Director Thelma Golden On the Future of Programming at the Studio Museum in Harlem
Earlier this month, the Studio Museum in Harlem unveiled more details about its new home on 125th Street, which will open in the fall of 2025. The new space marks an exciting chapter for one of New York’s most important institutions, as confirmed by the fact that these details were unveiled alongside news that the museum would up its capital fundraising goal to $300 million from $250 million, with $285 million raised so far. Spearheading that fundraising and this project is the museum’s visionary director Thelma Golden, who recently told us more about the project.
Next fall’s inaugural show at the new building will feature the work of Tom Lloyd. How did you decide that he would be given the first show?
With this exhibition, we are moving ahead by coming full circle. Fifty-six years ago, the Studio Museum was inaugurated with “Electronic Refractions II,” a solo exhibition of Tom Lloyd’s colorful, abstract, wall-mounted sculptures, with lights that flashed in electronically programmed patterns. Since then, however, there have been no solo institutional shows of this truly trailblazing artist, educator and activist. We feel it’s deeply meaningful to make Lloyd’s work the subject of one of our inaugural exhibitions at a moment when art historians are beginning to rediscover him. This gesture pays respect to his history and ours, showcases the depth of scholarship and commitment to conservation that are key to our work and helps us look toward the future.
Like so much of New York, Harlem is changing. How does this building anticipate the neighborhood’s needs in the coming decades?
Symbolically, our new building will stand as one of many prominent cultural anchors in the heart of Harlem, with a strong sculptural presence that is clearly distinct from the many new commercial buildings that now line 125th Street. The architecture powerfully affirms that Harlem is the center of a unique, vibrant Black culture. Functionally, the new building provides multiple features that make it open and inviting to all so that, more than ever, the Studio Museum can be a gathering place for our artists and our community.
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The new building will increase exhibition space by more than 50 percent. What does that mean for programming?
The new building greatly enhances the quality and flexibility of our exhibition space by thinking beyond the traditional white cube. Galleries are configured in assorted proportions, scales and floor treatments to accommodate the wide variety of works that we will eventually display, and artworks will permeate the entire building—even outside the formal galleries—using virtually all public spaces. Despite the great African American architect J. Max Bond, Jr. repurposing our previous building, we were operating in a space that was never intended for exhibitions. The new building will give our curatorial team the freedom to program as never before—in spaces that can accommodate the full range of art—and will enable us to present installations from our permanent collection and temporary exhibitions at the same time.
The stacked blocks of this building from the exterior, and some of the interior renderings, make this new building look a little like Marcel Breuer’s design of the old Whitney Museum. What was the mandate given to the architects? What were their goals?
We spoke with the architects about practical matters such as the need to have a proper loading dock and freight elevator after all these years; about the Studio Museum as a meeting place between artists and the community—which is a key feature of our signature Artist-in-Residence program; and also about the potential meaning of a Museum as an architectural space. The building therefore reflects certain characteristics of Harlem’s landscape: the soaring interiors of the faith-based places, the stages for music, theater and dance that are so integral to Harlem’s culture, and the bustling life on 125th Street, where the sidewalk often becomes a performance space in itself. The architects added a fourth vernacular element: the stoops of Harlem’s brownstones, which are such a prominent transitional zone between the public and the private. The new building is an exciting, dynamic unification of all these elements, with a façade that evokes the framed masonry windows of Harlem’s buildings.
News about the new building comes with mentions that the museum’s capital campaign target has been extended from $250 million to $300 million. Why do you think donors have been so generous in their support for this new building?
The success of the campaign began with the extraordinary commitment of the City of New York, which recognizes the Studio Museum in Harlem as an invaluable resource for our neighborhood community, the people of New York and our visitors from around the world. The outpouring of private and public support from a broad national coalition of philanthropists, business and art world leaders, including our trustees, highlights the now widespread awareness that the Studio Museum has been the catalyst for a vast, lasting transformation of the cultural landscape. Donors have given in appreciation of what the Studio Museum has achieved and in excitement for our full potential now that we at last have a building constructed especially to serve our mission.
It’s a small item in the press release, but it’s very cool that David Hammons’ flag, Untitled (2004), will hang from the museum’s facade. What statement is the museum trying to make with this installation?
David Hammons created his African American Flag in 1990, replacing the red, white and blue of the United States flag with the red, green and black of the pan-African flag created by Marcus Garvey’s United Negro Improvement Association, an organization and movement established in Harlem. Hammons knew how meaningful it would be for our institution to fly this flag on our façade and created a version for us that was specifically meant to handle the conditions of outside use. Hanging this version, Untitled (2004), on 125th Street is a declaration of the history and culture we draw from and a statement of our aspirations as an institution. The flag has long been a signature public artwork of the Studio Museum since 2004, and we are so grateful to be able to continue to fly it from our new home.