American Folk Art Museum to Open Queens Annex

Although the American Folk Art Museum‘s (AFAM) former home is about to be demolished by the Museum of Modern Art (see artnet News report), the museum has announced plans to expand, opening a Queens annex to store its collection and library, in addition to providing additional exhibition space, reports the Art Newspaper.

The new location will be in Long Island City, near the LaGuardia Performing Arts Center and MoMA QNS, the institution’s by-appointment-only storage and archive satellite.

AFAM was forced to sell its midtown flagship, designed in 2001 by Tod Williams and Billie Tsien (who recently spoke out against the decision to destroy the building in the New York Times) to MoMA in 2011.

Since then the downsized institution has operated out of its smaller Lincoln Center space, which first opened in 1989. As of right now, the museum has no plans to expand its Manhattan footprint.