Resting along the Hudson River is the new Whitney Museum of American Art that opened up in its new location in the Meatpacking District on Gansevoort Street on May 1st, 2015. It previously was located on Madison Avenue on the Upper East Side. The $720 million dollar museum is a nine floor, 200,000 square-foot building that was designed by Renzo Piano. The Whitney Museum is known for showcasing world-class collections of modern and contemporary American art.
The building itself contains 50,000 square feet of indoor galleries, which is almost double the amount that the Whitney’s Madison Avenue location had. The new Whitney Museum includes: 13,000 square feet of outdoor exhibition, rooftops facing the High Line, an education center with classroom space, a multi-purpose black box theater for film, video and performances, study center, art conservation lab, library and leading room, 170 seat theater with views of the Hudson River, outdoor gathering space and ground floor gallery, a restaurant and café, and a retail shop.
Some of the museums current exhibitions include: America Is Hard To See, Mary Heilmann: Sunset and Michele Abeles: Baby Carriage on Bike or Riot Shield As Carriage. Upcoming exhibitions include: Archibald Motley: Jazz Age Modernist, Jared Madere and Frank Stella: A Retrospective.
The Whitney was founded in 1931 by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney. The museum has an emphasis on 20th and 21st century American art. They have over 21,000 paintings, sculptures and drawings. Over 3,000 artists have their new media pieces on display. The Metropolitan Museum of Art announced in 2011 that they would occupy the previous Madison Avenue building starting in 2015, therefore; the building old location will still be put to good use. The new Whitney Museum celebrated the opening with a ribbon cutting by First Lady Michelle Obama and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.