{"id":122242,"date":"2025-11-08T11:30:23","date_gmt":"2025-11-08T11:30:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/122242\/"},"modified":"2025-11-08T11:30:23","modified_gmt":"2025-11-08T11:30:23","slug":"new-princeton-university-art-museum-opens-its-doors-to-all","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/122242\/","title":{"rendered":"New Princeton University Art Museum opens its doors to all"},"content":{"rendered":"

At 4:59 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 31, the line of people waiting to enter the new Princeton University Art Museum for its 24-hour open house snaked out of sight along the front of the building, far past the gates of Prospect House.\u00a0<\/p>\n

At 5 p.m. on the dot, James Steward, director of the museum, addressed the crowd with his arms open wide. \u201cI\u2019ve waited five years for this moment. I think I\u2019m going to get a little emotional. Welcome, everyone!\u201d Then he pulled open the door. Within minutes the museum became a living, breathing thing, animated by excited voices and the buzzing thrum of people filling its halls, stairs and galleries in every direction.<\/p>\n

Twenty-four hours later, 21,763\u00a0people had walked through the doors.<\/p>\n

The museum \u2014 and the 24 hours of dancing, stargazing, artmaking, live performances, film screenings and more \u2014 drew plaudits from delighted visitors.<\/p>\n

\"University<\/p>\n

Left: University and community members line up outside the museum before the opening on Oct. 31. By the end of the 24-hour event, 21,763\u00a0people had walked through the doors. Right: James Steward, director of the museum, introduces the live storytelling event “The Art of the Moth,” presented by McCarter Theatre Center.<\/p>\n

Photo by<\/p>\n

Denise Applewhite, Office of Communications<\/p>\n

Ron Davidson, a Princeton resident, pronounced the open house \u201ca once-in-a-lifetime celebration.\u201d<\/p>\n

Staff member Natalia Ermolaev, executive director of the Center for Digital Humanities, called the open house \u201ctruly inspiring.\u201d She said her two young children \u201cwere captivated at every turn, from Nick Cave’s vibrant mosaic at the entrance to the thousand-year-old Roman mosaics glowing beneath our feet. We’re already looking forward to returning.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wendy Heller, the Scheide Professor of Music History and professor of music, said she was happy to see her favorite works from the old museum \u201cafter so many years, with new neighbors and with room to breathe.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe open house was a sublime experience,\u201d\u00a0said senior Ashley George, an English major and European cultural studies minor. George already has plans to return to newly discovered study spaces at the museum with friends this week.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A week before the 24-hour open house, 3,500 undergraduate and graduate students attended a special student preview. Two previews followed for faculty, staff and the tradespeople who worked on the museum \u2014 with an additional 2,100 attending. The museum attracted another 3,256 visitors on Sunday, its first day of regular operations.<\/p>\n

\"University<\/p>\n

About 2,100 University faculty, staff and tradespeople who worked on the new building attended two special previews in the week leading up to the official public opening.<\/p>\n

Photo by<\/p>\n

Matthew Raspanti, Office of Communications<\/p>\n

Discovery, awe and wonder around the clock<\/p>\n

Even in the wee hours of the open house, the museum whirred with activity. Just past midnight, a wave of nearly 1,000 students and community members flooded in. At the 1:30 a.m. trivia contest, the Grand Hall was packed with 42 teams who barked out answers to questions about the museum\u2019s collections, including \u201cWhat is the name of the French artist who is known for his depictions of ballet dancers, such as the dancer featured here?” (Answer: Edgar Degas.)<\/p>\n

Less than eight hours later, at 9 a.m. Saturday, the soaring, three-story Grand Hall was again filled to capacity. This time participants sat in near-total silence, eyes closed, for a live music meditation as the Richardson Chamber Players performed Schoenberg\u2019s \u201cVerkl\u00e4rte Nacht (Transfigured Night), Op. 4.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

