The New Museum, Manhattan’s only museum dedicated exclusively to contemporary art, today announced that its 60,000 sq ft building expansion designed by OMA / Shohei Shigematsu and Rem Koolhaas in collaboration with Executive Architect Cooper Robertson will open to the public on March 21, 2026.
Blending seamlessly with the existing SANAA-designed flagship building on the Bowery at Prince Street, the expanded footprint provides twice the gallery space for visitors to experience the institution’s exhibitions; fluid circulation through the addition of three elevators, an Atrium Stair, and an entrance plaza; and new venues for public programs and special events, including an enlarged seventh floor Sky Room and a new 74-seat Forum. On its upper floors, the expanded building will feature a dedicated studio for artists-in-residence and a purpose-built home for the Museum’s cultural incubator NEW INC. On the ground level, visitors will be welcomed into an enlarged lobby, an expanded bookstore, and a full-service restaurant operated by the Oberon Group. The expanded New Museum will be one of the only examples in the world of the combined work of two living Pritzker Prize-winning architects.
“Since our founding nearly 50 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. Our new 120,000 sq ft 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,” said Lisa Phillips, Toby Devan Lewis Director of the New Museum.
“We are deeply thankful to the artists, community members, staff, board members, government officials, and patrons who have been our partners every step of the way, and we are extremely gratified to name the new building for the late Toby Devan Lewis in recognition of her decades of service to the New Museum, carrying forward her legacy of championing art and artists,” said James-Keith Brown, President of the New Museum’s Board of Trustees.
OPENING EXHIBITION AND SITE-SPECIFIC COMMISSIONS
The inaugural exhibition New Humans: Memories of the Future will unfold throughout the entirety of the expanded New Museum. This ambitious thematic survey will bring together works by more than 200 artists, writers, scientists, architects, and filmmakers to explore how dramatic technological and societal changes have spurred new conceptions of what it means to be “human.” Placing new and recent works by artists including Sophia Al-Maria, Lucy Beech, Meriem Bennani, Cyprien Gaillard, Pierre Huyghe, Tau Lewis, Daria Martin, Wangechi Mutu, Precious Okoyomon, Berenice Olmedo, Philippe Parreno, Hito Steyerl, Jamian Juliano-Villani, Andro Wekua, and Anicka Yi in the context of works by twentieth-century artists and cultural figures such as Francis Bacon, Constant Nieuwenhuys, Salvador Dalí, Ibrahim El-Salahi, H.R. Giger, Kiki Kogelnik, Hannah Höch, Tatsuo Ikeda, Gyula Kosice, El Lissitzky, Lennart Nilsson, Eduardo Paolozzi, Carlo Rambaldi, Germaine Richier, and Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven, New Humans examines the ways in which artists’ visions of the future have evolved throughout time. Additional details about New Humans including the full artist list and information about accompanying public programs will be announced in the coming weeks. Lead support for New Humans: Memories of the Future is provided by Circle.
Alongside New Humans, the New Museum will also unveil a number of major new commissions that will be on long-term view in dedicated sites in and around the building, including a work by Tschabalala Self created for the Museum’s façade, a monumental sculpture by Klára Hosnedlová for the Museum’s new Atrium Stair, and a work by Sarah Lucas created for the Museum’s new public plaza at the building’s entrance.
OPENING WEEKEND
The New Museum will offer free admission for its opening weekend, March 21 and 22, 2026, welcoming neighbors from across New York City and visitors from around the world to explore the Museum’s new space, experience its reopening exhibition and site-specific commissions, and celebrate with music and activities for art lovers of all ages. Registration for free opening weekend tickets, made possible through the generous support of New Museum Trustee Charlotte Feng Ford, will go live in February 2026.
NEW MUSEUM RESTAURANT
Designed by OMA / Shohei Shigematsu, the New Museum’s first full service restaurant is operated by Henry Rich of the Oberon Group and helmed by Executive Chef Julia Sherman. Located on the lobby level of the New Museum with an additional entrance on Freeman Alley, the restaurant will feature a vegetable-forward menu in an art-filled space, with a commission by Ian Cheng and furnituredesigned by Minjae Kim. Additional information about hours, reservations, and artist collaborations will be announced in the coming weeks.
NEW MUSEUM STORE
Now doubled in size, the New Museum Store is located on the lobby level of the Museum and is accessible without purchasing an admission ticket. Alongside its outstanding selection of art books, the Store will launch a suite of new artist-made objects created to celebrate the New Museum’s expanded building and its reopening exhibitions and commissions.
ABOUT NEW MUSEUM
The New Museum is the only museum in New York City exclusively devoted to contemporary art. Founded in 1977, the New Museum is a center for exhibitions, information, and documentation about living artists from around the world. From its beginnings as a one-room office on Hudson Street to the inauguration of its firstfreestanding building on the Bowery designed by SANAA in 2007, the New Museum continues to be a place of experimentation and a hub of new art and new ideas.
Image: Rendering of the expanded New Museum. Courtesy OMA/bloomimages.de
