New Beginnings — Two Museums in New York

It has been a busy year for museum renovations in New York. The Frick Collection, a Gilded Age mansion on the Upper East Side, reopened in April after five years of sensitive reimagining by Annabelle Selldorf, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art inaugurated an expanded and rehung Rockefeller Wing — home to the museum’s non-Western collection — at the beginning of summer. This autumn, two more enhanced institutions will be unveiled in the city.

Since 1968, the Studio Museum in Harlem has presented a pioneering programme in spaces designed for anything but art. Initially located above a liquor store, the museum was founded by a group of artists and civic leaders to showcase the work of artists of African descent, shining a light on those often marginalised in, or excluded by, mainstream institutions.

Between 1982 and 2018, the museum occupied the former New York Bank for Savings building at 144 West 125th Street, where it became known for its groundbreaking exhibitions and, later, its acclaimed artist-in-residence programme. Its cultural influence has been far-reaching, serving as an early platform for artists such as David Hammons, Kerry James Marshall, Glenn Ligon, and Simone Leigh.

Today, under the directorship of the beloved Thelma Golden, the institution is preparing to open its first purpose-built space — an 82,000-square-foot building on West 125th Street designed by Adjaye Associates. The inaugural exhibition will revisit the conceptual work of Tom Lloyd, whose Electronic Refractions II was the museum’s first-ever project and remains his only solo presentation to date. Also on view will be works by more than 100 alumni of the residency programme, alongside items from the museum’s archive that trace six decades of history.

Although the curatorial team has maintained a satellite programme during the seven years its doors have been closed, a physical Studio Museum will be warmly welcomed back to New York’s cultural landscape. Opens 15 November.

Marcia Tucker founded the New Museum in a temporary space on Hudson Street after leaving her job at The Met in 1977. With just two colleagues, it began as a tiny staff of three people. Since then, the New Museum has become a site of experimentation and innovation, where risk-taking and discovery are actively encouraged. It has long been a place for artists who have not found a home at more traditional institutions.

In November 2022, ground was broken for a 60,000-square-foot expansion of the museum’s flagship building, which first opened in 2007. The new wing, designed by OMA/Shohei Shigematsu and Rem Koolhaas, will double the available exhibition space, create new venues for artist residencies and public programmes, and establish a permanent home for NEW INC — the first museum-led cultural incubator.

New Humans: Memories of the Future will inaugurate the expanded building with an exploration of artists’ enduring preoccupation with what it means to be human in the face of rapid technological change. The group exhibition will present the work of 150 artists, writers, scientists, architects and filmmakers, including Eduardo Paolozzi, Francis Bacon, Pierre Huyghe, and Tau Lewis, among others. On the museum’s new public plaza at the intersection of Bowery and Prince Street, Sarah Lucas will present VENUS VICTORIA, a new sculpture commission celebrating women claiming their space in public life. Opening date to be announced.