History
of the SCA
Since its founding in 1940, the Society for Contemporary Art (SCA) has followed a clear and precise path: to promote a better understanding and appreciation of the art of our time at the Art Institute of Chicago. Through its annual series of lectures and events, the Society has become one of the museum's principle vehicles for exploring new and challenging art. Each season the Society's programs offer members access to an exciting roster of national and international artists, historians, dealers, and curators as well as visits to distinguished private collections in Chicago and major art centers both here and abroad.
Perhaps of more lasting importance, the Society has made a tremendous impact on the museum's collection of modern and contemporary art. Each year members of an appointed acquisition committee review a selected group of works and present them in an exhibition at the Art Institute. The general SCA membership then votes to purchase one or more objects on behalf of the museum. This process also allows the public to share in the discoveries the Society has made and become more familiar with the latest trends and newest developments in contemporary art.
Over the years, the SCA has acquired more than 150 works of art-paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints, photographs, films, and videos by distinguished artists such as Alexander Calder, Jasper Johns, Donald Judd, Joan Mitchell, Jackson Pollock, and James Turrell, and, more recently, Larry Clark, Doris Salcedo, Wolfgang Tillmans, and Christopher Wool.