City Sophisticate: Spotlight on Mocca - The Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art

Toronto is a multitudinous melting pot of integrated culture from all over the world. As a country, Canada has much to offer the world of art and a vast land with fascinating people to inspire the makings of this art. The Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art highlights and pays tribute to the incredible contemporary artists that call this wonderful nation home.

MOCCA Roots

MOCCA was originally known as the Art Gallery of North York, yet became MOCCA in 1999. The museum relocated to Queen West in the heart of the design district in downtown Toronto. Queen West has been hailed by numerous international sources as one of the top ten most dynamic art communities in the world. Vogue, to be a bit more direct, claimed it to be the second 'coolest' neighbourhood in the world. What better place for MOCCA to call home.

'The mandate of the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art is to exhibit, research, collect, and promote innovative art by Canadian and international artists whose works engage and address challenging issues and themes relevant to our times. MOCCA is committed to providing a forum for emerging artists that show particular promise and to established artists whose works are considered to be ground-breaking or influential.'

To achieve the above mandate, MOCCA's grand 5000 square foot space of the Main Room and the additonal 1000 square foot space of the adjacent Project Room allows exhibitions that intrigue, inspire and provoke thought on various relevant and key themes. Although the space is intended as an avenue to introduce Canadian artists, international works have been showcased in the space as well. MOCCA has also engaged in a local-to-global initiative which has allowed MOCCA to present exhibitions in the U.S., China, Taiwan, Germany, Italy and Spain. This effort is a terrific means to achieving global connectivity in the world of contemporary art.

The Exhibitions

Vera Frankel:

Ways of Telling