ARKO Art Center
아르코미술관
Culture · 3, Dongsung-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul
Nearby stations and stops
- Hyehwa (Line 4) · straight-line 268m
- Jongno 5(o)ga (Line 1) · straight-line 978m
- Bus stop 방송통신대앞 · straight-line 126m
- Bus stop 혜화역3번출구.서울대병원입구 · straight-line 146m
Straight-line distance; the actual walk is longer · Data as of 2025-10-31
Source: Korea National Railway urban rail station information · Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport nationwide bus stop locations
- Admission
- Free
- Hours
- 11:00-19:00 / * Last admission is 30 minutes before closing.
- Closed
- Closed on Mondays
- Mondays, New Year's Day, the day of Seollal (Lunar New Year's Day) & Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving Day)
- Parking
- Parking available
- Available
- Pets
- Not provided
- Accessibility
- Not provided
- Data status
- Source: Korea Tourism Organization TourAPI · Source updated: 2025-06-05 · Collected: Not provided
ARKO Art Center was founded in 1974 as Misulhoegwan in a building of former Deoksu Hospital in Gwanhun-dong, Jongno-gu to offer much-needed exhibition space for artists and arts groups. In 1979, Misulhoegwan moved to its present building, designed by preeminent Korean architect Kim Swoo-geun (1931-1986) and located in Marronnier Park, the former site of Seoul National University. The two neighboring brick buildings accommodating ARKO Art Center and ARKO Arts Theater are the major landmarks of the district of Daehakro. As more public and private museums and commercial galleries came into the art scene in the 1990s, Misulhoegwan shifted to curating and presenting its own exhibitions. Renamed as Marronnier Art Center in 2002, ARKO Art Center assumed a full-fledged art museum system and played an increasingly prominent role as a public arts organization leading the contemporary art paradigm. When The Korea Culture and Arts Foundation was reborn as Arts Council Korea, Marronnier Art Center became ARKO Art Center named after the abbreviation for Arts Council Korea in 2005. ARKO Art Center is committed to working as a platform where research, production, exhibitions and the exchange of creative activities grow and develop in connection with one another in addition to having a diversity of programs including thematic exhibitions addressing social agenda and public programs widely promoting various discourses in art.
In the area
Art Museums/Galleries 12 of 46 cultural sites in Jongno-gu
Similar places nearby
- Kyung-In Museum of Fine Art · 1.6km
- National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul [MMCA Seoul] · 2.0km
- Africa Museum of Art · 2.0km
- PKM Gallery · 2.0km
- K.O.N.G Gallery · 2.1km
Similar places in other regions
- Seongnam Arts Center · Gyeonggi-do
- Neo Art Center · Chungcheongbuk-do
- OAR Contemporary Art Museum · Gyeongsangbuk-do
- Youngeun Museum of Contemporary Art · Gyeonggi-do
- Donggok Museum of Art · Jeonnam-Gwangju Special Metropolitan City
Source: Korea Tourism Organization TourAPI