The Studio Museum in Harlem (New York) reopens its doors on November 15, 2025 after seven years of work which led to the destruction of the old building to accommodate a seven-story building dedicated to Afro-African art.
Located on 125th Street, the museum was housed in a former commercial building. The site, not suitable for the display and conservation of works both structurally and technically (the lack of air conditioning for example), had pushed the museum’s board of directors to adapt the institution to contemporary issues. The spaces also did not allow the public to be accommodated properly.
The work was delayed by several events, notably the Covid-19 crisis, during which the site was shut down for six months. In addition, the cost of the project has almost doubled in eight years: estimated in 2017 at 150 million euros, it quickly reached 215 million euros before arriving, on the verge of opening, at 260 million euros. New York City contributed 53 million euros, the rest being financed by private donors and foundations.
The new building is in the form of prefabricated concrete blocks, with a sandblasted look. The Studio Museum worked with Adjaye Associates and Cooper Robertson to design this project. The seven floors make it possible to add several exhibition spaces, particularly temporary, which were sorely lacking in the old building. On the ground floor there is a relaxation and meeting space, as well as a conference and performance room. On the top floor is a garden with views of Harlem. Museum Board Chairman Raymond J. McGuire is enthusiastic: “This building says to the world: Harlem matters. Black art matters. Black institutions matter. » With a total of 7,600 m², the institution increases its exhibition space by almost 50%.
The museum opened in 1968 in a loft in Harlem, during a period of profound social upheaval marked by civil rights protests and the assassinations of Martin Luther King and John Fitzgerald Kennedy. It is in this context that the institution carried the discourse of black artists, notably that of Tom Lloyd, whose sculptures inaugurated the museum when it opened. It is also a retrospective of his work which accompanies the opening of the new building. The museum then moved to a commercial building in 1982, the same one that was destroyed in favor of the new museum. Today, 9,000 works by more than 700 artists are preserved in the Studio Museum. The latter presents part of it in an exhibition for the inauguration.
