Museum Monday: New Museum of Contemporary Art
The face of the Bowery changed forever on December 1, 2007 when the New Museum of Contemporary Art reopened its doors to the public after a massive relocation to the Bowery. Since its conception in 1977, the museum has become the most relevant institution with regards to contemporary art, hosting a rotation of temporary and ongoing exhibitions that feature internationally renown and emerging artists.
The building, designed by Japanese firm SANAA, has received major recognition this year from Conde Nast Traveler when it was named one of the “New Seven Wonders of the Architectural World.” You can’s miss it as you walk down 
Bowery, a stack of metal mesh boxes with the rainbow “Hell Yes” sign is a beacon to gentrification in the once-seedy Lower East Side.
But the museum has been met with its fare share of criticism as well. It has been said that three floors of exhibition space simply isn’t enough for the world’s premier contemporary art museum and even people are saying “Hell, No” to Ugo Rondinone’s “Hell, Yes” on the exterior.
Free 45-minute docent-led public tours are available to visitors with museum admission. Current exhibitions as well as the building’s architecture are discussed in the tours. Tours are conducted on Wednesday and Thursday at 2pm, Friday at 2 and 7pm, and Saturday and Sunday at 2 and 4pm.
Location: 235 Bowery (map) 212-219-1222
Subway: F, V to 2nd Avenue-Lower East Side; J, M, Z to Bowery; 6 to Spring Street
Hours: Wednesday 12-6pm; Thursday and Friday Noon-10pm; Saturday and Sunday 12-6pm. Closed Monday and Tuesday.
Cost: Adults $12; Seniors $8; Students $6; 18 and under Free. Free admission every Thursday evening from 7-10pm.
The weekly “Museum Monday” posts celebrate the over 100 museums that are in New York’s five boroughs. Check out last week’s Museum Monday post on the New York Transit Museum. Museum Monday continues next week with a post on the Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art.
Photo credits: personal collection
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