#layer-duo-152

Our goal is to build a flourishing community and to help grow the CMA's collection while mingling with friends and enjoying the artwork at the museum.

Become part of our family and experience lively events, world-class art, and dynamic programming. We encourage both the young and young-at-heart to join the museum and become involved in the museum's cultural activities throughout the year.

Membership in the Columbia Museum of Art Contemporaries is an outstanding way to network with other professionals interested in expanding their cultural awareness through social and educational events.

Join the Contemporaries today and start enjoying all we have to offer! For questions about membership, please contact Nicole Morgan, development officer and Contemporaries liaison. 

Join the Contemporaries

Add a Contemporaries membership to your existing CMA membership:

$5 for Students

$15 for Avant Garde and Solo

$25 for other membership levels

Join the Contemporaries

This upgrade is only valid with a current CMA membership. Not sure if you're current? Give us a call at 803-799-2810 or email info@columbiamuseum.org.

Not yet a CMA member? Join today!

You'll have a chance to add the Contemporaries to your membership during checkout.

Join the CMA

#layer-duo-2305

The Interstellar Soiree

Thank you to everyone who made the 2022 Contemporaries' Ball a huge success! See photos from the evening here.

#layer-spotlight-183
View image for Our Mission

Our Mission

The Contemporaries mission is to provide an opportunity to support the CMA through promoting the museum and its programs, diversifying the museum's membership, and leading the next generation of museum supporters. Each year, the Contemporaries host a series of social and cultural events that bring members of the Columbia community together at the museum. A portion of the proceeds from the annual ball and other programming goes toward the Contemporaries' Art Acquisition Fund, designed to acquire a significant piece of art for the museum. For more information on the collection, visit the Art Acquisition page.

Annual Events

  • 101 Series

    Held throughout the year, the Contemporaries 101 series explores culture both within the museum and in the greater community. Programming is centered around a variety of art mediums such as modern theater, music appreciation, photography, and ceramics, but has been expanded to include other fun components such as wine tasting and art collecting.

  • Beer & Brats

    Did you know there are 400,000 South Carolina residents that claim German heritage? Oktoberfest is held as a membership drive in September and celebrates the kick-off of fall in the Capital City. It is a great way to wind down after a hot summer with 300 of your closest friends and enjoy an evening of live music, bratwurst, and beer on Boyd Plaza. Held every fall.

  • Annual Ball

    The Contemporaries present an annual ball that continues to be the hottest event at the coolest place in town. The themed evening gala fuses elements of classic Contemporaries' soirees with new and exciting additions each year. All proceeds from the event benefit the Contemporaries Art Acquisition Fund to continue the success in participating in acquisition of pieces such as those most recently acquired from Dale Chihuly, George Tooker, and Henry Mandell. Held every Winter.

#layer-launchpads-188
#layer-gallery-480

Art Acquisition

Daniel Rozin Acquisition

For the Contemporaries’ latest acquisition, we commissioned a work of art from New York artist Daniel Rozin. Rozin is an interactive artist who creates installations and sculptures that have the unique ability to change and respond to the presence and point of view of the viewer. In many cases, the viewer is invited to take an active role in the creation of the piece. Even though computers are often used in Rozin's work, they are seldom visible.

The finished Rozin piece was unveiled at the Museum in January 2019.

Daniel Rozin

Tatara Fire

In 2014, funds raised by the Cotemporaries helped the CMA acquire a giant, wall-size mural Tatara Fire by New York-based artist Henry Mandell. Mandell employs novel techniques to create abstract paintings. He transforms the outlines of words and data gleaned from the Internet. The paintings are composed of thousands of letters that have been hand-traced, placed into fine art software, and then digitally painted by hand on a computer screen using a digital stylus brush. The artwork is then painted by a giant, ultraviolet inkjet printer using acrylic pigments.The words are intact, but the shapes have become a new visual language for the age in which we live.

Henry Mandell

Chihuly Chandelier

In April 2010, using funds raised by the Cotemporaries, the CMA completed installation of the Dale Chihuly Chandelier in the museum’s David Wallace Robinson, Jr. Atrium. The design was chosen to enhance the asymmetrical design of the museum’s atrium space, and its “Carolina Sunset” color scheme incorporated Columbia’s “Famously Hot” shades of golds, oranges, and reds.

Dale Chihuly