At 10 a.m. a different iteration of silence prevailed outside on the north terrace during a packed tai chi workshop, accompanied only by the sound of autumn leaves somersaulting along the terrace. Meanwhile, in the creativity labs, happy chatter filled the air, with children elbow-deep in artmaking.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And so it went throughout the day as sounds of discovery, awe and wonder filled the new building, from whispers in the galleries to the musical exclamation points of the Westrick Boys and Girls Choir in the Tuttle Lecture Hall and a Broadway cabaret presented by McCarter Theatre Center in the Grand Hall.<\/p>\n

\"People<\/p>\n

Throughout the 24 hours, visitors created their own paths through the new galleries and pavilions. James Steward, director of the museum, said the museum’s design encourages visitors to \u201cwander at will until you see something that captures you and then stop.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

Photo by<\/p>\n

Denise Applewhite, Office of Communications<\/p>\n

A \u201clabor of love\u201d for the community<\/p>\n

Throughout the 24 hours, visitors created their own paths through the new galleries and pavilions. That\u2019s exactly what Steward said he hoped would happen.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The museum design, essentially a donut shape connecting nine interlocking pavilions, intentionally avoids a \u201cprescribed path,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The idea is for visitors to \u201cwander at will until you see something that captures you and then stop,\u201d Steward said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe profoundly in the ability of good architecture to pull us out of ourselves and our workaday preoccupations, including inviting us to slow down, arresting us in our tracks, and making possible the moments of pure transport that engaging with a great work of art can then afford,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve been lucky enough to feel that many times in my life, and it\u2019s been a labor of love to want to make that possible here on our own campus, in our own community.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The new museum is also, by design, a place to foster curiosity. It\u2019s important, he said, to \u201ctrust your audience to be curious.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

The new museum’s second-floor Orientation Gallery welcomes visitors with some striking juxtapositions of artwork from different times and places.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Photo by<\/p>\n

Denise Applewhite, Office of Communications<\/p>\n

When modern meets Victorian and medieval<\/p>\n

On one wall of the second-floor Orientation Gallery, John Singer Sargent\u2019s 1887 oil portrait of Elizabeth Allen Marquand hangs beside contemporary artist Mario Moore\u2019s\u00a0oil portrait of Princeton University Art Museum security guard Michael Moore (no relation), painted in 2019.<\/p>\n

In another corner of the Orientation Gallery, Andy Warhol\u2019s 1962 painting of Marilyn Monroe, \u201cBlue Marilyn,\u201d hangs beside a series of late medieval and early Renaissance stained glass windows.<\/p>\n

These striking juxtapositions welcome visitors to the art-filled pavilions and galleries on the museum\u2019s main exhibition floor \u2014 including modern and contemporary, European, Asian, African, ancient Mediterranean, and American. The museum\u2019s collections are organized largely by eras and regions of the world, but visitors occasionally encounter outliers from different times and places displayed side by side.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe live in this incredibly visually saturated world,\u201d Steward said. \u201cSo we asked ourselves, as curators, how do we do this work in such a way that actually causes someone to stop for a moment and ponder?\u201d<\/p>\n

The artworks that are \u201cin dialogue,\u201d he said, are designed to \u201cprovoke people out of their comfort zones a little bit, but gently.\u201d For example, \u201cSomeone who is drawn to a more traditional or historical object is lured into the contemporary in a way that causes them to say, \u2018Okay, I\u2019ve got to give this a chance,\u2019 as opposed to \u2018Oh, that’s just not for me.\u2019 And the other way around,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

What makes this approach possible, Steward said, is the sheer size of the museum\u2019s collections, which began at the University even before the American Revolution. \u201cWe can try to grapple with the whole of the world under one roof. That is not something that the average university museum can do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Clara<\/p>\n

The design of the new museum encourages close looking, including providing seats in front of some of the displays. Pictured: Clara Church of Brooklyn sits in front of a case of Inka figures from the 15th and 16th century.<\/p>\n

Photo by<\/p>\n

Denise Applewhite, Office of Communications<\/p>\n

The transformative experience of close looking \u201cjust for 10 minutes\u201d<\/p>\n

