Studio Museum in Harlem

{{Short description|Art museum in New York City}} {{Use mdy dates|date=August 2025}} {{Infobox museum | name = Studio Museum in Harlem | image = Studio Museum in Harlem, Nov 2025.jpg | caption = The Studio Museum in November 2025. | logo = StudioMuseumHarlem.png | logo_upright = 0.7 | image_upright = 0.7 | established = {{start date and age|1968}} | location = 144 West 125th Street<br />Manhattan, New York City | coordinates = {{coord|40|48|30.52|N|73|56|51.12|W|display=inline, title}} | director = Thelma Golden | public_transit = '''Subway:''' {{NYCS Lenox|time=bullets}} to 125th Street<br /> '''Bus:''' {{NYC bus link|M7|M60 SBS|M100|M102|Bx15}} | website = {{URL|studiomuseum.org}} }} The '''Studio Museum in Harlem''' is an African-American art museum<ref>The Studio Museum, "Support the Studio Museum's founding mission to champion, empower, and celebrate artists of African descent." https://www.studiomuseum.org/support</ref> at 144 West 125th Street in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, United States. Founded in 1968, the museum collects, preserves and interprets art created by African Americans, members of the African diaspora,<ref name="Salina Press-1994">{{Cite book|title = The Studio Museum in Harlem 25 Years of African-American Art|publisher = Salina Press|year = 1994|isbn = 0-942949-11-0|location = Manlius, NY|pages = 6}}</ref> and artists from the African continent. Its scope includes exhibitions, artists-in-residence programs, educational and public programming, and a permanent collection. The museum building was demolished and replaced in the 2020s; a new building on the site opened in November 2025.

Since opening in a rented loft at Fifth Avenue and 125th Street, the Studio Museum has earned recognition for its role in promoting the works of artists of African descent. The museum's Artist-in-Residence program has supported over one hundred graduates who have gone on to highly regarded careers.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Artist-in-Residence|publisher = Studio Museum in Harlem|url = http://www.studiomuseum.org/learn/artist-in-residence|website = Studio Museum|access-date = February 6, 2016|url-status = dead|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160301034958/http://www.studiomuseum.org/learn/artist-in-residence|archive-date = March 1, 2016}}</ref> A wide variety of educational and public programs include lectures, dialogues, panel discussions and performances, as well as interpretive programs, both on- and off-site, for students and teachers. The exhibitions program has also expanded the scope of art historical literature through the production of scholarly catalogues, brochures, and pamphlets.

==History== thumb|right|300px|Entrance (2013)

The idea that became the Studio Museum was developed by a diverse group of founders in the belief that the African-American community should include a museum as part of its everyday experience, and to reflect their interests. Mahler B. Ryder was a founding secretary.<ref name="NYT-1992">{{Cite news |date=March 4, 1992 |title=Mahler Ryder, 54, Teacher of Illustration |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/03/04/obituaries/mahler-ryder-54-teacher-of-illustration.html |work=The New York Times |pages=21 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> It opened in 1968 in a rented loft, the Studio Museum in Harlem moved to its present location in 1982,<ref name=guide>{{cite book |last=Hill |first=John |title=Guide to Contemporary New York City Architecture |location=New York |publisher=W. W. Norton |year=2011 |page=152}}</ref> where it focuses on exhibiting works by both emerging and established artists of African descent.

The museum celebrated the opening in September 1968 of its first exhibition, ''Electronic Reflections II'', featuring works by Tom Lloyd, an artist who worked primarily in abstraction to create technology-driven light works.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tom Lloyd |url=https://www.studiomuseum.org/artists/tom-lloyd |access-date=October 10, 2024 |website=Studio Museum in Harlem |language=en}}</ref>

From 1970 to 1978, Gylbert Coker, the first chief curator of the museum set up the registration system for the SMH art collection which was later housed in The State Office Building. She arranged for the saving and cleaning of the Works Progress Administration Federal Art Project murals in Harlem Hospital that were done by Charles Alston. She curated several major exhibitions, among them, Bob Thompson (which revitalized the recognition of Thompson's art work), ''Hale Woodruff: 50 years of His Art'', and ''Contemporary African American Photographers''.

