The Jewish Museum To Unveil Reimagined Collection Galleries And New Learning Center

The Jewish Museum will open its newly reinstalled and reimagined collection galleries, along with an expansive new learning center, on October 24, 2025. The $14.5-million transformation—its most comprehensive renewal in more than three decades—redefines the visitor experience across two floors of the Museum’s historic Warburg Mansion, emphasizing cultural exchange, artistic discovery, and shared human stories.

Designed by UNS (United Network Studio, Amsterdam) and New Affiliates Architecture (New York), with Method Design as Architect of Record, the project integrates state-of-the-art galleries and educational spaces on the Museum’s fourth floor with a new collection installation on the third floor. Together, they invite audiences to explore the many dimensions of Jewish identity within the broader context of world culture.

“This milestone moment heralds a new chapter for the Jewish Museum,” said James S. Snyder, the Museum’s Helen Goldsmith Menschel Director. “With this reimagining of our collection and education galleries, we hope visitors will discover new points of connection and deepen their appreciation of the traditions that have shaped the Jewish experience throughout the global diaspora and in resonance with other cultures.”

At the heart of the renewal is Identity, Culture, and Community: Stories from the Collection of the Jewish Museum, a major new installation featuring more than 200 works of art and artifacts. Spanning themes of migration, identity, and resilience, the galleries bring together ceremonial objects, archaeological artifacts, and works by modern and contemporary artists including Mel Bochner, Nicole Eisenman, Eva Hesse, Lee Krasner, Louise Nevelson, Mark Rothko, and Miriam Schapiro, among many others.

The galleries trace Jewish cultural and artistic expression from antiquity to the present, with sections devoted to ritual, memory, exile, and contemporary identity. Rotating focus installations will explore topics such as Jewish life in Colonial America and the legacy of filmmaker and curator Pearl Bowser (1931–2023), who helped pioneer the Museum’s groundbreaking “Black Film” series in 1970.

“Identity, Culture, and Community foregrounds the extraordinary vision, diversity, and experimentation of the artists it showcases,” said Darsie Alexander, Senior Deputy Director and Chief Curator. “Each work asserts a distinct history, conveying stories of the people who made, owned, and often saved these cherished objects.”

On the newly opened fourth floor, the Pruzan Family Center for Learning introduces 7,000 square feet of dedicated space for exhibitions, artmaking, and education programs. More than 200 works from the Museum’s collection are displayed in light-filled galleries alongside two new art studios, a participatory “Touch Wall,” and a simulated archaeological dig designed for children by Koko Architecture + Design.

“The new Pruzan Family Center for Learning provides visitors of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities with unique opportunities to learn from original works of art,” said Nelly Silagy Benedek, Deputy Director of Education and Programs. “These spaces invite participation, reflection, and community connection.”

A centerpiece of the Center is a monumental installation of more than 130 Hanukkah lamps from around the world—drawn from the Museum’s renowned collection of over 1,000 examples—symbolizing light as a universal metaphor for hope and enlightenment. The display visually links the Museum’s third and fourth floors, connecting storytelling, art, and learning in a single architectural gesture.

SPECIAL EXHIBITIONS

Coinciding with the reopening, the Museum will present two major exhibitions that further its mission to explore Jewish identity through art.

• Anish Kapoor: Early Works (opening October 24) highlights a period of groundbreaking experimentation by the artist, who descends from Hindu and Jewish Indian families.

• Joan Semmel: In the Flesh (opening December 12) places the trailblazing feminist painter’s work in dialogue with pieces from the Museum’s collection.

VISITOR EXPERIENCE

Accompanying the reopening is a new suite of digital resources on Bloomberg Connects, the free arts and culture app. Four audio tours will guide visitors through highlights of the newly installed galleries, including features on Hanukkah lamps, portraits and landscapes in the Pruzan Family Center, and verbal descriptions designed for visitors who are blind or have low vision.

Public and educational programs will extend the celebration, including a Family Day on November 16, artist talks, and art history classes.

ABOUT THE JEWISH MUSEUM

Located on New York City’s famed Museum Mile, The Jewish Museum was the first institution of its kind in the United States and is among the world’s oldest Jewish museums. Housed in the landmarked Warburg Mansion, the Museum preserves a collection of more than 30,000 works of art, archaeological pieces, and ceremonial objects that together span over 3,500 years of global Jewish history.

Through its exhibitions and educational initiatives, the Museum continues to explore intersections between Jewish and world culture, offering new perspectives on shared human experience.