The schedule at the Alicante Museum of Contemporary Art (MACA) grows more sustained as the year progresses, offering audiences of every kind a steady stream of programs. A standout initiative began as a collaboration within the Tangent Valencia Community Museums Consortium and continues to evolve, shaping a yearlong education project that blends ambition with practical accessibility for visitors of all ages.
Economic and logistical backing now enables MACA to keep dedicated staff through the full season and to program comprehensively, not limited to quarterly cycles.
Rosa Castells, curator of municipal collections, notes that Consorci has long supported various projects. This effort, she explains, required two staff members over a full year to manage effectively. The result is a consolidated portfolio of initiatives that are organized and projected for an entire year, rather than scattered across shorter periods.
The training program has recently been presented to lecturers with a favorable response. More than forty participants attended, expressing great enthusiasm and optimism about the upcoming offerings.
One of the key aims is to craft à la carte visits that align with school curricula, helping students develop powers of observation, comprehension, and direct engagement with museum collections.
For younger audiences, MACA introduces early contact experiences, including an exploratory path that invites children to connect with how museums operate, and an energetic, introductory tour of artists and works within geometric abstraction, optical, and kinetic trends.
MACA Surpasses Expectations with Hundreds of Events
Visit modern codes designed for students to explore new techniques and materials in their social and cultural context. Another strand addresses gender perspectives in contemporary art, encouraging critical and reflective thinking. The museum also offers portraits rendered in diverse artistic languages and presents a mediation project for groups with varying abilities or those at risk of exclusion.
Unique educational projects continue to guide the museum. Educational menus aim to boost interest in contemporary art through participation with an education center.
With portraits in focus, the initiative brings the museum closer to students from various ordinary and special education settings, proposing activities that contribute to broad cognitive development.
For the first time, teacher education became another axis, with a visiting program that helps instructors learn about the educational resources the museum offers through its collections.
Public Opinion
Visits to temporary or permanent exhibitions were organized through the Consorci de Museus on Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays.
Additionally, thanks to the Tangent call, there were sessions highlighting great artists with a public appetizer featuring works by women artists on select dates.
The program invites dialogue around art with guided visits and initiatives that illuminate the context of MACA’s work.
Other initiatives focus on broadening access to contemporary art for older adults, presenting monthly programs that foster personal narratives and creative engagement. The museum also hosts workshops for children and teens, including artistic labs in writing and painting, encouraging early exploration of art.
MACA continues to travel with its Voice program, a guided experience that explores sound and place around MACA and its surroundings, with sound playing a leading role in these sessions.
Two saxophone performances are planned, and the Lumina Ensemble will host sessions on October 15 and December 10 as part of the Soniart laboratory.
The season closes with a vocal experiment, a New York–born choral project led by Sonia Megas, which marks the start of a new season for MACA’s performing arts program.
MACA Live brings dance into the museum in October and November, featuring multiple sessions that invite audiences to move with the art firsthand.
Anthony Manresa, a member of the Cultural Council, notes that MACA has forged an all-level education program that grows in ambition and quality every year, aiming to position the city as a benchmark for contemporary art. He affirms that MACA events have become regular meeting points for families and groups seeking a space to learn, connect, and enjoy the arts in an educational, entertaining way.
Social programs remain central to MACA’s mission. In collaboration with the Consorci de Museus and the Equal Culture initiative, these efforts awaken creativity in people with mental disabilities at the APSA Terramar Vocational Center and preserve collective memories through arts and culture. An initiative against Alzheimer’s disease, conducted with the AFA and the Peláez Foundation, marks its tenth year. MACA will also host AllMACA in December, aligning with the International Day of Persons with Disabilities and underscoring accessibility and inclusion as core values.
In sum, MACA’s ongoing, inclusive programming demonstrates a commitment to education, accessibility, and contemporary art as a civic resource for communities in Spain and beyond. The gallery continues to adapt and expand, inviting audiences of all ages to learn, discuss, and experience art together. This emphasis on education, public engagement, and cultural participation reflects a shared belief in the museum as a space for discovery and inclusion for all visitors. [Source attribution: Tangent Valencia Community Museums Consortium]