The Studio Museum in Harlem has reopened after a massive physical renovation and re-imagination, reestablishing this cultural institution as both a neighborhood anchor and a vanguard of contemporary art. Open since 1968, the museum has helped create and cultivate the cannon of Black artistic production by presenting and collecting work from artists that have helped define art in America over that time.

The seven-floor, 82,000-square-foot building was designed by Adjaye Associates with Cooper Robertson as executive architect, and was made possible by a holistic campaign that has raised $300 Million to date.

To celebrate this occasion, the museum presented From Now: A Collection in Context, an exhibition that leaned heavily into the highlights from its collection, with works from Jean-Michel Basquiat, Romare Bearden, Sanford Biggers, Jordan Casteel, Elizabeth Catlett, Nikita Gale, Sam Gilliam, Lauren Halsey, Barkley L. Hendricks, Isaac Julien, Titus Kaphar, Jacob Lawrence, Deana Lawson, Simone Leigh, Glenn Ligon, Kerry James Marshall, Lorraine O’Grady, Gordon Parks, Faith Ringgold, Kara Walker, Carrie Mae Weems, Jack Whitten, and many more.

Additional exhibitions include Tom Lloyd, From the Studio: Fifty-Eight Years of Artists In Residence, and To Be a Place.

While the art has always been a draw for audiences all over the globe, the November 15 reopening was a love letter to the Harlem community that has always made this house of art feel more like a cultural home for so many. 

As one gentlemen remarked after the event ended, “It feels like Harlem is back.”

For more information, visit studiomuseum.org.