Bringing Art Into Every Corner of Our Community
This year marked a milestone for the Princeton University Art Museum: our first full year in our new building, and with it, a renewed commitment to welcoming both our local community and visitors from around the world. The Museum extended its reach far beyond its galleries, forging partnerships and programs inspired by the Museum’s collections that opened the doors to new audiences near and far.
One of the year’s most powerful collaborations was with the Stoutsburg Sourland African American Museum and the Museum’s Student Advisory Board for “Resist, Reclaim, Restore: An Open Mic,” a program that celebrated spoken word as art, activism, and survival. Featuring acclaimed poets alongside the Princeton University student groups Ellipses Slam Poetry, Songline Slam, and ForWord Collective, the event underscored the Museum’s commitment to amplifying diverse voices and honoring the traditions that shape our shared history, right here in our own backyard. Artists focused on works from the collections, including Nick Cave’s Soundsuit (2013), Titus Kaphar’s To Be Sold (2018), and Mario Moore’s Center of Creation (Michael) (2019), to name a few. Community celebration also took center stage at the Princeton African Student Association’s sold-out “SANKOFA26: The Reclamation,” a fashion showcase that fused Pan-African culture and creativity in a joyful reclamation of space. Students engaged with works from the Museum’s collection of African art to inspire their fashion creations.
Photo: Tori Repp
We also welcomed the Princeton University Grad Scholars Program for “Sip and See,” an evening that gave graduate students the chance to view the new building and galleries, take part in hands-on art making, and enjoy light bites and wine. And in partnership with the Princeton Public Library, we hosted an adult summer reading kick-off and pop-up talk, where Curator of Ancient Mediterranean Art Carolyn Laferrière gave a talk before attendees explored the galleries and registered for the library’s “Unearth a Story” summer reading challenge.
Photo: Joseph Hu.joseph@josephhu.net.215-868-1018
Families found new ways to connect with the Museum as well. Following Princeton University’s fourth-annual “Spring into Science” outreach event—geared to engage 4th–10th-grade students and their families with the University’s science research community—we invited more than 750 families to continue their STEAM exploration at the Museum, with an afternoon of hands-on art making, behind-the-scenes conservation tours, and gallery visits. And through the Art + Math Program Celebration, hosted in partnership with the Olivia and Leslie Foundation, students ages four to seven transformed logic into imagination through geometry-inspired collages and symmetry paintings, having learned about various artworks from the collections throughout the course of their program.
Photo: Tori Repp/Fotobuddy
Our K–12 outreach also flourished this year, deepening our connections to the local community. Through the Museum’s audience-centered approach, rooted in close looking, active engagement, and inquiry-based discovery, we welcomed thirty-eight camp groups and 1,299 campers and students, among many others, for a range of art-inspired programs. We also continued our partnership with the Princeton University Preparatory Program (PUPP), offering PUPP’s Summer Institute students a summer art curriculum exploring cyanotypes, abstraction in sculpture and ceramic art, collaborative pattern and textile design, and more—all grounded in artworks from the collections. In total, we engaged visitors from across the region, drawing on our globe-spanning collections, from ancient to contemporary, to spark curiosity in learners of all ages.
The Museum’s flagship Summer Academy Program, now in its fourth year, continued to make a lasting local impact, offering students from Trenton and Ewing High Schools an immersive, two-week introduction to careers in art museums and the visual arts. Working alongside mentors, artists, and professionals from Princeton University and the surrounding region, students explored themes of identity and power through close engagement with original works of art, culminating in capstone projects that showcased their growth as young thinkers and creators.
As this first year in the new building comes to a close, it has become clear that the Museum’s impact stretches well beyond Princeton’s borders. Global perspectives found a home in local programming, and local voices found a platform to connect with the wider world. Looking ahead, these partnerships have laid a strong foundation for continued growth. Initiatives like the Nassau Street Sampler and expanded Creativity Labs programming promise to deepen these connections even further, ensuring the Museum remains, now more than ever, a true place of belonging, locally rooted and globally minded, for all who walk through our doors.
