After some delays, Manhattan’s only museum dedicated to contemporary art will finally reopen its doors to the public on 21 March 2026. An exhibition called New Humans: Memories of the Future will inaugurate the premises just over a year after the expansion was announced.
At the start of March 2026, the New Museum announced it would be doubling in size thanks to an expansion designed by OMA / Shohei Shigematsu and Rem Koolhaas, in collaboration with Executive Architect Cooper Robertson. A new seven-story facility would be added to the existing premises on the Bowery at Prince Street, with a reopening scheduled for autumn 2025.
Now, some months after the scheduled reopening, Manhattan’s museum dedicated entirely to contemporary art has announced it will be reopening its doors to curious visitors on 21 March 2026. The expansion is said to be one of the only examples in the world showing the combined work of two living Pritzker Prize-winning architects (SANAA and Rem Koolhaas).
According to the press release, the previously existing SANAA-designed flagship building has not just been upgraded to double its gallery space, but other improvements have been made as well. Those additions include three extra elevators to improve fluid circulation throughout and new venues for public programs and special events, including an enlarged seventh-floor Sky Room and a new 74-seat Forum.
Moreover, a dedicated studio for artists-in-residence and a purpose-built home for the Museum’s cultural incubator NEW INC have found a home on the top floor, while the ground level will feature an enlarged lobby, an expanded bookstore, and a full-service restaurant operated by the Oberon Group.
“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 square feet 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.
Opening weekend and inaugural exhibition
During the opening weekend on 21 and 22 March 2026, the New Museum will offer free admission for its opening weekend. Registration for free opening weekend tickets, made possible through the support of New Museum Trustee Charlotte Feng Ford, will go live in February 2026.
During that weekend and afterwards, visitors will be able to discover the exhibition New Humans: Memories of the Future, which 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’.
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.
