Entry No. 33 — the Cincinnati file — filed under: sensory spaces
The UnMuseum at Contemporary Arts Center
Occupying the top floor of Zaha Hadid's iconic downtown building, this interactive art space is engineered specifically for hands-on, multi-sensory artistic exploration. Visitors encounter commissioned installations by regional artists that invite them to press buttons, mix electronic audio beats, and trigger kinetic sculptures.
The story
Most art museums treat human touch as a security threat. The UnMuseum, perched on the sixth floor of Zaha Hadid's Lois & Richard Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art, operates on the exact opposite logic. Instead of pristine white walls guarded by velvet ropes, this space hands you full permission—and explicit instructions—to physically tamper with the exhibits.
Opened alongside Hadid's landmark downtown building in 2003 as the Sara M. and Patricia A. Vance Education Center, the floor serves as an interactive laboratory for regional artists commissioned to build work that requires human interaction to work. You're not looking at static canvases; you're pressing buttons to trigger kinetic sculptures, dragging audio sliders to assemble electronic soundscapes, and manipulating multi-sensory installations engineered around sight, touch, and sound.
What it's like
Getting up to the sixth floor means riding the glass elevators or climbing Hadid's heavy concrete ramps. Once inside, the vibe lands somewhere between an experimental acoustics lab and a creative workspace. While weekend mornings draw steady family crowds, rolling in on a Thursday evening gives you room to mix beats and tweak kinetic art pieces without competing with kids for the controls. Just be sure to confirm current gallery hours before you head downtown.
The move: Head up to the 6th floor on a Thursday evening to play with soundscapes and tactile art installations, followed by rooftop drinks overlooking the skyline.
- 📍 Downtown Cincinnati
- 💸 $$
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Indoors
Where: 44 E 6th St, Cincinnati, OH 45202
Hours: Added 2026-07-21 — confirm current hours before you go.
Pair it with
- Lloyd Library & Museum — A four-block walk west trades interactive kinetic art for centuries-old medical botany texts and rare manuscripts in a quiet, free research library.
- Wiseguy Lounge (OTR) — Follow an evening of mixing soundscapes on the top floor with craft bourbon tucked above a pizza joint just half a mile north.
- Ghost Baby — Pair high-altitude, multi-sensory art on the sixth floor with drinks four stories underground inside 1850s pre-Prohibition brewery vaults.
- Cincinnati Music Hall — Contrast Zaha Hadid's modern interactive architecture with an 1878 Venetian Gothic concert hall built over 19th-century mass graves.
Good to know
Is admission to The UnMuseum free?
Yes, general admission to the Contemporary Arts Center and its sixth-floor UnMuseum exhibits is completely free.
Is The UnMuseum only for children?
No. While its tactile nature makes it popular for family visits, the site-specific installations are created by professional regional artists and designed for visitors of any age to test, touch, and play with.
Where inside the building is the space located?
You will find it on the 6th floor of the Contemporary Arts Center building at 44 E 6th St in downtown Cincinnati.
What kinds of exhibits are on display?
Expect hands-on, multi-sensory installations commissioned from regional contemporary artists—including interactive sound mixing stations, kinetic sculptures triggered by buttons, and creative art labs built around repurposed materials.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: Official site · visitcincy.com · Reddit
last checked: 2026-07-21