Jersey City Museum


Jersey City Museum is an art museum located Jersey City, New Jersey. Its original incarnation was part of the public library and opened in 1901.
It relocated to a new building in 2001, but due to financial difficulties closed in 2010. As of 2018, a new, unaffiliated organization, bearing the name is in the process of preparing a new building at Journal Square.

1901–2000

The Jersey City Museum dates back to 1901, when it was located on the fourth floor of the Jersey City Free Public Library on Jersey Avenue. It remained under the aegis of the Library until 1987, when the Museum Association initiated efforts for the founding of a separate institution. In 1993, the Jersey City Redevelopment Agency donated the building at 350 Montgomery Street. Jersey City historian J. Owen Grundy served five times as the museum's president.

2001–2010

The museum relocated to its new location in 2001.
The cream-colored brick building, a former post office warehouse circa 1929, was renovated for $6.5 million. Designed by architect Charles Gifford of Meyer & Gifford of New York, the interior offered an attractive modern space enhanced by a skylight lobby. The museum holds a collection of 20,000 pieces. The museum consists of offices, a classroom, several galleries, a 152-seat theater, and a gift shop.
Located in the Van Vorst Park section of Downtown, it served a diverse community. The mission of the museum was to serve the community by "maintaining, preserving, and interpreting the region's cultural heritage." In order to stimulate community participation in the visual arts, and to reflect the cultural diversity of New Jersey, the museum gave special attention to the exhibition of contemporary art, and recognized the many visual artists who make their home in New Jersey and the neighboring metropolitan area. The collection includes the large body of work of painter August Will.
Due to financial difficulties and in danger of losing the building, it closed to the general public in December 2010. and was not expected to re-open. The building was purchased by the Jersey City Medical Center in February 2012, to use partially as offices, with the remaining space and theater re-opening as a museum in June.
A 10,000-piece collection, including over 350 works by August Will, remains.

New museum (2018–)

In April 2016, it was announced that the city was considering purchasing a building at Journal Square, then owned by Hudson County Community College. It made the purchase in 2018 and awarded Office of Metropolitan Architecture commission to conceive and design the new space.