Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago

Start at the bottom of the steps. The staircase in front of you is wide and shallow, and it climbs slowly toward a glass entrance. Under your feet the stone is pale and cool. Behind you, traffic moves along Chicago Avenue. Ahead, the building rises in a calm grid of metal panels and glass. It feels quiet here, only a few blocks from the shops of Michigan Avenue. The climb is a pause between the street and the art.

This is the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. Most people here simply call it the MCA. It collects and shows art made from the mid twentieth century to today. That means painting and sculpture, but also photography, film, sound, installation and performance. Few works here are fixed in place forever. Exhibitions change through the year, so the museum you see today may feel very different from the one you see next season. That constant change is part of the point.

The museum began in 1967. A group of Chicago collectors, critics and art lovers felt the city needed a place for the newest art. The older institutions in town focused on established masters. These founders wanted a space for living artists and risky ideas. They did not start with a grand building. They started in a modest converted space near the lake, a former bakery. From the beginning, the museum chose to exhibit work instead of waiting to build a permanent collection.

Here is a story many visitors never hear. In 1969, only two years after the opening, the artist Christo wrapped that first museum building. He covered the whole structure in fabric and tied it with rope. Christo later became known around the world for wrapping much larger things — bridges, coastlines, a parliament building in Berlin. But one of his early wrapped buildings was here, in Chicago. It showed the kind of museum this would be.

The building in front of you is much newer. It opened in 1996, and the German architect Josef Paul Kleihues designed it. This was his first building in the United States. Look at the facade and you will see how strict it is. Square forms repeat across the walls. Panels of cast aluminium sit above a base of limestone. Kleihues admired order and proportion, and the whole structure follows a clear grid. Some people find it cold at first. Others find it calm, like a frame waiting for a picture.

The site has its own history. Before the museum, a National Guard armory stood on this land. So a place built for soldiers and drills became a place for experiment and argument. Think about the neighbourhood too. Just a short walk west stands the old Water Tower. It is one of the few buildings that survived the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Very old Chicago and very new Chicago sit almost side by side here.

Now walk up the steps and through the doors. Notice how the light changes. Kleihues used large windows and openings so daylight could enter the building. On a clear day you can see straight through toward the back. The museum sits between the street and the lake. Behind the building, a sculpture garden opens toward a small park. Beyond the trees, Lake Michigan is very close, and you can sometimes feel the cooler air from the water.

Inside, the museum changed again in 2017. The Los Angeles architecture firm Johnston Marklee renovated parts of the interior. One goal was to make the building feel more open and welcoming. They created a central social space on the main level, often called the Commons. People meet there, read, sit and talk. A restaurant was added too. It is named Marisol, after the Venezuelan-American sculptor known for her playful wooden figures. Even the dining room connects back to art.

So what will you actually see in the galleries? That depends on the day. The museum is known for exhibitions of artists early in their careers, and for major shows of famous names. Over the decades, its collection has grown to include Surrealism, Minimalism, conceptual art and much more. Surrealism, by the way, is the early twentieth century movement of dreamlike, strange images. Chicago artists have always had a strong place here, too. Look for local names next to international ones.

Another surprise is how much happens here that is not on a wall. The building has a theater for dance, music, talks and experimental performance. Some exhibitions are mostly sound, or light, or a room you walk into. Do not worry if something looks unfinished or confusing. Contemporary art often asks a question instead of giving an answer. A good approach is simple. Stand still for a minute, read the wall text, and then look again. Many works change once you know the idea behind them.

Pay attention to the people around you as well. On a busy afternoon you will see students with sketchbooks, families, office workers on a break and tourists from everywhere. Museum staff sometimes lead short talks in the galleries. Listen in if one is happening. These talks are often the fastest way to understand a difficult work. And the museum shop has books on artists you may discover today for the first time.

Before you leave, take a moment at a window or in the garden. From the back of the building, the view opens toward the lake and the park. In winter, the trees are bare and the light is sharp and blue. In summer, the garden is green and full of people. The neat grid of Kleihues's building looks different in each season. Because the art inside keeps changing, the building is the steady part of the experience.

When you walk back down those wide steps, look at the street with fresh eyes. The glass towers, the old stone Water Tower, the hurry of Michigan Avenue — they are all part of the city this museum responds to. Notice a colour, a sign, a shape on a building. After an hour with contemporary art, ordinary things often look a little stranger and more interesting. That small change in how you see is what the MCA hopes you take home.