Adjaye Associates with Cooper Robertson finish design for The Studio Museum
Harlem, NY The Studio Museum plans for the public opening of its new seven-floor, 82,000 s/f building on Saturday, November 15, 2025.
This milestone moment will be marked by a celebratory community day that will activate the entire building, welcoming everyone from the museum’s surrounding communities and beyond.
Thelma Golden, Ford foundation director and chief curator of the Studio Museum in Harlem, said, “As our historic homecoming approaches, I am reflecting on the transformative vision of the artists, supporters, and community members who have helped us shape this pivotal moment in our legacy. Our breathtaking new building is an invaluable space and a tribute to the museum’s mission and the vitality of artists of African descent. I am thrilled to welcome everyone back to a reimagined Studio Museum, rooted in Harlem and resonating far beyond.”
Raymond McGuire, chairman of the board of trustees of the Studio Museum in Harlem, said, “Over the past half-century, the Studio Museum has catalyzed a cultural transformation that is as sweeping as it is profound. We thank all of the members of the outstanding public-private partnership who have made possible our impending opening: the City of New York, the trustees and philanthropists who have been with us since we initiated this project, and the new generation of patrons who have stepped forward so generously to join us on this journey.”
The Studio Museum is designed by Adjaye Associates with Cooper Robertson serving as executive architect.
Adjaye Associates said, “The new building for the Studio Museum in Harlem pushes the museum classification to a new place with a fresh approach to the display and reception of art. Education spaces and artists’ studios are presented as a triptych frame that holds the center body of the composition, with the museum offering respite from the bustling city while activating and celebrating the vibrancy of Harlem.”
Community Day will activate the entire building, offering free admission and activities for all ages. Visitors will have the opportunity to explore the new building, engage with the collection and exhibitions on view, and participate in a variety of programming, including art, activities, entertainment, festivities, and more. Taking place at the museum and on the Adam Clayton Powell Jr. State Office Building’s plaza, Community Day will welcome and engage Harlem community members, cultural partners, and visitors from New York City, the country, and abroad.
On Sunday, November 16, the Museum will resume its weekly day of free programming for all ages, Studio Sundays, which will include drop-in art-making workshops, guided family tours, gallery talks, and storytime sessions.
Erin Flynn, RA, LEED AP, partner, Cooper Robertson, said, “The Studio Museum in Harlem is a remarkable institution. Seeing this design through to completion has been a special and joyful experience for our whole team at Cooper Robertson. The new building embodies the Museum’s close connection to its community, with a design that supports both its program and mission. It’s a testament to the Studio Museum in Harlem’s visionary leadership that they have reimagined how a museum can serve both the public and artists. As a firm that shares a commitment to community, we couldn’t be more thrilled to see the building debut this fall.”
Laurie Cumbo, New York City cultural affairs commissioner, said, “The Studio Museum in Harlem is a pillar of our city’s cultural landscape, fostering generations of artists from the African diaspora and driving a global transformation while always remaining deeply rooted in the community that created it. That’s why the reopening of the Studio Museum this fall is a major milestone for our city. The new building rising on 125th St. will be a hub for artists and audiences to connect, converse, and explore new ideas. Harlem has long been a nexus of Black creative energy. The new building will advance and anchor this tradition, as does the opening slate of programs. The Department of Cultural Affairs is so proud to support the next chapter for this singular institution, and I can’t wait to experience it firsthand.”
José Tavarez, president, Bank of America New York City, said, “At Bank of America, we believe that investing in the arts makes a positive impact on our lives, and the highly anticipated opening of the Studio Museum in Harlem embodies this belief. As a partner in helping fuel the transformation of this cultural anchor for the Harlem community, we look forward to the Museum’s new home being an enriching and educational destination for neighbors, artists, and visitors.”
Inaugural Exhibitions, Commissions, Artworks, and Design include:
A major presentation of the work of Tom Lloyd, the innovative artist whose practice was the subject of the Studio Museum’s inaugural exhibition in 1968. Based on extensive new scholarship and intensive conservation work, Tom Lloyd will explore the artist’s prescient contributions to the interplay of art and technology and will be accompanied by the first publication dedicated to the artist.
The first installment of a rotating installation of works from the Museum’s distinguished permanent collection, which today holds nearly nine thousand artworks. Works will span from the 1800s to the present—highlighting more than two hundred years of artistic achievements by artists of African descent—and will range from those newly acquired to those that have been recently conserved and not shown for decades.
A presentation of new works on paper by more than one hundred alumni of the Artist-in-Residence program. The exhibition will place intergenerational artists in conversation with each other while paying tribute to this foundational program of the Museum, which has nurtured artists of African descent for more than half a century.
A presentation of archival photographs and ephemera of the institution’s history, offering visitors an opportunity to discover the host of exhibitions, events, and programs that defined the Studio Museum throughout nearly sixty years of cultural and political change.
During the inaugural year, newly commissioned site-specific artworks will include:
A sonic sculptural installation by Camille Norment composed of brass tubing and featuring a chorus of voices, offering a sensory experience for visitors as they traverse the Museum’s terrace staircase.
A wall-mounted, metal-based installation by Christopher Myers in the museum’s new Education Workshops that envisions an intergenerational community of hybrid figures gathered in a fantastical landscape.
Artworks that have become synonymous with the Studio Museum and that will be reinstalled are:
David Hammons’s red, black, and green Untitled flag (2004), which is inspired by the pan-African flag designed by Marcus Garvey in the 1920s for the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League.