All of the museum\u2019s design choices \u2014 from having most of the art displayed without protective glass to cases with drawers that visitors can open to view more art \u2014 invite the experience of close looking.<\/p>\n

Even if it\u2019s just for 10 minutes.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope every visitor might find one object in the galleries that\u2019s outside their immediate experience or familiarity and spend 10 minutes with it, standing or sitting, looking actively and imagining what it was like for the maker to make it, the conditions that compelled them to do so, how they made the choices they did (knowing that each element was the result of a choice),\u201d Steward said, \u201cand in doing so, to leave their own present reality behind just for those 10 minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n

The drawers offer a novel visitor experience, more common to natural history museums than art museums. \u201cIf you see a drawer, open it \u2014 they hold Rembrandt etchings, Japanese block prints, 19th-century photographs, contemporary innovations, intimate encounters that reward close study,\u201d said Juliana Ochs Dweck, chief curator. The only drawers off-limits?\u00a0Those in a few pieces of historic furniture on display.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope every visitor might find one object in the galleries that\u2019s outside their immediate experience or familiarity and spend 10 minutes with it, standing or sitting, looking actively and imagining what it was like for the maker to make it\u201d Steward said, \u201cand in doing so, to leave their own present reality behind just for those 10 minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Photo by<\/p>\n

Matthew Raspanti, Office of Communications<\/p>\n

A new world for students and coursework<\/p>\n

At their preview, students packed into the Grand Hall for performances by student-led ensembles including eXpressions, Princeton University Ballet, the Tigressions and Quipfire!, a silent disco and an outdoor performance by Grammy Award-winning DJ Jazzy Jeff.<\/p>\n

But throughout the four-hour event, the real star of the show was the art. In every gallery space and pavilion, students marveled at the artwork \u2014 and the simple fact that the museum, which they had previously encountered as a construction site, was now a real and very beautiful place. \u201cThey were looking, they were reading the labels, and most of all, they were lingering,\u201d Steward said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’m excited about everything!\u201d said\u00a0Faith Ho, a sociology major and visual arts minor. \u201cI definitely plan to spend time at the museum as a source of inspiration\u00a0and also as a kind of rest from work.\u00a0I also envision it as a great place to hang out with friends,\u00a0whether to explore an exhibit together or try an event.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Left:<\/p>\n

Left: The Grand Hall is designed as a social gathering space and can be turned into a theater for performances and talks. At right: Members of Princeton University Ballet perform during the student preview.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Eliana Gagnon, a 2023 undergraduate alumna and a second-year graduate student in sociology,\u00a0stood agape with three friends in front of Claude Monet\u2019s \u201cWater Lilies and Japanese Bridge,\u201d which hangs on its own wall against a dramatic fabric backdrop in the European pavilion. The University owns one from a series of 12 Monet paintings of that scene.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was stunned that our University museum possessed this piece, and I was shocked when I realized that there were more Monet paintings behind me,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Gagnon, who earned a minor in visual arts as an undergraduate, visited the old museum just once before it closed because of the pandemic in March of her freshman year. Being in the new museum stirred the artist inside her, she said. \u201cI felt my passion for drawing reigniting as I sketched the artwork with paper and pencil provided by the museum\u2019s front desk.\u201d<\/p>\n

Steward said that from the very beginning he wanted the new museum to be a significant experience for every student, across disciplines. \u201cSomeone who loves music might come to a student concert in the Grand Hall,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

With six object study rooms, which can be used from 8 a.m. to 10:45 p.m., Steward hopes classes from every academic discipline will feel encouraged to experience objects from the collection for close looking, analysis and discussion.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cA professor in environmental studies might not bring their students in to study objects aesthetically but they might interrogate them in terms of what the object says about species loss or material history,\u201d he said. Upcoming new faculty workshops will encourage those possibilities.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Wendy Heller in the music department once taught a Freshman Seminar, \u201cListening at the Museum,\u201d with roughly half of the class sessions at the old museum. \u201cWe considered the relationship between artworks and music, exploring the sonic world that was implicit in the artworks and the visual images suggested by the music. I am looking forward to the opportunity of offering that course again,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ben Zhang, a 2022 graduate alumnus and lecturer in the Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics, manages the Integrated Science Curriculum for first-year students. \u00a0\u201cI envision the new art museum as a third space where I could meet students for events and discussions,” he said. “The curatorial focus on dialogue across traditions, cultures and visual languages lends itself well to stimulating conversations on timeless themes.\u201d<\/p>\n

