Press Room

Museum Will be Open Six Days A Week Throughout Summer

Attendance Reaches Nearly 300,000 Visitors and 3,500 New Members since Opening, Exceeding Projections

New York, NY (June 1, 2009)

The Museum of Arts and Design announced today that due to an overwhelmingly positive response to its new home and programming it will extend its opening hours by an additional day per week. The Museum will now be open on Tuesdays from 11:00am to 6:00pm, from June 2 to September 8, 2009. Since opening its new home at 2 Columbus Circle last September, the Museum has welcomed nearly 300,000 visitors, including first-time visitors from throughout the region as well as cultural tourists from around the world, and has grown its membership to include 3,500 new members.

"In these tough economic times, cultural institutions are more important than ever for New York City's residents, visitors and artists," remarked Cultural Affairs Commissioner Kate D. Levin. "MAD's extraordinary attendance milestone demonstrates the strength of innovative, engaging exhibitions and programs, and a staff that is profoundly committed to maximizing the potential of MAD's iconic new home."

"The public has shown great enthusiasm for our new home, which has allowed us to mount an expanded schedule of special exhibitions and programs. We are happy to accommodate the great demand and will keep the doors to the Museum open another day of the week. The additional open Tuesdays will allow more New Yorkers and visitors to come and enjoy our Museum," says Holly Hotchner, the Museum's Nanette A. Laitman Director.

In its new home, the Museum has been able to expand its public offerings to serve a broader and more diverse audience, and has received a tremendously positive response from visitors. Since its opening last September, the Museum has served nearly 6,000 school children from over 200 New York City public schools, 10 times the number of last year. The quality and diversity of the Museum's public programs, featuring film premiers, panel discussions and performances, brought over 7,000 visitors to the Museum's new 145-seat theater space, increasing its outreach 20 times from last year. In addition, the Museum has collaborated with a range of distinguished artists and designers, allowing visitors to watch, learn and hear from such luminaries as musician Wynton Marsalis, authors Salman Rushdie and Adam Gopnik, designers Karim Rashid, Hella Jongerius, Jonathan Adler and Paula Scher and artists Marek Cecula and Klaus Moje among others.

Since opening, the Museum has been acknowledged with numerous awards, including: the prestigious Merit Award from the AIA New York, honoring architect Brad Cloepfil's (AWA) design of the new building; and graphic design from the Art Directors Club and the Association of American Museums. The Arts & Business Council honored the Museum with an Encore Award for its outstanding corporate partnership with Steelcase Inc. and The Store at MAD was named "Retail Store of the Year" by Chain Store Age.

Forming one of the largest cultural partnership programs in the country, the Museum has built a number of successful partnerships with organizations including Lincoln Center Institute, AIA Center for Architecture, Creative Capital, Performa, American Place Theater, Young Audiences, Cool Culture, and many others, reaching new audiences and increasing its visitor base.

A special program, In Print/In Process, has established a fruitful partnership with American Craft magazine, presenting a new series of artist talks and studio demonstrations at the Museum's Open Studios that showcases artists featured in the magazine. Visitors hear directly from the artist, and experience their materials and processes first-hand.

Events hosted at the Museum include The Masters of Design Event for Fast Company Magazine; the Eighth Annual MIAAC Film Festival; a book signing and concert for Satchmo: The Wonderful World and Art of Louis Armstrong with special guest Wynton Marsalis; product launches for COTY/Sally Hansen, TechnoMarine Watches and Volkswagen; cocktail receptions for Tiffany and Co., Jaquet Droz and First Republic National Bank; and a Saloni Press Event by Material ConneXion/Culture and Commerce.

One of its most successful programs is the Museum's Open Studios program, a behind-the-scenes view of the artistic practice. Every day artists work actively on a project in materials such as ceramics, fiber, mixed media, glass and metals. Open Studios also feature special demonstrations by artists exhibiting work in the Museum's galleries.

The Museum also offers online, interactive programs with audio and video clips and photos for many of its public programs. The Museum's online collection database (http://collections.madmuseum.org), which documents all of the artists and works in MAD's permanent holdings, offers visitors a virtual experience of its collection. Included in the database are images of objects, artist's interviews, catalogues of works, and libraries of video techniques. The Museum's online database serves as an important complement to the objects on view, inviting visitors to understand and appreciate the history behind, and the importance of each work in the Museum's collection.

ABOUT THE MUSEUM OF ARTS AND DESIGN

The Museum of Arts and Design explores how craftsmanship, art, and design intersect in the visual arts today. The Museum focuses on contemporary creativity and the ways in which artists and designers from around the world transform materials through processes ranging from the handmade to cutting edge technologies.

The Museum's exhibition program explores and illuminates issues and ideas, highlights creativity and craftsmanship, and celebrates the limitless potential of materials and techniques when used by creative and innovative artists. MAD's permanent collection is global in scope and focuses on art, craft, and design from 1950 to the present day.

At the center of the Museum's mission is education. The Museum's dynamic new facility features classrooms and studios for master classes, seminars, and workshops for students, families and adults. Three open artist studios engage visitors in the creative processes of artists at work and enhance the exhibition programs. Lectures, films, performances and symposia related to the Museum's collection and topical subjects affecting the world of contemporary art, craft and design are held in a renovated 150-seat auditorium.