--- description: Find out why Studio Museum in Harlem is on TIME’s list of the World’s Greatest Places 2026. title: Studio Museum in Harlem: World's Greatest Places 2026 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt75f96a8719c8016c/69ae91c72c8ca942e5149f62/StudioMuseuminHarlem_WGP_2026.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Mar 12, 2026 # Studio Museum in Harlem New York City by Ronda Racha Penrice  Albert Vecerka—Esto/Courtesy Studio Museum in Harlem Functioning as an inverted stoop, the tiered, 150-seat lobby of the new [Studio Museum in Harlem](https://www.studiomuseum.org/ "undefined") welcomes neighbors and visitors alike off West 125th Street. The seven-story building is the institution’s first purpose-built home since its founding—famously above a liquor store—in 1968\. Designed by Adjaye Associates and Cooper Robertson, the museum reopened last November after seven years of construction. Led by former intern and longtime director Thelma Golden, it functions as both an archive and incubator for Black artists and Black culture. Viewers will find works by trailblazers such as sculptor Elizabeth Catlett and photographer Gordon Parks sharing real estate with former artists-in-residence turned household names like Kehinde Wiley, Mickalene Thomas, and Kerry James Marshall. At 82,000 square feet, the building, inspired by Harlem’s churches, apartments, and street corners, nearly doubles the museum’s gallery space. It also houses artist studios, a library, community meeting rooms, a gift shop stocked with monographs on Black artists, and a rooftop with a cultivated garden from Harlem-based Studio Zewde, planted with African Queen lilies and banana leaves. Studio Museum in Harlem: World’s Greatest Places 2026 ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collection/worlds-greatest-places/2026/studio-museum-harlem/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collection/worlds-greatest-places/2026/studio-museum-harlem/"},"headline":"Studio Museum in Harlem","datePublished":"2026-03-12T10:56:45.401Z","dateModified":"2026-03-12T10:56:45.475Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collection/worlds-greatest-places/2026/studio-museum-harlem/","keywords":["World's Greatest Places","United States","list","franchise"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt75f96a8719c8016c/69ae91c72c8ca942e5149f62/StudioMuseuminHarlem_WGP_2026.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ronda Racha Penrice"}],"creator":"Ronda Racha Penrice","articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt75f96a8719c8016c/69ae91c72c8ca942e5149f62/StudioMuseuminHarlem_WGP_2026.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/worlds-greatest-places/","name":"World's Greatest Places"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collection/worlds-greatest-places/2026/studio-museum-harlem/","name":"Studio Museum in Harlem"}}]}] ```