Museums & Galleries

Museum of Arts and Design MAD

New York, United States
Museum of Arts and Design MAD

New York, United States

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A New York museum for people who love the space between art, design, craft, fashion, jewelry, and material experimentation. Museum of Arts and Design — MAD is where creativity becomes tactile.

Located at 2 Columbus Circle, next to Central Park and the Time Warner Center area, Museum of Arts and Design explores how artists and designers transform materials into meaning. Its focus is not only painting on walls, but objects, surfaces, textiles, ceramics, glass, jewelry, furniture, digital craft, and contemporary design culture.

MAD’s permanent collection is global in scope and focuses on art, craft, and design from 1950 to the present day. That makes it especially interesting for Artlovers who want to understand contemporary creativity through making: the hand, the tool, the material, the body, and the idea.

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© Museum of Arts and Design

What you’ll see here

At MAD, every visit can feel different because the museum is driven by temporary exhibitions and material-based storytelling. You might find contemporary jewelry, ceramics, textile art, furniture design, experimental sculpture, fashion, glass, digital processes, or immersive installations.

You may experience:

  • Contemporary craft and design
  • Jewelry as art
  • Ceramics, glass, textiles, and furniture
  • Experimental sculpture and installations
  • Exhibitions that connect making, technology, identity, and culture
  • The museum store, which is also a strong stop for artist-made objects and design pieces

Worth the trip

Yes, if you want a New York art stop that feels different from MoMA, the Met, or the Whitney.

What makes Museum of Arts and Design special is its point of view. It takes seriously the things often treated as secondary in art history: craft, ornament, function, surface, jewelry, design, and the physical act of making.

For Artlovers, MAD is worth including because it expands what an art journey can be. It reminds you that creativity is not only something you look at from a distance — sometimes it is something shaped, worn, touched, built, and lived.

ArtLovers Tip

Don’t visit MAD looking only for “fine art.” Visit it looking for the intelligence of materials: how clay, metal, fabric, glass, code, and the human hand can carry beauty, politics, humor, desire, and memory.

On show now

Exhibitions at Museum of Arts and Design MAD

New York, United States

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