Before renovating our Tube Factory artspace building and as we work on expansion of our second 46,000-square-foot “Big Tube” building on the campus, we have visited many other adaptive reuse art spaces around the United States and around the world — including all of the locations listed below.
Many of the strategies and approaches have seen have informed and inspired our adaptive-reuse approach on our campus. We originally shared this list in 2019 but updated links in 2025.
This post explores these places with links to images (often taken during our research trips). We suggest visiting these art spaces!
In the Midwest
MOCAD in Detroit
Some of our photos https://www.flickr.com/photos/bigcar/albums/with/72157675580105414
Signal-Return Press in Detroit (has moved to new location)
Stony Island Art Bank in Chicago and The Land School
some of our detail photos – https://www.flickr.com/photos/bigcar/albums/72157660465770080
Chicago Cultural Center
(former library building in Chicago)
Spaces in Cleveland
Transformer Station in Cleveland
elsewhere in the U.S.
Atlanta Contemporary Art Center
The Momentary in Bentonville, Arkansas
(related but not adaptive-reuse Crystal Bridges in Bentonville)
Mattress Factory in Pittsburgh
Chinati Foundation in Marfa, Tx
Judd Foundation in Marfa, Tx
MoMA PS1 in New York
Various 21c Museum Hotels
Frist Art Museum in Nashville
RedLine Contemporary Art Center in Denver
Dia Beacon in Beacon NY
Mass MoCA in North Adams, MA
Charlotte Street Foundation in Kansas City
MOCA Geffen in Los Angeles