$6.5 million, 60,000 s/f, New Museum of Contemporary Art

A new facility for the New Museum of Contemporary Art on the Bowery in Lower Manhattan has been unveiled. The new building is the centerpiece of the museum's $64 million capital campaign, which covers construction project costs and includes a significant expansion of the institution's endowment. At the ceremony were first deputy mayor Patricia Harris; cultural affairs (DCA) commissioner Kate Levin; councilman Dominick Recchia; council member Alan Gerson; Lower Manhattan Development Corporation chair Avi Schick; New Museum director Lisa Phillips, and president of the Board of Trustees Saul Dennison. The new New Museum will do what artists and arts organizations do for New York City everyday - embody our aspirations, enliven our neighborhoods, and make New York City the place so many of us want to live, work and play. This new facility is a brilliant work of contemporary art itself that will draw visitors from around the corner and around the world, and provide a new focal point for art lovers everywhere. The city, through the Department of Cultural Affairs, in conjunction with the City Council, invested $6.5 million in the seven-story, 60,000 s/f facility, a striking metal mesh-clad stack of boxes shifted off axis in a dynamic composition designed by Tokyo-based architects Sejima + Nishizawa/SANAA. The building features column-free exhibition spaces, a 182-seat theater, a lobby bookstore, expanded classrooms, an education center, a café and rooftop terraces facing south and east over the cityscape. The unveiling marks the institution's 30th anniversary, and represents the first time in the organization's history that it has occupied its own freestanding space. This milestone will also be celebrated with 30 hours of continuous, free admission to the public sponsored by Target. Beginning tomorrow, the public will be able to view the inaugural exhibition, "Unmonumental," an international survey of one hundred objects by thirty artists, exploring techniques of collage and assemblage in sculpture, collage, sound and new media. The New Museum of Contemporary Art is the only museum in New York City devoted exclusively to contemporary art, and is committed to bringing the work of under-recognized artists to the fore. It boasts a proud history of being among the first to exhibit work by important figures in the art world like William Kentridge, Paul McCarthy and Andrea Zittel before they received widespread recognition. The Museum attracts approximately 100,000 visitors annually, and this new building is expected to draw over 350,000 visitors in its inaugural year. Out-of-town visitors to the museum are expected to pump more than $185 million into the local economy annually. The museum has also expanded its staff, from 34 in 2006, to 102 employees today. More than 300 people were employed by contractors in building the new $48.3 million New Museum. Seven new galleries have opened in the immediate area surrounding the museum in the past two years, creating a destination cultural district. Michael Bloomberg is mayor of New York, N.Y.