Studio Museum in Harlem

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. Opened in 1968, in a rented loft, the Studio Museum in Harlem moved to its present location in 1982,^[4] 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.^[5]

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 Mel 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.^[6]

The museum also maintains an education department; in the 1970s, artists Janet Henry and Carrie Mae Weems worked in the Education Department.^[7]

In 2001, architects Rogers Marvel Architects designed the building's entry pavilion, exhibition spaces and auditorium, as well as other facilities.^[4]

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).^[8][9]

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.^[10][11] In 2021, Studio Museum announced that it had raised $210 million for the construction, endowment and operating fund for its new building.^[12] By 2023, the museum parted ways with Adjaye in response to the allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct against the architect.^[13] As of August 2024^[update], the new museum building on 125th Street in Manhattan is still under construction^[14][15] and is planned to open in late 2025.^[16]

The museum's first director was Charles Inniss.^[17] 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.^[18] In October 2024, the Ford Foundation gave the museum a $10 million grant to fund an endowment for its director and chief curator positions.^[19][20]

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.^[21]

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, 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.^[25] 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.^[2]

• List of African-American firsts
• List of museums focused on African Americans
• List of museums and cultural institutions in New York City

• Studio Museum in Harlem official website.
• The Studio Museum in Harlem at Google Cultural Institute