MoMA PS1

MoMA PS1 is a place for contemporary art located at 22-01 Jackson Avenue in the Long Island City neighborhood of Queens in New York City, United States. It shows many new and modern art pieces and also hosts special events like the Sunday Sessions, a music performance series, the Warm Up summer music series, and the Young Architects Program together with the Museum of Modern Art.

Since January 2000, MoMA PS1 has been connected to the Museum of Modern Art. By 2013, it welcomed about 200,000 visitors each year, making it a popular spot for people to explore and enjoy modern art.

History

MoMA PS1 started in 1971 as the Institute for Art and Urban Resources Inc. by Alanna Heiss. The goal was to use old, unused buildings in New York City for artists to work and show their art.

In 1976, the P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center opened in an old school building in Long Island City. After a big renovation in 1997, the building got bigger and better spaces for art.

In 1999, P.S. 1 and the Museum of Modern Art planned to join together. They officially became partners in January 2000. In 2010, the center changed its name to MoMA PS1.

Alanna Heiss retired in 2008 after leading the center for 36 years. Klaus Biesenbach became the director in 2009 but left in 2018. Kate Fowle took over as director in 2019.

After closing for a while due to the coronavirus, MoMA PS1 had to let go of many workers. In 2020, during protests, the museum offered help to people protesting. Thanks to a donation in late 2025, MoMA PS1 will offer free entry for three years starting in January 2026.

Programs, installations, and events

Artist and exhibition programs

Since it began, MoMA PS1 has focused on new and experimental art. The first exhibition, called Rooms, was held in June 1976. It showed works by 78 artists, many of whom created special pieces just for this show. One artist, Alan Saret, made a tiny hole in a wall that created a beautiful beam of light.

The museum has shown art by many famous artists, including Janet Cardiff, David Hammons, and Mike Kelley. It has also highlighted artists who don’t normally get a lot of attention, like Henry Darger.

MoMA PS1 has organized many important exhibitions over the years, both in its building and in other places around New York City and the world.

Important exhibitions since 1976 include:

• Rooms (June 9–26, 1976)
• Afro-American Abstraction (February 17 – April 6, 1980)
• Ted Stamm: Paintings 1972–1980 (February 11 – March 7, 1981)
• West/East: First Generation Environmental Sculptures (September 28, 1980 – March 14, 1982)
• New York/New Wave (February 15 – April 5, 1981)
• The Knot: Arte Povera at P.S. 1 (October 6 – December 15, 1985)
• James Turrell: Meeting (October 26, 1986 – [ongoing])
• John McCracken: Heroic Stance, A Survey of Sculpture 1965–1986 (October 26 – December 26, 1986)
• Michelangelo Pistoletto: Division and Multiplication of the Mirror (October 2 – November 27, 1988)
• Franz West (1989)
• David Hammons: Rousing the Rubble, 1969 – 1990 (December 16, 1990 – February 10, 1991)
• Dennis Oppenheim: And the Mind Grew Fingers (December 8, 1991 – February 9, 1992)
• Jack Smith: Flaming Creature (October 29, 1997 – March 1, 1998)
• Gordon Matta-Clark: Reorganizing Structure by Drawing Through It (April 26 – August 30, 1998)
• Inside Out: New Chinese Art (1998)
• Minimalia: An Italian Vision in 20th Century Art (October 10, 1999 – January 9, 2000)
• Children of Berlin: Cultural Developments 1989 – 1999 (November 7, 1999 – January 2, 2000)
• Greater New York (February 27 – May 30, 2000)
• Disasters of War: Goya, Henry Darger, Jake and Dinos Chapman (November 19, 2000 – February 25, 2001)
• Janet Cardiff: A Survey of Works (October 14, 2001 – January 31, 2002)
• Mexico City: An Exhibition about the Exchange Rates of Bodies and Values (June 30 – September 10, 2002)
• Roth Time: A Dieter Roth Retrospective (March 12 – June 7, 2004)
• Katharina Sieverding: Close Up (October 24, 2004 – January 23, 2005)
• Peter Hujar (October 23, 2005 – April 10, 2006)
• Into Me/Out of Me (June 25 – September 25, 2006)
• WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution (February 17 – May 12, 2008)
• Lutz Bacher My Secret Life (February 12 – September 14, 2009)
• September 11 (September 11, 2011 – January 9, 2012)
• Mike Kelley (October 13, 2013 – February 2, 2014)
• James Lee Byars: 1/2 an Autobiography (June 15 – September 7, 2014)
• Maria Lassnig (March 9 – September 7, 2014)
• Anne Imhof: DEAL (January 31 – March 9, 2015)
• Greater New York (October 11, 2015 – March 7, 2016)
• Vito Acconci: Where Are We Now (Who Are We Anyway) (June 19 – September 18, 2016)
• Mark Leckey: Containers and Their Drivers (October 23, 2016 – March 5, 2017)
• Carolee Schneemann: Kinetic Painting (October 22, 2017 – March 11, 2018)
• Fernando Palma Rodríguez: In Ixtli in Yollotl, We the People (April 15, 2018 – September 9, 2018)
• Bruce Nauman: Disappearing Acts (October 21, 2018 – February 25, 2019)
• Marking Time: Art in the Age of Mass Incarceration (September 17, 2020 – April 04, 2021)
• Niki de Saint Phalle: Structures for Life (March 11, 2021 – September 6, 2021)

