MCA announces $5 million fund to support women artists as director prepares to depart

The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago has announced a new fund for women artists backed by a $5 million donation from board member Leslie Bluhm on behalf of her family. Named for outgoing director Madeleine Grynsztejn, the Madeleine Fund for Women Artists will support both collecting and exhibiting their work.

The gift comes as Grynsztejn prepares to leave her position as Pritzker Director at the end of 2026 after 18 years. It adds support to a commitment the museum announced in 2015: that artists who identify as women account for half of those represented in its exhibitions, acquisitions and programming. The museum formalized that commitment with a dedicated philanthropic fund in 2020.

For Chicago audiences, those decisions help shape whose work appears in the galleries and enters the museum’s collection. Grynsztejn has described representation as part of the MCA’s responsibility to its public. Her approach has also emphasized both artists’ involvement and visitors’ engagement, alongside the museum’s longstanding practice of introducing audiences to emerging artistic talent.

Chicago artists remain part of the upcoming exhibition schedule. Later this fall, the MCA plans a major presentation of work by Rashid Johnson, who attended Columbia College and the School of the Art Institute. Johnson is also among the artists commissioned to create work for the new Obama Presidential Center.

An exhibition devoted to Amanda Williams is planned for 2027. Williams, a MacArthur Foundation fellowship recipient based in Chicago’s Bridgeport neighborhood, works across art and architecture. The two presentations reflect Grynsztejn’s effort to give local artists a prominent platform while maintaining the museum’s international reach.

Grynsztejn’s departure will come shortly before the MCA’s 60th anniversary in 2027. Founded in 1967 in a small building at 237 E. Ontario St., the museum began acquiring art in 1974 with a work by Marisol Escobar. In 1996, it moved into its current five-story Streeterville building, designed by architect Josef Paul Kleihues.

The leadership transition leaves the museum looking toward its next chapter, with the new fund providing support for a defined part of its collecting and exhibition work. For residents following Chicago’s cultural institutions, the gift and forthcoming shows offer concrete examples of how the MCA plans to continue presenting women artists and artists with local ties.