Glenn Ligon’s Give Us a Poem (2007), a wall sculpture that translates an improvised poem by Muhammad Ali into flashing neon.
Houston Conwill’s seven bronze time capsules, The Joyful Mysteries (1984), that contain confidential written testaments by seven distinguished Black Americans, which will be opened in September 2034, fifty years after their creation.
Furniture by Black creatives will populate the building, including designs by Ini Archibong, Stephen Burks, Mac Collins, Charles O. Job, Peter Mabeo, Michael Puryear, and Marcus Samuelsson. The building will also feature custom-made tables constructed using beams from the Museum’s former home designed by the collaborative Sefako Tolu, of Sefako Ketosugbo and Tolu Odunfa Dragone.
New at Studio Store
To celebrate the opening of the Studio Museum’s new home, Studio Store will debut a range of capsule collections over the course of the inaugural year that highlight the Museum’s legacy, mission, and community with new products by Black creators and businesses.
Launching on November 15, Studio Store’s first capsule collection will include apparel, accessories, and home goods made in collaboration with the artist Glenn Ligon. Based on an original commissioned drawing of the artist’s iconic site-specific sculpture Give Us a Poem (2007), the Give Us a Poem Collection commemorates a work that is emblematic of the Museum.
Two new publications that will augment the museum’s inaugural exhibitions and installations will also join Studio Store. A new handbook of the permanent collection—the first in fifteen years—will mark the reopening of the Studio Museum. Published by Phaidon and designed by WeShouldDoItAll, Meaning Matter Memory: Selections from the Studio Museum in Harlem Collection highlights works by more than two hundred and sixty artists, including Derrick Adams, Emma Amos, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Elizabeth Catlett, Nick Cave, Samuel Fosso, Theaster Gates, Cy Gavin, Barkley L. Hendricks, Arthur Jafa, Simone Leigh, Glenn Ligon, Julie Mehretu, Gordon Parks, Martin Puryear, Betye Saar, Augusta Savage, Tschabalala Self, Lorna Simpson, Mickalene Thomas, Kara Walker, and Carrie Mae Weems. New texts by more than one hundred contributors chart the impact of the Studio Museum’s collection on art history and the broader cultural landscape.
The exhibition Tom Lloyd will be accompanied by the first catalogue on the pioneering artist, featuring an exclusive selection of never-before-seen images that chronicle his career. Designed by Miko McGinty Inc. and copublished with Gregory R. Miller & Co., the catalogue features new essays by Studio Museum Curator Connie H. Choi, conservator Reinhard Bek, art historian Krista Thompson, Studio Museum Senior Curatorial Assistant Habiba Hopson, and artists Paul Stephen Benjamin, Nikita Gale, and Glenn Ligon.
The New Home of the Studio Museum in Harlem
The new 82,000 s/f home of the Studio Museum provides galleries, an expansive lobby, flexible program spaces, and dedicated education workshops, which together foster deeper engagement with visitors of all ages and elevate the Museum’s service to artists, museumgoers, and the Harlem community. Space for exhibitions and the Artist-in-Residence program will more than double, and indoor and outdoor public space will increase by almost 70%.
The architectural design takes its inspiration from the brownstones, churches, and bustling sidewalks of Harlem. The masonry-framed windows of Harlem’s apartment buildings are echoed in the composition of a facade with windows of varying sizes and proportions. The neighborhood’s churches find a counterpart in a top-lit interior gallery with ample wall area for installing large-scale artworks and a central stair that provides lookout points from the landings. A set of glass doors, which can be opened in different configurations, welcomes people to descending steps that evoke the ubiquitous stoops of Harlem’s brownstones. The steps can be used as benches for watching lectures, performances, and films presented on the building’s lower level—or simply for relaxing in informal gatherings.
The new facility also includes a rooftop terrace with striking views of the surrounding area, with a dynamic landscape design by the Harlem-based firm Studio Zewde. Conceived as a space for gathering, reflection, and engagement, the terrace features native plantings and sculptural seating that frame striking panoramic views of Harlem and beyond. On the Museum’s lower level, a café operated by the local family-owned restaurant Settepani will further enhance the Museum’s commitment to organizations and businesses in its neighborhood.
Funding Credits
The Studio Museum’s Creating Space campaign, which supports the design and construction of its new home and ensures the institution’s long-term sustainability, has raised more than $300 million. The campaign has enjoyed broad-based and ongoing support from the Museum’s board of trustees, the City of New York, and individuals, foundations, and corporate partners, testifying to the widespread appreciation for the vitality and necessity of the Studio Museum’s mission.
Bank of America is the Studio Museum in Harlem’s lead opening and inaugural exhibitions sponsor. Major support for the inaugural exhibitions and publications has been provided by the Henry Luce Foundation.
Funding for Tom Lloyd is provided by the Holly Peterson Foundation and Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, with publication support from Furthermore: a program of the J.M. Kaplan Fund.
Support for the collection handbook, Meaning Matter Memory: Selections from the Studio Museum in Harlem Collection, is thanks in part to the Terra Foundation for American Art.
The Artist-in-Residence alumni installation is supported by a grant from the Robert Lehman Foundation. The Studio Museum in Harlem’s Artist-in-Residence program is funded by the Glenstone Foundation.
Inaugural artist commissions by Camille Norment and Christopher Myers are supported by funds from the Studio Museum in Harlem’s Acquisition Committee and Miyoung Lee and Neil Simpkins. Additional support for Camille Norment’s installation is provided by Dawanna Williams.
Generous support for Studio Sundays is provided by Art Bridges.
Additional funding is provided by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and New York State Council on the Arts.