Originally, the museum focused on workshops and exhibition programs that were designed to give artists a space to practice their craft, create works and show them. This idea led the trustees of the museum to start an Artist-in-Residence program. The proposal for the studio component of the museum was then written by the African-American painter William T. Williams, who believed it was important to have black artists working in the Harlem community, and also exhibiting their work in that community. Williams and sculptor Melvin Edwards physically cleaned up and prepared the former industrial loft space at the museum's original location at 2033 Fifth Avenue (at 125th Street) for conversion into artists studios. The first artist to work in the top floor studio space was printmaker and sculptor Valerie Maynard.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://studiomuseum.org/artist-in-residence|title=Artist-in-Residence|date=April 3, 2017|website=The Studio Museum in Harlem}}</ref>

The museum also maintains an education department; in the 1970s, artists Janet Henry and Carrie Mae Weems worked in the Education Department.<ref>Bey, Dawoud; Weems, Carrie Mae (2009). "Carrie Mae Weems". ''BOMB'' (108): 60–67.</ref>

[[File:Hammons flag.jpg|thumb|left|220px|David Hammons' ''African-American Flag'' (1990) flying outside the museum]]

In 2001, architects Rogers Marvel Architects designed the building's entry pavilion, exhibition spaces and auditorium, as well as other facilities.<ref name=guide />

The museum's Artist-in-Residence program celebrated its 40th year in 2010. It has helped to cultivate the art-making practices and careers of more than one hundred artists, and the museum has fostered the careers of numerous museum professionals as well.

Naima Keith, a former associate curator, created several exhibitions during her tenure, including: "Rodney McMillian: Views of Main Street" (2016), "Artists in Residence 2014–2015" (2015), "Charles Gaines: Gridwork 1974–1989" (2014), "Titus Kaphar" (2014), "Glenn Kaino" (2014), "Robert Pruitt" (2013), "The Shadows Took Shape," co-curated with Zoe Whitley (2013), and "Fore," co-curated with Lauren Haynes and Thomas J. Lax (2012).<ref>Boucher, Brian (March 17, 2015), [https://news.artnet.com/people/25-women-curators-on-the-rise-276386 "25 Women Curators on the Rise"], ''Artnet''.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Professional Bio |url=http://www.naimajkeith.com/professional-bio |access-date=October 10, 2024 |website=Naima J. Keith |language=en-US}}</ref>

When the Museum opens its new space at 144 West 125th Street, the inaugural exhibit will features works by Tom Lloyd "the innovative artist whose practice was the subject of the Studio Museum's inaugural exhibition in 1968 [''Electronic Refractions II'']"<ref name=":0">{{Cite press release |date=June 17, 2025 |title=Studio Museum Unveils Exciting New Details on Inaugural Exhibitions, Installations, and Commissions |url=https://www.studiomuseum.org/press/studio-museum-unveils-exciting-new-details-on-inaugural-exhibitions-commissions-and-installations |access-date=August 6, 2025 |publisher=Studio Museum in Harlem |language=en}}</ref> and will be accompanied by a catalog, the first of Lloyd's work. On June 27, 2024, the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts awarded the Studio Museum a $100,000 grant to provide exhibition support for the ''Tom Lloyd'' show.<ref>{{cite web |date=June 27, 2024 |title=Warhol Foundation Announces Spring 2024 Grantees |url=https://www.artforum.com/news/warhol-foundation-spring-2024-grantees-556262/ |access-date=August 7, 2025 |website=Artforum}}</ref> It will also exhibit "new works on paper by more than one hundred alumni of the Artist-in-Residence program"<ref name=":0" /> and selections from their permanent collection.

