DETROIT, MI.- The Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit will open on October 26. The mission of the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit is to present art at the forefront of contemporary culture. As a non-collecting institution, MOCAD is responsive to the cultural content of our time, fueling crucial dialogue, collaboration, and public engagement.

Located on Woodward and Garfield between the DSO and the DIA, Wayne State University and the College for Creative Studies, the Museum will be an innovative addition to Detroit's Cultural Center, and function as a hub for the exploration of emerging ideas in the contemporary arts. The 22,000 square foot building, a former auto dealership now dedicated to housing MOCAD, will undergo its initial renovation this summer. With its raw, flexible and cavernous spaces, the building is well-suited to the exhibition of contemporary art. A cafe and bookstore are also planned to provide a place for informal dialogue.

MOCAD will present its first exhibition in fall 2006. Klaus Kertess, renowned curator whose Bykert Gallery launched the careers of such contemporary masters as Chuck Close and Brice Marden in the late '70s and who curated the Whitney Biennial in the '90s, is organizing the first show. Titled Meditations in an Emergency, it will include installations by eight major international artists including two in the current Whitney Biennial. Related programming will include music, performance, dance and lectures as well as educational activities with schools and youth organizations. The second exhibition, Shrinking Cities, a collaboration between MOCAD and the Cranbrook Art Museum scheduled for February 2007, is organized by a group of international curators from Germany, Detroit, England, and Russia. Among other ideas, it explores the relationship between cities and suburbs.