MoMA Plans To Move To Queens Next Summer

Queens cultural institutions are expected to receive a new influx of weekend visitors due to Queens Artlink bus service, a recent initiative involving the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), four of the boroughs cultural hot spots and Councilman Walter McCaffrey.
The new service also will come in handy when the MoMA moves from its Manhattan residence to Queens in the summer of 2002.
At the end of June 2002, The Museum of Modern Art will relocate its exhibition program to MoMA QNS, its $65 million new multi-use arts facility at 33rd Street and Queens Blvd. in Long Island City when its Midtown Manhattan building undergoes construction and renovation. The building for the new facility is under construction.
"The groundbreaking ceremony was on May 10," said Maile Rodriguez, the MoMA spokesperson. "The work is under way."
According to Rodriguez, choosing Queens as an alternate home for the MoMA was a natural decision.
"We already used the location for storage and conservation," Rodriguez told The Queens Courier. "We did shop around looking for a temporary location for the time of renovation, but nothing turned out to be better than the [LIC location]."
The MoMA will celebrate the opening of its Queens location with an installation of masterpieces from its permanent collection, including Vincent van Goghs "Starry Night" (1889), Pablo Picassos "Les Demoiselles dAvignon" (1907) and Andy Warhols "Gold Marilyn Monroe" (1962), among other priceless pieces of 20th century art. The exhibit, called Collection Highlights, will inaugurate the new galleries in the Long Island City facility – a former Swingline factory – in the summer of 2002.
While the new facility, when finished, will be completely equipped to handle both the conservation and exhibition duties, the MoMA currently has no plans to keep any type of exhibit there once the renovation work at the Manhattan location is completed in early 2005.
"Were not sure," Rodriguez said when asked whether the MoMA QNS will house exhibits in 2005. "Well probably move our conservation lab there permanently, but other than that, no plans have been made."
The success of the Artlink Shuttle Service may change the museums plans for the future.
The shuttle service will use two shuttle buses every Sat. and Sun. to connect the MoMA in Manhattan with P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center, the Isamu Noguchi Garden Museum, Socrates Sculpture Park and the American Museum of the Moving Image. The buses will operate on two routes, the first one running between the MoMA and P.S. 1 every hour on the half-hour and the second one doing an hourly circuit stopping at all four destinations in Queens. Anyone wishing to use the buses will be able to do so at no charge. The service will operate from 11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
The shuttle service is a fruit of almost four years of labor by the New York State Council on the Arts, the Arts & Business Council the City of New York and Walter McCaffrey, Councilman for the 26th District in Woodside.
"The idea of such a service was a longstanding proposal," McCaffrey told The Queens Courier. "At the time it was first proposed, Giulianis administration played with it for a while and dismissed it for the lack of funds."
The plan floundered until the Isamu Noguchi Garden Museum was able to secure a grant from a private sources. McCaffrey allocated an additional $100,000 from his district budget to make the shuttle service a reality.
"The biggest difficulty for both New Yorkers and tourists in all the boroughs is the lack of available transportation [between the points of interest]," McCaffrey said. "Were hoping that the Artlink service will be a step to solving this problem."
McCaffrey added there is a possibility of adding more buses if the service proves to be a success.
"Well see what the initial outlook is before deciding on the expansion of services," he said. "It is possible that my successor will have to deal with this." McCaffrey is serving his last term in the City Council.
Rodriguez said no additional buses are scheduled for the future.
"We have seen a big turnout for the service, mainly because of the press coverage it received – and after all, its a free service," Rodriguez said. "But we have no new buses scheduled to go on the route any time soon."
MoMA director Glenn Lowry expressed hope that both Manhattan and Queens will benefit from the new shuttle service.
"We are delighted to provide our visitors with access to the dynamic Queens cultural scene, thanks in large part to Councilman McCaffrey and the City of New York. We hope that visitors and residents alike will take advantage of this free, easy and comfortable ride to explore some of the cultural riches of the borough."
The American Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria houses an important collection of motion picture and television artifacts, presented in its core exhibition, Behind the Screen. The other three stops on the circuit are in Long Island City. P.S. 1, a MoMA affiliate, is one of the worlds most renowned contemporary art institutions. The Isamu Noguchi Garden Museum is the former studio of the Japanese-American sculptor and designer, which has been turned into a peaceful oasis and showcase for over 300 of his creations. Socrates Sculpture Park is the only public space in the metropolitan area devoted to the creation and exhibition of large-scale outdoor sculpture.