Young Architects Program

The Young Architects Program was an annual contest where young architects designed ideas for MoMA PS1’s courtyard. The winning design was built and used for the Warm Up music series. The program stopped in late 2019 and MoMA PS1 said it would use a new series called Architecture Now starting in 2023 to share new architectural ideas.

Winners of the Young Architects Program include:

• 1998 – untitled? by Gelitin
• 1999 – DJ Pavilion by Philip Johnson
• 2000 – Dunescape by SHoP Architects
• 2001 – Summer Oasis by ROY (principal Lindy Roy)
• 2002 – Playa Urbana / Urban Beach by William E. Massie
• 2003 – Light-Wing by EMERGENT (principal, Tom Wiscombe)
• 2004 – Canopy by nARCHITECTS (principals, Eric Bunge and Mimi Hoang)
• 2005 – SUR by Xefirotarch (principal, Hernan Diaz Alonso)
• 2006 – BEATFUSE! by Obra Architects
• 2007 – Liquid Sky by Ball-Nogues Studio
• 2008 – Public Farm 1 by WorkAC (principals, Amale Andraos and Dan Wood)
• 2009 – Afterparty by MOS Architects (principals, Michael Meredith and Hilary Sample)
• 2010 – Pole Dance by Solid-Objectives – Idenburg Liu
• 2011 – Holding Pattern by Interboro Partners & WHATAMI by stARTT (MAXXI, Rome)
• 2012 – Wendy by HWKN (principals, Matthias Hollwich and Marc Kushner)
• 2013 – Party Wall by CODA (principal, Caroline O'Donnell)
• 2014 – Hy-Fi by The Living (principal, David Benjamin)
• 2015 – COSMO by Andrés Jaque
• 2016 – Weaving the Courtyard by Escobedo Soliz Studio
• 2017 – Lumen by Jenny Sabin Studio
• 2018 – Hide & Seek by Dream the Combine

Warm Up

Warm Up is a summer music event at MoMA PS1. It used to be held inside the special buildings made for the Young Architects Program but moved online for a short time in 2020. It returned to the courtyard in 2021. The music, buildings, and exhibitions create a fun experience for everyone.

Warm Up started in 1997 as a summer dance party to bring new visitors to MoMA PS1. It happens every Saturday from July to early September and attracts many people each day.

The series features many famous DJs and musicians from around the world.

Long-term installations

MoMA PS1 has several special art pieces placed around the building, including:

• A large outdoor dome used for exhibitions
• Works by artists like Richard Artschwager, Richard Serra, Alan Saret, and James Turrell, among others, placed in various spots throughout the museum

Management

MoMA PS1 is led by chairwoman Agnes Gund. In 2010, the board of directors included artists like Cindy Sherman and Mickalene Thomas, along with other art experts and collectors. In 2020, some artists asked the museum to remove two people from the board because of their past investments. The museum gets some of its money from the city of New York. Exhibitions are paid for by special donations from supporters of the museum.