MoMA PS1

PS1’s idiosyncratic spaces have long had their challenges alongside their charm. In 1997, a campus-wide renovation included the creation of a large outdoor courtyard. Here, two signature programs launched: Warm Up summer music series (established in 1998) connects fans to innovative and experimental music; and the Young Architects Program (1999–2019), a collaboration with MoMA that invited architects and designers to create experimental public environments. In summer 2020—a time ripe with questions of gathering in an era of social distancing—PS1 embarked on a series of public facing and closed door programs centered around the courtyard to tackle critical questions around the role of cultural institutions and civic space, imagining new urban ecologies today.