A rented loft space. A former bank. A temporary site two blocks away. Since 1968, the Studio Museum in Harlem has made art history in spaces designed for everything but art. But this fall, after a landmark $300 million capital campaign led by its director and chief curator, Thelma Golden, the museum will open its first purpose-built space—an 82,000-square-foot building on West 125th Street in New York.

Initially located above a liquor store, the Studio Museum was founded by a group of artists and civic leaders that included its first director, Charles E. Inniss, to showcase the work of artists of African descent, many of whom were marginalized in or excluded by mainstream institutions—and to create a new one that reflected the vibrancy and complexity of the neighborhood in Harlem.

The Studio Museum’s new building on 125th Street, designed by Adjaye Associates in collaboration with the architectural firm Cooper Robertson and set to open this fall. The museum’s first purpose-built facility includes more than double the exhibition and studio space of the previous building, with additional dedicated areas for performance, educational, and public programs.

Beginning with the show “Electronic Refractions II,” surveying the work of conceptual artist and sculptor Tom Lloyd, the Studio Museum became known for its groundbreaking exhibitions and, later, its vaunted artist-in-residence program. Its cultural influence has been far-reaching, having served as an early platform for artists such as David Hammons, Kerry James Marshall, Glenn Ligon, and Simone Leigh. Its ambitious “F” series of themed group shows—“Freestyle” (2001), “Frequency” (2005), “Flow” (2008), “Fore” (2012), and “Fictions” (2017)—featured the work of then-rising stars like Rashid Johnson and Mickalene Thomas.

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