Studio Museum in Harlem Debuts Testament to Impact and Influence of Black Art

To invite both new and existing audiences to experience the Studio Museum in Harlem’s grand reopening, new building, and inaugural exhibitions, the Museum has launched an integrated marketing campaign celebrating its legacy as the preeminent destination ‘Where Black Art Lives.’

Created in partnership with independent ad agency Lafayette American, strategic and creative brand consultancy Nova Consulting, and independent media agency AKA, the campaign underscores the Studio Museum’s position as an institution that preserves history and is actively shaping the future of contemporary art and culture.

The effort is supported by a short film directed by award-winning director and multidisciplinary artist Mike Carson, and produced by LA-based production company, HPLA. 

The film brings to life a cinematic expression of ‘Where Black Art Lives,’ inviting viewers into the living rhythm of the Studio Museum by capturing its spirit of purpose, connection, and place.

Speaking to LBB, a spokesperson from HPLA said, "This spot felt deeply aligned with our mission as a production company. When this opportunity was presented, we were excited to be involved because it is important to us to produce work for institutions that shape the cultural narrative, specifically those rooted in a history as rich and abundant as Harlem, New York, with potent revolutionary origins. The civil and artistic origins of the city spoke deeply to us."

^{Image credit: Shirt}

The film will run on CTV, social, and digital, and will be featured at community events throughout the Museum’s reopening period.

Since its founding in 1968, the Studio Museum has been both a cultural anchor and a catalyst for change, nurturing generations of groundbreaking artists, including Simone Leigh, Wangechi Mutu, Julie Mehretu, Adam Pendleton, Titus Kaphar, Chakaia Booker, and Kerry James Marshall. The reopening welcomes the public into the museum’s first purpose-built home, designed by Adjaye Associates with Cooper Robertson serving as executive architect, and re-establishes the Studio Museum as a vital space for reflection, inspiration, and connection in Harlem and beyond.

Expanding on the Museum’s ‘Where Black Art Lives’ tagline, the campaign features evocative rotating statements — ‘Where Black Art Uplifts,’ ‘Where Black Art Imagines,’ ‘Where Black Art Transforms,’ ‘Where Black Art Innovates,’ and so on. Executions are paired with nearly 30 artworks from the Museum’s permanent collection, inviting audiences to reflect on the ever-expanding, boundary-breaking dimensions of Black art.

“We wanted the campaign to reflect the depth, diversity, and vitality of Black artistic expression,” Cass Cruz, chief strategist and co-founder of Nova Consulting said. Continued Emily Siegel, president and partner of Lafayette American, “Our role was to help translate the Museum’s mission into a creative language that feels both expansive and deeply human—capturing the spirit of the Studio Museum as a living, evolving home for Black art and the stories it continues to inspire.”

​The campaign comes to life across powerful out-of-home placements throughout New York, including landmark billboards on 125th Street, Penn Plaza and Citi Field, taxi toppers, subway boards, digital billboards, wild postings, and street pole banners running up and down 125th. Paid social and digital media, print, radio, and ongoing community activations will also run throughout the months to come.

“It was essential that this campaign -- arriving on the joyous occasion of our grand reopening -- felt both timely and timeless," said Isata Yansaneh, director of marketing, Studio Museum in Harlem. "With it, we honour multiple generations and varying perspectives on Black art while positioning the Museum’s new home as a continuation and renewal of our mission: to be the nexus for artists of African descent locally, nationally, and internationally,” 

For Lafayette American, whose culturally informed creative work for clients such as the Toledo Art Museum has earned it recognition from the likes of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, the project reflects its commitment to storytelling with a purpose.

The collaboration also continues Lafayette American’s Partnership with Nova Consulting, whose culturally resonant approach to strategy and creative helps impact-driven institutions build brands that matter. Together, the teams have crafted a campaign designed to both honour the museum’s roots and reintroduce it to a new generation of visitors.