About
Statement of Affiliation
MoMA PS1 and The Museum of Modern Art formalized their affiliation in January 2000,
bringing together a leader in cutting-edge art and the world's foremost museum
of modern art.
MoMA PS1, celebrating its thirtieth year in 2006, is one of the world's oldest
and largest organizations devoted solely to the advancement of contemporary
art. Housed in a hundred-year-old Romanesque Revival school building in Long Island City,
Queens, MoMA PS1 presents an extensive program
of exhibitions and events in its nearly 125,000-square-foot facility. It also
offers a diverse range of educational programs and an online radio station,
WPS1, which streams from the Clocktower Gallery in lower Manhattan. MoMA PS1 distinguishes itself from
other major art institutions in its progressive approach to exhibitions and its
involvement of artists within the museum's framework. In October 1997, MoMA PS1
reopened to the public after a three-year renovation project designed by Los
Angeles-based architect Frederick Fisher. The building's facilities were
expanded to include a large outdoor gallery, a dramatic entryway, and a
two-story project space. Since its inception, MoMA PS1 has exhibited the work
of more than 2,000 artists and has mounted some of the most provocative visual
arts exhibitions of the last quarter century.
In bringing together artists and their audience, MoMA PS1 functions as a living
and active meeting place for the general public. Its Education Department
offers a lively series of programs for adults and young people. These programs,
ranging from daily gallery talks to salon-style conversations among artists,
writers, and scholars actively involved in contemporary art, build on the
museum's commitment to be both an accessible resource to a diverse audience and
a catalyst for new ideas and art practices. Tours guided by scholars and
artists introduce adults and school groups to cutting-edge contemporary art
through interactive discussions of the themes, techniques, and imagery of the
art on view, as well as the personal perspective of lecturing artists. An
internship program provides graduate and undergraduate students with valuable
exposure to the inner workings of a busy arts institution, as well as a
prolonged involvement with the art of current and upcoming exhibitions. In the
past, the Department has also organized community outreach programs, a National
and International Studio Program for promising young artists, and a teen
curator series.
The principal objective of MoMA's partnership with MoMA PS1 is to promote the
enjoyment, appreciation, study, and understanding of contemporary art to a wide
and growing audience. Collaborative programs of exhibitions, educational
activities, and special projects allow both institutions to draw on their
respective strengths and resources and to continue shaping a cultural
discourse. The first significant collaboration between MoMA PS1 and The Museum
of Modern Art took place in 2000 with Greater
New York, a widely acclaimed exhibition showcasing the work of more than
140 emerging New York-area artists. This ambitious effort was successfully
repeated five years later with Greater
New York 2005. Both shows demonstrated the diversity and dynamism of the
metropolitan area's artistic community. An ongoing collaboration is the
MoMA/MoMA PS1Young Architects Program, an annual series of competitions that
give emerging architects the opportunity to build projects for the MoMA PS1
facility from conception drawing to construction.