=== New building at 144 West 125th Street === In 2015 award-winning architect David Adjaye — whose firm Adjaye Associates designed the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of African American History and Culture — was commissioned to design a new home for the Studio Museum in Harlem, which will allow the museum to expand its exhibition schedule.<ref>{{Cite web |last=McKnight |first=Jenna |date=July 7, 2015 |title=David Adjaye designs new home for Studio Museum in Harlem |url=https://www.dezeen.com/2015/07/07/david-adjaye-studio-museum-harlem-new-york-african-american-art/ |access-date=October 10, 2024 |website=Dezeen |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Smith |first=Jennifer |date=July 6, 2015 |title=Harlem's Studio Museum Will Expand |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/harlems-studio-museum-will-expand-1436230830 |work=The Wall Street Journal |access-date=October 10, 2024}}</ref> In 2021, Studio Museum announced that it had raised $210 million for the construction, endowment and operating fund for its new building.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Angeleti |first=Gabriella |date=October 28, 2021 |title=Studio Museum in Harlem raises $210m for new David Adjaye building |url=https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2021/10/28/studio-museum-in-harlem-marks-milestone-in-construction-of-new-home |access-date=October 10, 2024 |website=The Art Newspaper}}</ref> By 2023, the museum had severed its relationship with Adjaye in response to allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct against the architect.<ref>{{cite news |first1=Robin |last1=Pogrebin |first2=Alex |last2=Marshall |date=July 6, 2023 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/06/arts/design/david-adjaye-architect-allegation.html |title=Studio Museum in Harlem and Other Clients Cut Ties to David Adjaye |work=The New York Times}}</ref> Work on the new museum building on 125th Street in Manhattan continued,<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Young |first1=Michael |last2=Pruznick |first2=Matt |date=August 15, 2023 |title=Work Resumes on Sir David Adjaye's Studio Museum of Harlem at 144 West 125th Street in Harlem, Manhattan |url=https://newyorkyimby.com/2023/08/work-resumes-on-sir-david-adjayes-studio-museum-of-harlem-at-144-west-125th-street-in-harlem-manhattan.html |access-date=October 10, 2024 |website=New York YIMBY |language=en-US}}</ref> and the building opened on November 15, 2025.<ref>{{cite web | last=Frishberg | first=Hannah | title=Harlem's Studio Museum, an important home for Black art, finds a permanent location | website=NPR | date=November 16, 2025 | url=https://www.npr.org/2025/11/16/nx-s1-5607245/harlems-studio-museum-an-important-home-for-black-art-finds-a-permanent-location | access-date=November 18, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | last=Frishberg | first=Hannah | title=The Studio Museum in Harlem reopens at last | website=Gothamist | date=November 15, 2025 | url=https://gothamist.com/arts-entertainment/the-studio-museum-in-harlem-reopens-at-last | access-date=November 18, 2025}}</ref> The building cost $160 million.<ref name="Smith g203">{{cite web |last=Smith |first=David |date=2025-11-11 |title=‘Harlem has always been evolving’: inside the Studio Museum’s $160m new home |url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2025/nov/11/harlem-studio-museum-new-home |access-date=2025-11-11 |website=the Guardian}}</ref> In advance of the official opening, Studio Museum hosted a gala at the new building, raising over $3.7 million.<ref>{{cite web |last=Garcia |first=Sandra E. |date=2025-11-10 |title=The Studio Museum in Harlem Celebrates Its New Space |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/10/style/studio-museum-harlem-building.html |access-date=2025-11-11 |website=The New York Times}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Murden |first=Kiana |date=2025-11-11 |title=After a Seven Year Wait, the Studio Museum in Harlem Celebrated its New Building |url=https://www.vogue.com/slideshow/studio-museum-of-harlem-artist-party-2025 |access-date=2025-11-11 |website=Vogue}}</ref>

The new building has a facade made of glass and gray precast concrete, with openings of various sizes,<ref name="Barandy j565">{{cite web |author=Barandy |first=Kat |date=August 6, 2025 |title=Studio Museum in Harlem to Reopen November 2025 With Adjaye-designed Building |url=https://www.designboom.com/architecture/harlem-studio-museum-new-york-exhibitions-tom-lloyd-10-11-2024/ |access-date=August 13, 2025 |website=designboom}}</ref><ref name="Roche k499">{{cite web |last=Roche |first=Daniel Jonas |date=October 9, 2024 |title=Studio Museum in Harlem to open in fall 2025 |url=https://www.archpaper.com/2024/10/studio-museum-harlem-tom-lloyd-open-2025/ |access-date=August 13, 2025 |website=The Architect’s Newspaper}}</ref> and is seven stories high.<ref name="Smith g203" /><ref name="Cotter i423">{{cite web |last1=Cotter |first1=Holland |last2=Smallwood |first2=Donavon |date=2025-11-06 |title=The Studio Museum in Harlem Reopens as a Flagship for Black Art |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/06/arts/design/studio-museum-art-review.html |access-date=2025-11-11 |website=The New York Times}}</ref> Inside are five stories of exhibit spaces covering {{Convert|82000|ft2}}, and there is a roof terrace on the top floor.<ref name="Barandy j565" /> The museum building is centered around a design feature that resembles an inverted staircase, a reference to the stoops outside nearby houses.<ref name="Diop k416">{{cite web |last1=Diop |first1=Arimeta |last2=Scruggs |first2=Dana |date=August 11, 2025 |title=Inside the Studio Museum in Harlem’s Dazzling, Seven-Years-in-the-Making Return |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/story/inside-the-studio-museum-in-harlems-return |access-date=August 13, 2025 |website=Vanity Fair}}</ref> The building also has a studio, a theater, a cafe, and educational facilities.<ref name="Roche k499" />

