Queens Museum

History

The structure was built to house the New York City Pavilion at the 1939 World's Fair. From 1946 to 1950 it housed the General Assembly of the newly formed United Nations. In preparation for the 1964 World's Fair the New York City Building was again renovated. The building once again housed the New York City Pavilion and the most dramatic display there was the Panorama of the City of New York, which remains in the building and open to the public as part of the Museum's collection. In 1972 the north side of the New York City Building was handed to the Queens Museum of Art. Almost twenty years after it opened, the Museum undertook its first major renovation. In the near future, the Museum will begin a second renovation; it will double in size by expanding into the south side of the New York City Building. The architects for this new expansion are Grimshaw/Ammann and Whitney.

Specialties

Mission: The Queens Museum of Art is dedicated to presenting the highest quality visual arts and educational programming for people in the New York metropolitan area, and particularly for the residents of Queens, a uniquely diverse ethnic, cultural and international community. The Queens Museum of Art presents artistic and educational programs and exhibitions that directly relate to the contemporary urban life of its constituents while maintaining the highest standards of professional, intellectual, and ethical responsibility. Besides hosting exciting contemporary art exhibitions, we house the Panorama of the City of New York. Built by Robert Moses for the 1964 World's Fair, in part as a celebration of the City's municipal infrastructure, this 9,335 square foot architectural model includes every single building constructed before 1992 in all five boroughs; that is a total of 895,000 individual structures.