New York’s Expanded New Museum to Reopen on March 21 Following Two-Year Closure
47Jan. 13, 2026
TheNew Museumin New York will welcome the public on March 21 following a two-year closure, the institution announced today. Admission will be free March 21 and March 22, with registration for these tickets opening in February. The museum has been shuttered since March 2024 as it undergoes an expansion, designed byOMA/Shohei ShigematsuandRem Koolhaas, on the lot next door to its extantSANAA-designed building. Construction had originally been slated to end this past fall.
The 60,000-square-foot expansion nearly doubles the museum’s footprint, to almost 120,000 square feet. Included in the new building will be 9,600 square feet of gallery space; 3,850 square feet dedicated to New Inc, the institution’s incubator; and 3,210 square feet devoted to artist studios, education, and special events. Other features include an entrance plaza, a new seventy-four-seat forum, an enlarged seventh-floor sky room, and three new elevators, to improve circulation. The ground floor will host an expanded bookstore and a vegetable-forward restaurant featuring an artwork commission by Ian Cheng and furniture designed by Minjae Kim.
New artist commissions appearing in the OMA-designed space include a façade work by Tschabalala Self, a monumental sculpture by Klára Hosnedlová for its new atrium stair, and a work by Sarah Lucas that will appear in the new public plaza, near the entrance.
“Since our founding nearly fifty years ago, the New Museum has been a home for the most groundbreaking art of today and a haven for the artists who make it,” said outgoing director Lisa Phillips in a statement. “Our new 120,000-square-foot building on the Bowery signals our redoubled commitment to new art and new ideas, and to the museum as an ever-evolving site for risk-taking, collaboration, and experimentation.”