A mosaic depicting the previous museum building is located nearby in the 125th Street station on the Lenox Avenue subway line in a mosaic designed by Faith Ringgold.<ref>{{cite web | last=Kadinsky| first=Sergey| title=Studio Museum, Harlem | website=Forgotten New York | date=2026-03-14| url=https://forgotten-ny.com/2026/03/studio-museum-harlem/ | access-date=2026-04-01}}</ref><ref>MTA Arts & Design "Flying Home: Harlem Heroes and Heroines (Downtown and Uptown)" https://www.mta.info/agency/arts-design/collection/flying-home-harlem-heros-and-heroines</ref>

==Museum directors==

The museum's first director was Charles E. Inniss.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.studiomuseum.org/timeline|title=Timeline|date=March 21, 2017|website=The Studio Museum in Harlem}}</ref> Directors since that time have been Edward Spriggs, Courtney Callender, Mary Schmidt Campbell, Kinshasha Holman Conwill, Lowery Stokes Sims, and Thelma Golden, its current director.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Studio Museum in Harlem |url=https://www.studiomuseum.org/leadership#:~:text=Thelma%20Golden%20is%20the%20Director,while%20still%20in%20high%20school |access-date=October 10, 2024 |website=Studio Museum in Harlem |language=en}}</ref> In October 2024, the Ford Foundation gave the museum a $10 million grant to fund an endowment for its director and chief curator positions.<ref>{{cite web |last=Nayyar |first=Rhea |date=October 29, 2024 |title=Studio Museum in Harlem Receives $10M From Ford Foundation |url=https://hyperallergic.com/961685/studio-museum-in-harlem-receives-10-million-from-ford-foundation/ |access-date=November 4, 2024 |website=Hyperallergic}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Pogrebin |first=Robin |date=October 29, 2024 |title=Ford Foundation Gives $10 Million to Studio Museum in Harlem |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/28/arts/studio-museum-in-harlem.html |access-date=November 4, 2024 |website=The New York Times}}</ref>

==Artist-in-residence program== Each year, the Studio Museum offers an 11-month studio residency for three local, national, or international emerging artists working in any media. Each artist is granted a free non-living studio space and a stipend. Artists have access to the museum's studios and are expected to work in the studio a minimum of 20 hours per week and participate in open studios and public programs. At the end of the residency, an exhibition of the artists' work is presented in the museum's galleries.<ref>[http://www.studiomuseum.org/learn/artist-in-residence The Studio Museum in Harlem (2010)]. Retrieved November 10, 2015.</ref> {| class="wikitable sortable" ! Artist ! Year of residency<ref>{{cite web |title=Artists-in-Residence |url=http://www.studiomuseum.org/learn/artist-in-residence |access-date=February 24, 2016 |website=Studio Museum |publisher=Studio Museum in Harlem |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160301034958/http://www.studiomuseum.org/learn/artist-in-residence |archive-date=March 1, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Artists in Residence |website=Studio Museum |publisher=Studio Museum in Harlem |url=https://www.studiomuseum.org/residency/artists-in-residence |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241212080803/https://www.studiomuseum.org/residency/artists-in-residence |archive-date=December 12, 2024}}</ref>

