The Studio Museum in Harlem now has a book that tells its own story from the start. The Studio Museum in Harlem: A History, edited by Romi Crawford, was published on Tuesday, October 27, 2026, and is distributed by Yale University Press on behalf of the museum. It arrives as the museum on West 125th Street approaches the first anniversary of opening its new building.

According to the publisher, the volume is the first comprehensive account of the institution, which was founded in 1968 by a mix of artists, community activists and philanthropists. Until now, no single publication had set down how the museum came to be and how it grew into the place it is today.

What is inside

The book runs 272 pages and carries 240 color illustrations. It is organized into thematic sections, each anchored by a longer essay. The sections look at three main threads:

  • The founding of the museum in 1968 and the people who started it
  • How the museum built its collection and the exhibitions it has staged over the decades
  • Its work with the surrounding community

Between those essays are shorter pieces drawn from interviews with founding figures. These short texts and monologues focus on specific moments, shows and events in the museum's past, so a reader can move through the history in small, first-person scenes as well as in the longer scholarly chapters.

At the center of the book sits a visual archive laid out as a timeline of ephemera and photographs. The publisher notes that many of these images appear in print for the first time. For anyone who has walked past the museum for years, or who visited the earlier building, the timeline offers a look at flyers, installation views and moments that rarely leave an archive drawer.

Who put it together

Romi Crawford edited the volume. She is a professor of visual and critical studies at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and initiated the Black Arts Movement School Modality and the New Art School Modality. She also has a direct connection to the museum: she previously served as a curator and as director of education at the Studio Museum in Harlem.

The book brings together oral histories from the museum's founding figures with essays by scholars, curators and artists, which gives it both the voices of people who were there and the research of people who study the period.

Price and format

The book is a paperback measuring 7.5 by 10.7 inches. The list price is $45, and the ISBN is 9780300305999. Yale University Press lists it through its own site and through several booksellers, including Barnes and Noble, Bookshop and Powell's. Readers can also order by phone from the press's customer service line at 1-800-233-4830.

Visiting the museum this week

Readers who want to pair the book with a visit have a few options in the coming days. The museum is at 144 West 125th Street, between Malcolm X Boulevard (Lenox Avenue) and Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard. It is open Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Friday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. It is closed to the public on Monday and Tuesday.

  • Friday, October 30, 6 to 8 p.m.: An evening of films by artist and filmmaker Allison Janae Hamilton on the museum's Stoop, followed by a conversation with Harvard scholar and author Imani Perry about storytelling, place and the American South. ASL interpretation will be provided. The museum asks guests to RSVP through its website.
  • Sunday, November 1, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.: Studio Sunday, with free admission for everyone. The day includes a family Storytime at 11:30 a.m., drop-in art making from noon to 4 p.m., a family tour at 1 p.m., and short gallery talks at 12:30, 2 and 4 p.m. Tickets are free but required, and the museum recommends reserving in advance.
  • Sunday, November 15: The museum has scheduled a Studio Sunday marking one year in its new home.

Regular admission is pay what you can, with a suggested price of $16 for adults and $9 for seniors 65 and older, students and visitors with disabilities. Children 16 and under, members, active US military and veterans get in free, and EBT and SNAP cardholders can receive up to four complimentary tickets.

How to get there

The 2 and 3 trains stop at 125th Street on Lenox Avenue, about a block east of the museum. The A, B, C and D trains stop at 125th Street on St. Nicholas Avenue, a short walk west along 125th Street.

The book is available now from Yale University Press and its listed booksellers at $45. Museum tickets can be booked at studiomuseum.org or at the door.

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