NYAB Venue - The Bronx Museum of the Arts

The Bronx Museum of the Arts (BxMA)

Museum in The Harlem, Bronx area

The Bronx Museum of the Arts (BxMA) is re-envisioning the role of museums in contemporary society: it addresses the changing needs of its diverse constituencies, while standing at the forefront of scholarly discourse, museum practices, and innovative public programs. As such, BxMA is recognized as "an important player in shaping New York art of both the present and the future" (The New York Times).

The Bronx Museum was founded in 1971 by a group of local residents to bring the visual arts to the Bronx. It has remained the only fine art museum in the Bronx. In its first decade, it was housed in the public rotunda of the Bronx County Courthouse located on Grand Concourse and 161st Street. In 1982, it moved five blocks north on the Concourse to 165th street into a former synagogue purchased and donated by the City of New York.

BxMA’s permanent collection is unique in its focus on contemporary art by artists of African, Asian, and Latin American descent. Initiated in 1986, BxMA's collection policy demonstrates an ongoing commitment to exhibit, preserve, and document the work of artists not typically represented within more traditional museum collections. In 2000 it was expanded to include artists who have live(d) and/or work(ed) in the Bronx and for whom the Bronx has been critical to their artistic development. The collection is composed of more than 800 contemporary works of art in all media, conveying a broad range of modern and contemporary art practices.