In his own work, pausing to contemplate art helps him clear his mind to gain insight on\u00a0vexing problems in science, Zhang said.<\/p>\n

\"Scientist<\/p>\n

Ben Zhang, a 2022 graduate alumnus and a lecturer in the Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics, contemplates Ellen Gallagher’s 2000 painting “Blubber.”<\/p>\n

Photo by<\/p>\n

Denise Applewhite, Office of Communications<\/p>\n

The new museum has received accolades from the national and international press.<\/p>\n

The New York Times lauded Princeton\u2019s art collection as \u201cextraordinary, reflecting the largess and talents of the university\u2019s community over the generations. Now in a stunning new home, these objects seem to breathe and converse as never before.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Guardian called it \u201cone of the finest art museums to be built anywhere in recent years.\u201d NJArts.net declared it \u201ca must to visit for any art lover,\u201d commending the new museum for being \u201cwhat a great university museum should be: smart, perturbing, rigorous, fire-starting.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Visitors<\/p>\n

The museum’s two creativity labs will host regular activities and workshops, open to the public. In the photo at left, Estefany Rodriguez, manager of the creativity labs (far left), leads an activity with Krysta Morrison of Dover, Delaware (center) and her daughter Aaliyah Morrison. Right: Visitors enjoy the creativity labs, which are stocked with a wide range of artmaking materials.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A museum as \u201cyour home away from home\u201d<\/p>\n

Introducing the final event of the 24-hour open house, Steward told the packed audience for \u201cThe Art of The Moth\u201d storytelling event that he hopes visitors will \u201cmake the new museum your home away from home.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Later, reflecting on the success of the open house, he said it \u201cembodied this idea of how the museum can bring together all of the arts under a single roof.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many moments from the open house \u2014 from a reading by novelist Jhumpa Lahiri to stargazing with Professor\u00a0Robert Vanderbei\u00a0at the museum\u2019s outdoor amphitheater \u2014 stood out to him as \u201ctransporting moments of connection.\u201d<\/p>\n

Events scheduled for the next few months include a Nov. 20 conversation with the Syrian-born American artist Diana Al-Hadid discussing her artistic process and her commission,\u00a0\u201cThe Ziggurat Splits the Sky\u201d for the new museum, with Alexandra Foradas, the Haskell Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art.<\/p>\n

On Dec. 5 Alexandra Letvin, the Duane Wilder, Class of 1951, Associate Curator of European Art, will give a talk about what went into the curation of the new Galleries of European Art.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Recitals and concerts\u00a0are being planned for a\u00a01909 S\u00e9bastien \u00c9rard piano that occupies its own room near the European pavilion and a\u00a0B\u00f6sendorfer imperial grand piano, both gifted to the museum.<\/p>\n

Museum hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Wednesday and on Saturday; 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Thursday and Friday; and noon-5 p.m. on Sunday. The Grand Hall, the Orientation Gallery and two \u201cartwalks\u201d that cross through the building north to south and east to west are open daily 8 a.m.-10:45 p.m.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For information about museum exhibitions, events and programming, visit\u00a0artmuseum.princeton.edu<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

All four entrances to the museum are accessible. For more information about accessibility, call Service Point ahead of your visit, 609-258-8300, Monday through Friday, 8:45 a.m. to 5 p.m.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At 4:59 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 31, the line of people waiting to enter the new Princeton University…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":122243,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[437,434,435,436,438,146,85,46],"class_list":{"0":"post-122242","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-artsdesign","12":"tag-design","13":"tag-entertainment","14":"tag-il","15":"tag-israel"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122242","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=122242"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122242\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/122243"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=122242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=122242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=122242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}