Historic Building in New York’s Upper West Side to Become New Permanent Home for Aperture
Opening summer 2024, the new space will become a hub for public engagement and collaboration with flexible spaces for programming and re-imagined office and production areas.
Building exterior of 380 Columbus Avenue
Aperture’s Board of Trustees today announced plans for two floors of a historic building in the heart of New York’s Upper West Side to become the organization’s new permanent home. Located at 380 Columbus Avenue, the building situates Aperture at the nexus of a vibrant residential neighborhood and bustling tourist destination—across from the American Museum of Natural History and blocks from the New-York Historical Society and Central Park—providing access to a wider spectrum of local and international audiences than ever in the organization’s history.
Featuring a new ground floor entrance and expansive street presence, the building enables Aperture to expand its reach and strengthen the impact of its initiatives, which demonstrate the power of photography to spark curiosity and enhance understanding of the world and each other. Two floors, encompassing 10,000 square feet of the 1886 building, will be repurposed as a hub for collaboration and convening, and a site for public engagement with Aperture’s quarterly magazine, books, and prints.
Aperture has engaged award-winning architecture practice LEVENBETTS to design flexible spaces for public programming and small-scale installations, the Aperture bookstore, and re-imagined office and production spaces for Aperture’s robust publishing program, while retaining the building’s historic character. Visitors will be able to see directly into several of Aperture’s work spaces, fostering transparency and giving audiences a window into the organization’s activities.
Courtesy Landmark West
Marking its 70th anniversary this year, Aperture has been located for nearly two decades in a fourth-floor space in Chelsea, where the organization has mounted exhibitions and public programs; published Aperture magazine and countless acclaimed photobooks; and hosted its bookstore and limited-edition print program. The acquisition and design of its new ground floor home is funded in part through the early phase of a capital campaign which laid the groundwork for phase two of the campaign, set to launch in the coming months. The acquisition was spearheaded by Cathy Kaplan, Chair of Aperture’s Board, Helen Nitkin, Chair of the Board’s Real Estate Committee, and Sarah Meister, who was named Executive Director of Aperture in 2021.
The announcement comes on the eve of Aperture’s 70th anniversary celebration this fall, marked by the release of a special 70th anniversary issue of Aperture magazine; 70 different limited-edition photographs available to collectors by some of the most celebrated and influential photographers in the history of the medium, each with a special tie to Aperture; and Aperture’s fall gala on Monday, October 17, in New York, to be hosted by Board Chair Cathy Kaplan, Executive Director Sarah Meister, and Gala Co-chairs Helen Nitkin, Aperture Trustee, Yesim Philip, CEO & Creative Director at L’Etoile Sport, Kara Ross, award-winning jewelry designer, and Antwaun Sargent, independent writer, curator, and critic.
“As we celebrate Aperture’s 70th anniversary, our new permanent home provides a rock-solid foundation for the next 70 years,” said Cathy Kaplan, Chair of Aperture’s Board of Trustees. “I am grateful to the leadership and vision of Helen Nitkin, our entire Board of Trustees, and Sarah Meister in cementing Aperture’s distinct position as a convenor, community builder, and publisher that has advanced the medium of photography for seven decades.”
Kwame S. Brathwaite, Aperture Trustee, adds: “Aperture has been absolutely pivotal over its long history in nurturing artists and creating visible platforms for their practices that broaden understanding of their work and of photography more broadly. I’ve seen this first hand through my father Kwame Brathwaite and his own practice. This new permanent home for Aperture strengthens its ability to advance this important work for many more decades.”
“Aperture has long been an anchor for the photography community, not just in New York but globally. Our permanent commitment to the Upper West Side and a highly visible ground floor space signals a renewed, long-term vision for Aperture’s future as we move into our eighth decade—one that recognizes Aperture’s critical role in fostering collaboration and bringing together the array of artists, writers, institutions, and enthusiasts that are transformed by photography every day,” said Sarah Meister, Aperture executive director. “In addition to serving as a hub for the photography community in New York, Aperture will continue to engage audiences around the world through collaborative programming outside of our space—an approach we see as key to the ongoing impact of the organization.”
In its new home, Aperture’s exhibition program will be comprised of focused presentations. Extending the organization’s reach beyond its New York space, Aperture will also continue its recent history of collaborations with major institutional partners to mount large-scale exhibitions and programming. Recent partnerships include the Aperture-organized exhibitions Black Is Beautiful: The Photography of Kwame Brathwaite, currently on view at the New-York Historical Society; As We Rise: Photography from the Black Atlantic on view at the Art Museum at the University of Toronto; The New Black Vanguard: Photography between Art and Fashion, curated by Antwaun Sargent and on view at Fotografiska, Sweden; Prison Nation, curated by Nicole Fleetwood and Michael Famighetti, on view at the Albin O. Kuhn Gallery, University of Maryland, Baltimore County; and Orlando, curated by Tilda Swinton, expanding on her role as guest editor for an issue of Aperture magazine, opening at C/O Berlin on September 17.
Read more about Aperture’s new permanent home on the New York Times.
