Studio Museum in Harlem hosted a launch party to celebrate their new brand identity at The Renaissance New York in Harlem on November 30.
The Studio Museum in Harlem opened its doors in 1968. Since then, it has become a refuge and a podium for the work of Black artists, including Jordan Casteel, Lorna Simpson, Alex Gardner, and Derrick Adams.
Their vibrant new brand identity as the place where #BlackArtLives is just one of many innovative changes the museum is making as they look towards the future. They are constructing a new facility on 125th Street. The location will include an 82,000-square-foot building and significant public outdoor space to house exhibitions, community events, and education programming opportunities. The extensive project aims to provide an additional “cultural anchor” for the community.
Studio Museum also collaborated with MoMA PS1 on a series of Artist-in-Residence exhibitions and curated many unique virtual exhibitions.
Guests at the launch party included curators Black Fashion Founder Antoine Gregory, Creative Director Hassan Rahim, fashion designers Tia Adeola, Samantha Black, Bernard James, Brandon Blackwood, and Maxwell Osborne, Best-Selling Author Harriette Cole, Beauty Expert and Journalist Kayla Graves, Danielle Kwateng, Executive Editor, Teen Vogue, Julee Wilson, Beauty Director at Large, Cosmopolitan, Keydra Manns, Senior Editor Real Simple and Director of Sustainability, Guggenheim, Whitney McGuire, Gallerist Hannah Traore, Art Noir Co. founder Larry Ossei-Mensah, Gagosian Curator Diallo Simon-Ponte, Gagosian Art Director Ashley Stewart Rodder, and Kimberly Pirtle, AVP, Sotheby’s and Actor and Producing Artistic Director, Classical Theatre of Harlem, Ty Jones.
They danced to the tunes of DJ Kitty Say Word as images from the museum’s collection were projected on screens along the wall. Hits from Brandy and SZA serenaded the crowd as they two-stepped.
Director and Chief Curator of Studio Museum, Thelma Golden, welcomed attendees with a kind word. “You all are part of a key moment,” she said warmly. She declared that the new brand identity “complimented” where the institution is headed and reaffirmed the mission of the Studio Museum to continue being a “nexus for artists of African descent locally, nationally, and internationally and for work that has been inspired and influenced by Black culture.”
“Before I Let Go” inspired a group of guests to break out into the electric slide towards the end of the evening. People leaped up from black velvet chaises and armchairs to join the fun.
The party was sponsored by Movado and their host community partner, The Renaissance New York. The Marriott Property, adjacent to the Apollo Theater’s new addition, was a fitting location for recognizing Black art. Located in the historic Victoria Theater Building, the hotel has reflections of Harlem’s artistic persona integrated into every facet of its vintage-inspired design.
The staircase to their mezzanine bears the names of musical legends, including Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, and Louis Armstrong. Cultural icons appear on the walls of the elevators, too. The hotel includes visual tributes to the neighborhood’s artistic genius in their well-appointed guest rooms, which feature miniature gramophones instead of traditional speakers. Quotes from Langston Hughes appear on the ceilings and mirrors of the guest rooms.
Golden described the museum’s “commitment to support the work and lives of Black artists and to contribute meaning to this historic neighborhood,” adding that she and her team are “privileged” to call Harlem Home.
“I hope you all will remain a part of this journey with us. All as we work to deepen our connection to our artists to our communities,” she concluded to applause. Guests raised flutes of French 75s, goblets filled with McBride Sisters wines, and tumblers full of vodka cocktails in salute to a new era of expression, community, and connection in the Black mecca.
Learn how you can support the Studio Museum in Harlem in the next phase of its growth here.