About the Armory
“There is no venue in New York City that has the potential creative flexibility that the Armory possesses. At a time when artists are searching for unconventional spaces and initiating large-scale mixed media projects, the Armory would fill a huge void in the City.” - Harvey Lichtenstein, BAM
Park Avenue Armory is a newly-launched, not-for-profit arts organization whose mission is to revitalize this important landmark as a unique alternative arts space. With its vast drill hall and its array of 16 exuberant period rooms, the Armory offers an opportunity for the development and presentation of non-traditional programming in the performing and visual arts that resist the formality of single purpose halls and white box galleries. Joining a host of unconventional art spaces around the world (many in converted industrial, transport or military buildings), the Armory fills a crucial niche in the cultural landscape of New York, catalyzing and attracting works of art that cannot be realized at existing venues elsewhere.
Built by the elite Seventh Regiment between 1877 and 1881, Park Avenue Armory contains interiors designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany, Stanford White, the Herter Brothers and other prominent artists of the period and has been called “the single most important collection of 19th century interiors to survive intact in one building” by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. Its soaring 55,000 square foot drill hall, is built like a 19th century European train shed.
In its first season of artistic programming with other cultural organizations Park Avenue Armory has demonstrated its capacity for accommodating extraordinary work best realized in a non-traditional setting. It began with Aaron Young’s Greeting Card presented by Art Production Fund: a 9,216-square-foot action painting created by the skid-marks and tire burnouts of 10 choreographed motorcyclists. For the 2008 Whitney Biennial, the Armory hosted site-specific installations and performances by 37 artists, creating an experience that one critic called “this Biennial’s best surprise.” An evening of Stravinsky’s Sacred Masterpieces presented in association with Columbia University’s Miller Theatre drew rave critical reviews, as did the epic production of the opera Die Soldaten, presented by Lincoln Center Festival in association with Park Avenue Armory, in which the audience moved “through the music.” Most recently, the Armory partnered with Creative Time to present the culmination of its nationwide show Democracy In America.
To learn more about programming at the Armory, Arts at the Armory page.
To learn more about the history of our interiors, download our interiors guide.
643 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10065
(212) 616-3930