|- |Mequitta Ahuja | 2009–10 |- | Njideka Akunyili | 2011–12 |- |Sadie Barnette |2014–15 |- |Kevin Beasley |2013–14 |- |Sanford Biggers |1999–2000 |- |Chakaia Booker |1995–96 |- |Jordan Casteel |2015–16 |- | June Clark | 1996–97 |- |Gregory Coates |1996–97 |- |Bethany Collins |2013–14 |- |- |William Cordova | 2004–05 |- |Sonia Louise Davis |2023–24 |- |Louis Delsarte |1979–80 |- |Abigail DeVille |2013–14 |- |Lauren Halsey |2014–15 |- |Allison Janae Hamilton |2018–19 |- |EJ Hill |2015–16 |- |Jibade-Khalil Huffman |2015–16 |- |Texas Isaiah |2020–21 |- |Steffani Jemison |2012–13 |- |Lauren Kelley |2009–10 |- |Autumn Knight |2016–17 |- |Simone Leigh |2010–11 |- |Eric N. Mack |2014–15 |- | Jeffrey Meris |2022–23 |- |Meleko Mokgosi |2011–12 |- |Devin N. Morris |2022–23 |- |Sana Musasama |1983–84 |- |Marilyn Nance |1993–94 |- |Jennifer Packer |2012–13 |- |Kamau Amu Patton |2010–11 |- | Malcolm Peacock |2023–24 |- |Julia Phillips |2016–17<ref name="studiomuseum.org"/> |- |Valerie Piraino |2009–10 |- | Zoe Pulley |2023–24 |- |Elliot Reed |2019–20 |- |Tanea Richardson |2007–08 |- |Andy Robert |2016–17<ref name="studiomuseum.org"/> |- |Jacolby Satterwhite |2020–21 |- |Tschabalala Self |2018–19 |- |Paul Mpagi Sepuya |2010–11 |- |Xaviera Simmons |2011–12 |- |Sable Elyse Smith | 2018–19 |- |Cullen Washington, Jr. | 2012–13<ref name="studiomuseum.org">{{Cite web|url=https://www.studiomuseum.org/exhibition/we-go-they-artists-residence-2016%E2%80%9317|title=We Go as They|date=September 11, 2017|website=The Studio Museum in Harlem}}</ref> |- | Charisse Perlina Weston |2022–23 |- |Kehinde Wiley | 2001–02 |}

==Collection== The Studio Museum's permanent collection contains approximately 2000 works, including drawings, pastels, prints, photographs, mixed-media works and installations. It comprises works created by artists during their residencies, as well as pieces given to the museum to create a historical framework for artists of African descent. Featured in the collection are Terry Adkins, Laylah Ali, Romare Bearden, Dawoud Bey, Skunder Boghossian, Frederick J. Brown, Stephen Burks, Elizabeth Catlett, Robert Colescott, Gregory Coates,William Cordova, Melvin Edwards, Kira Lynn Harris, Richard Hunt, Hector Hyppolite, Serge Jolimeau, Lois Mailou Jones, Jacob Lawrence, Norman Lewis, Wardell Milan, Philome Obin, Howardena Pindell, Betye Saar, Merton Simpson, Nari Ward, and Hale Woodruff, among others. The museum is also the custodian of an extensive archive of the work of photographer James VanDerZee, the noted chronicler of the Harlem community during the 1920s, '30s, and '40s.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/harlemrenaissanc0000unse_f3u5|title=Harlem Renaissance : art of Black America|date=1987|publisher=The Studio Museum in Harlem|author1=Driskell, David C.|author2=Lewis, David Levering|author3=Willis, Deborah|author4=Studio Museum in Harlem|isbn=0810910993|location=New York|oclc=13945412|url-access=registration}}</ref> In 1985 the museum was the recipient of the Award of Merit from the Municipal Art Society of New York City in recognition of its outstanding Black art collection.<ref name="Salina Press-1994" />

==References== {{Reflist|30em}}

==External links== {{commons category|Studio Museum in Harlem}} * [https://www.studiomuseum.org/ Studio Museum in Harlem] official website. * [https://artsandculture.google.com/partner/the-studio-museum-in-harlem The Studio Museum in Harlem] at Google Cultural Institute

Category:1968 establishments in New York City Category:African-American arts organizations Category:African-American museums in New York City Category:Art museums and galleries in Manhattan Category:Art museums and galleries established in 1968 Category:Education in Harlem Category:Art in Harlem