The HARLEM RENAISSANCE

New York's STUDIO MUSEUM IN HARLEM, which will unveil its sparkling new home this fall, has TRANSFORMED the ART WORLD and become a launchpad for boundary-breaking CURATORS and CULTURAL LEADERS.

- SALAMISHAH TILLET

This page, from left, on Legacy Russell: Vest and pants, LORO PIANA. Earrings and bangle, PANDORA. Rings, her own. Boots, SAINT LAURENT. On Jessica Bell Brown: Blazer, DOLCE & GABBANA. Shirt, MCQUEEN. Pants, SIMONE ROCHA. On Naima J. Keith: Dress and earrings, her own. On Eric Booker: Blazer, his own. Shirt, LORO PIANA. Pants, JACQUEMUS. Loafers, PRADA. On Amanda Hunt: Dress, ANONLYCHILD. Earrings, DIOR. Boots, MAISON MARGIELA. On Lauren Haynes: Shirt and skirt, MELITTA BAUMEISTER. Earrings, PANDORA. Shoes, LEMAIRE. On Sandra Jackson-Dumont: Blazer, her own. Blouse and skirt, AKRIS PUNTO. Boots, GIVENCHY BY SARAH BURTON.

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.