The Studio Museum in Harlem reopens at last

""In many ways I do feel the timing of our opening now is ideal," she said. "We're opening in a moment that's very much like the moment when the museum was founded.""

""It was always this museum's goal to be a home for Black art. And the collection really represents a cross-generational, amazing conversation between artists who made works over 100 years ago, and artists who are making work right now," said Golden."

""Lloyd was thinking specifically about how to reflect his immediate community, a predominantly Black community in Jamaica, Queens," explained exhibit curator Connie H. Choi. "And so he was utilizing materials that were easily accessible - Christmas tree light bulbs, and also Buick backup light lenses.""

The Studio Museum in Harlem began in a 1968 Uptown Manhattan loft as a nexus for Black culture and evolved into an internationally recognized hub for Black artists. The museum closed in 2018 to build a new home and reopens seven years later in a custom-built facility a few blocks from the original loft. The new building presents rotating exhibitions and access to a 9,000-piece permanent collection that stages cross-generational conversations among artists. The inaugural exhibition features Tom Lloyd's light works, displayed in a chapel-like room with a high, barrel-vaulted ceiling, using accessible materials and sensory effects.

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