BxMA - Bronx Museum of the Arts x - Virtual Tour 360°

The Bronx Museum of the Arts (BxMA), also called the Bronx Museum of Art or simply the Bronx Museum, is an American cultural institution located in Concourse, Bronx, New York.

The museum focuses on contemporary and 20th-century works created by American artists, but it has hosted exhibitions of art and design from Latin America, Africa, and Asia. Its permanent collection consists of more than 800 paintings, sculptures, photographs, and works on paper.

The museum is part of the Grand Concourse Historic District.

The Bronx Museum of the Arts was originally opened to try to stir interest in the arts in the Bronx borough and to serve the diverse populations of the area.

The museum opened on May 11, 1971, in a partnership between the Bronx Council on the Arts, which was founded in 1961, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The opening coincided with a borough-wide "Bronx Day" event. The first exhibit consisted of 28 paintings from the Met's collection.

The museum was originally housed in the first floor rotunda (the Veteran's Memorial Hall) of the Bronx County Courthouse, converted using $77,000 in municipal funds.

Additional galleries were located in the Bronx's Co-op City, Bedford Park, and Allerton neighborhoods, with the Allerton gallery was located in the Beth Abraham Hospital.

In its first 12 years of operation, the museum held over 350 exhibitions. In 1982, the city purchased a vacant synagogue at 165th Street and the Grand Concourse as a new location for the museum.

The new location opened to the public in May 1983, in conjunction with "Bronx Week," which succeeded "Bronx Day."

The new space was inaugurated with an exhibition of twentieth century artwork. It consisted of paintings, photographs, and prints borrowed form the Met. An expansion and renovation was completed in 1988 at the cost of $5.8 million.

In February 2004, construction began on a $19 million expansion project that doubled the museum's size to 33,000 square feet (3,100 m2). The expansion opened in October 2006.

In 2008, a 3,000-square-foot (280 m2) arts center was added to accommodate educational programs for local schoolchildren and their families.

Beginning on March 29, 2012, the museum ceased charging admission for all days, whereas previously, admission was free on Fridays only.

Map: BxMA - Bronx Museum of the Arts x - Virtual Tour 360°