the significance of his work for a new generation. Jenny Holzer: PROTECT PROTECT immerses the MCA's main floor galleries in flashing light and text-based installations that join political bravura with beauty, sensitivity, and power. Holzer projects excerpts from poems by Wislawa Szymborska on the façade of the MCA and other landmark Chicago buildings. Recent Acquisitions, Utopian Station, Everything's Here, and USA Today all draw from the museum's permanent collection to exhibit the diverse acquisitions of the MCA. Peace Salon offers visitors on the MCA Plaza the opportunity to commit to peace and elect to have their heads shaved by artist Erin O'Brien. The MCA presents significant retrospectives of American artists Karen Kilimnik and Gordon Matta-Clark. The MCA also displays internationally recognized American artist Joseph Grigley and his new video installation, St. Cecilia. On the MCA Stage, Elevator Repair Service presents Gatz, a six-hour staging of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, unabridged and read aloud. The season also features performances by artists Laurie Anderson, Heather Raffo, and many others. Hellen Zell retires as Board of Trustees Chair and passes the reins to Mary Ittelson.