Since 1974, the Grey Art Gallery at New York University (NYU) has showcased world-renowned artists and designers in Greenwich Village on Washington Square Park. Last week, NYU announced in a press release that Grey Art Gallery will “reopen in a purpose-designed larger, and more visible space” at 18 Cooper Square, a stone’s throw away from Cooper Union. The physical relocation coincides with an official renaming of the institution—its new moniker is now Grey Art Museum.
The new facility at 18 Cooper Square was designed by Ennead Architects and is set for LEED Gold certification. It will occupy the ground floor of an existing brick-and-iron building restored by Ennead in lower Manhattan’s historic NoHo district. The new location will host three galleries, marking a 40 percent increase in exhibition space. To augment the exhibition space, new space for art preparation, fabrication, storage, and offices will also be provided. The new space was made possible by a generous gift from the couple Dr. James Cottrell and Joseph Lovett, longtime art patrons and social activists. A new study center and gallery at 18 Cooper Square will be named after Cottrell and Lovett in their honor.
“Ennead has a long relationship with NYU which we are proud to continue with this important project,” said Ennead Architects partner Molly McGowan. “As a cultural institution, the Grey Art Gallery has enormous reach and we are excited to deliver a design that will further open the gallery to new audiences and facilitate new experiences.”
“With its impressive curation and collection, the Grey Art Gallery has always had a presence in the art world that far exceeds its size. The newly designed space, significantly larger and more accessible, will be commensurate with their vision and more supportive of their mission. It will meaningfully engage not only with NYU’s arts programs in the building but the surrounding arts community,” said Richard Olcott, partner at Ennead Architects.
“Our new home at 18 Cooper Square is an ideal platform from which to play an even larger and more integral role in the life of the university and the downtown arts community,” said Lynn Gumpert, Grey Art Gallery director. “Because many of NYU’s provostial centers and institutes are housed next door, we will be able to collaborate even more extensively with the cultural and intellectual spheres of NYU’s global network and enhance our abilities to serve the needs of students.“
Grey Art Museum in Cooper Square is set for completion in 2024. Its inaugural exhibition will be Americans in Paris: Artists Working in Postwar France, 1946–1962 which is set to be the “first scholarly overview of the expatriate art scene in Paris after World War II.“
