NEW YORK, NY.- Lisa Phillips, Toby Devan Lewis Director, and James Keith Brown, President, announced today that the New Museum is launching an $80 million capital campaign to mark both the Museum’s fortieth anniversary and its tenth year on the Bowery. The campaign, which will support expansion and growth of Museum programs and more than double the endowment, has already received $43 million in lead gifts from several members of the Board of Trustees.

Toby Devan Lewis, Vice President, and longtime Museum Trustee, launched the campaign with the first gift, the largest in the Museum’s history. Trustee Gael Neeson and Stefan Edlis have made a lead gift to name the Artistic Director’s position, a post currently held by Massimiliano Gioni. In addition, Lonti Ebers, Shelley and Phil Aarons, James Keith Brown and Eric Diefenbach, Mitzi and Warren Eisenberg, Susan and Leonard Feinstein, Charlotte Feng Ford, David and Hermine Heller, and Joan and Charles Lazarus, have all made initial lead gifts.

“We are thrilled to receive this remarkable support from our Board as the Museum prepares to celebrate two milestone anniversaries,” said Lisa Phillips. “Our Trustees’ confidence in the New Museum’s future and in its role as an agent of change in the world of contemporary culture inspires and sustains us as we continue to grow, challenge conventions, and redefine what a museum can be in the twenty-first century.”

Founded in 1977 as a one-room operation with a staff of three, the New Museum of Contemporary Art is now a leading international cultural destination with an annual operating budget of $13 million and a staff of 135. The Museum is known for its highly acclaimed exhibitions, including its Triennial that focuses on early-career artists from around the world; its educational and community initiatives; its innovative satellite programs and international partnerships; and its landmark building designed by Pritzker Prize–winning architecture firm SANAA. Over the past decade, the New Museum has experienced unprecedented growth, more than quadrupling its budget and revenue. In addition, the Museum now greets more than 400,000 visitors annually while connecting to an audience of more than two million people through its online and off-site projects.

The New Museum’s exhibition program has become world-renowned as one of the best in the contemporary arena, building on the Museum’s long history of giving artists their first major museum exposure. In recent years, the Museum has staged stellar exhibitions of work by Paweł Althamer, Lynda Benglis, Chris Burden, Urs Fischer, Mary Heilmann, Carsten Höller, Chris Ofili, Elizabeth Peyton, and Rosemarie Trockel. These shows have added to the Museum’s distinctive history of presenting the first United States museum shows for such distinguished artists as John Baldesarri, Marlene Dumas, Hans Haacke, William Kentridge, Jeff Koons, Paul McCarthy, Cildo Meireles, Ana Mendieta, Adrian Piper, Martin Puryear, Carolee Schneemann, David Wojnarowicz, and Martin Wong, among many others.

“At nearly forty, and after nine exciting years on the Bowery, the New Museum has radically transformed itself while remaining true to its ethos: it is a nimble, fast, and interventionist institution with an experimental attitude—not a temple where history is celebrated, but a powerhouse where ideas are tested, canons are questioned, and art is seen as a lens through which to understand society,” said Massimiliano Gioni, Edlis Neeson Artistic Director.

The New Museum has also distinguished itself through several innovative civic and entrepreneurial platforms that are now emulated around the world. Among these are IdeasCity, which fosters visionary urban action by connecting creative communities with policymakers; technology affiliate Rhizome’s Seven on Seven conference, which pairs top artists with leading technologists to create new works; NEW INC, the first museum-led incubator for creatives working at the intersection of art, technology, and design; and Museum as Hub, a program for exchange and collaboration between international arts institutions. These new models have advanced partnerships, community action, and research and development while creating a new paradigm for a future-forward museum in a new century.

The New Museum organizes diverse education and engagement initiatives for its local community, including in-depth school programs, an experimental study program for high school students, summer apprenticeships for teens, professional development seminars for teachers, partnerships with community organizations, family arts activities, and the Bowery Artist Tribute and Digital Archive. The institution has served as an anchor in the community, bringing diverse constituents together, including local artists, residents, educators, and cultural organizations.

After nearly a decade on the Bowery, during which visitation has grown by 400 percent and the number of people served by its programs has grown 4,000 percent, the New Museum is bursting at the seams. Renovating its adjacent property at 231 Bowery will provide additional space for programs while adding urgently needed office and support spaces. The expansion effort will ultimately enable the Museum to double its exhibition galleries, expand educational initiatives, improve circulation, add more public amenities, and improve the visitor experience.

“With our fortieth anniversary approaching, the New Museum is preparing for our next step as a pioneer for new models in the cultural arena,” said James Keith Brown. “We will expand into our adjacent building, further grow our global exhibitions and programs, and continue to lead in distinctive technology initiatives. The Museum’s energy and creativity will enable us to explore how we can further advance our founding tenets and our mission of ‘New Art, New Ideas.’”