Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Castilla y León

Coordinates: 42°36′23.49″N 5°34′57.98″W / 42.606525°N 5.5827722°W / 42.606525; -5.5827722

MUSAC Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Castilla y León
Established	April 1, 2005[1]
Location	24 Avenida de los Reyes Leoneses, León, Spain
Visitor figures	500.000[2]
Director	Agustín Pérez Rubio
Website	www.musac.es

The Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Castilla y León, better known as the MUSAC, is a contemporary art museum in the city of León, Spain.

Inaugurated in April 2005 by Felipe, Prince of Asturias, this cultural institution aims to be a "Museum of the Present", in the words of its curator Agustín Pérez Rubio, and thus only collects artworks from the latest generation of artists, between 1992 and 2012^[1][3][4]. The museum has won international prestige for its 21st-century collection and innovative programming, being labelled, for example, as "one of the most astonishingly bold museums to hit the Spanish cultural landscape in years" by The New York Times^[3][5].

The MUSAC building is celebrated for its avant-garde architecture, and it has been awarded a number of prizes, such as the 2007 European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture (Mies van der Rohe award)^[6]. Designed by the architectural studio of Luis M. Mansilla and Emilio Tuñón (Mansilla+Tuñón Arquitectos), the multicolored panels that adorn the exterior of the museum resemble the stained-glass windows of a cathedral. Indeed, the architects drew their inspiration for this work from the main rose window (called The Falconer) at the local 13th century Gothic cathedral, Santa María de León^[1].

MUSAC has become a landmark for the city of León^[1], and an emblem of the new 21st century Spanish architecture^[3], as showcased in a 2006 exhibition at the MoMA of New York City (On-Site: New Architecture in Spain), which selected the MUSAC as one of the arquitectural projects that make Spain today "an international center for design innovation and excellence"^[7].

A view of MUSAC on a winter's day by Mansilla+Tuñón.

MUSAC during its opening.

MUSAC during its opening.

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  Detail of the multicolored glass panels in the MUSAC façade.

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  MUSAC during its opening.

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} Abend, Lisa (May 29, 2005). "At a New Museum in Spain, a Contemporary Inspiration Drawn From Stained Glass". The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E01EFDC1239F93AA15756C0A9639C8B63&scp=1&sq=MUSAC&st=nyt. Retrieved May 19, 2010. 
2. ^ "El Musac de León alcanza las 500.000 visitas desde su inauguración en abril de 2005" (in Spanish). El Mundo. June 1, 2008. http://medscape.elmundo.es/elmundo/2008/06/01/castillayleon/1212340880.html. 
3. ^ ^{a b c} Ferren, Andrew (February 19, 2006). "In Eternal Spain, Architecture on the Edge". The New York Times. http://travel.nytimes.com/2006/02/19/travel/19journeys.html. Retrieved May 19, 2010. 
4. ^ "Nace el MUSAC, primer museo del presente" (in Spanish). El País. April 2, 2005. http://www.elpais.com/articulo/cultura/Nace/Musac/primer/museo/presente/elpepucul/20050402elpepicul_2/Tes. 
5. ^ Ferren, Andrew (September 23, 2007). "Welcome to the Land of ‘Wow-Factor’ Museums". The New York Times. http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/09/23/travel/23artboom.html. Retrieved May 19, 2010. 
6. ^ "Mies van der Rohe Award". The Fundació Mies van der Rohe. 2007. http://www.miesbcn.com/en/award.html. 
7. ^ "On-Site: New Architecture in Spain". MoMA. Feb-May, 2006. http://www.moma.org/exhibitions/2006/on_site.html. 

External links

• At a New Museum in Spain, a Contemporary Inspiration Drawn From Stained Glass
• Official Web
• Architectural analysis of MUSAC by Want Magazine
• MUSAC, reference point for a Museum of the Present
• Interview with Agustín Pérez-Rubio, current director and former chief curator of the MUSAC