New Museum reopens
New Museum in NYC reopened after a $38M expansion and is showing more than 700 artworks — and it’s free to the public this weekend on March 21–22 for preview visits ( ). The social buzz includes preview videos and crowd invites, making it an easy drop‑in for a culturally dense, low‑cost museum visit next weekend (x.com).
The expansion was designed by OMA under Shohei Shigematsu with Rem Koolhaas and executive architect Cooper Robertson, adding a 60,000‑square‑foot addition that doubles the institution’s footprint to about 120,000 sq ft and includes three new elevators, an Atrium Stair, and an entrance plaza. The reopening is anchored by the thematic exhibition New Humans: Memories of the Future, curated by Massimiliano Gioni with Gary Carrion‑Murayari, Vivian Crockett, and Madeline Weisburg, and the show brings together works by more than 200 artists, writers, scientists, architects, and filmmakers. Long‑term additions inside the complex include a dedicated artists‑in‑residence studio, a purpose‑built home for the museum’s cultural incubator NEW INC, an enlarged lobby and bookstore, and a full‑service restaurant operated by the Oberon Group. The board named the new building for longtime supporter Toby Devan Lewis, and director Lisa Phillips framed the expanded site as a signal of the museum’s “redoubled commitment to new art and new ideas.” Lisa Phillips has announced she will retire in April 2026 after 26 years as the New Museum’s director, with her departure slated to follow the institution’s public reopening. Multiple outlets reporting on the project’s budget put the expansion at roughly $82 million, noting that the work involved extensive construction and a multi‑year closure of parts of the Bowery site. The museum’s visit page notes that members may present digital membership cards for entry without advance tickets and that timed tickets and membership details are available on the New Museum website.
