After more than five years, the Princeton University Art Museum reopens

Vibe-curious, I checked out Princeton University’s newly updated art museum. It closed in March 2020 among the pandemic shut-downs, and the revamped complex reopened at last in fall 2025. There are trains to get there from Philly, but I opted for the hour drive and used a downtown parking garage (my day stay was $8). After a coffee on Witherspoon Street, it’s a short, picturesque stroll to the new building, which replaced a 1966 Modernist structure.

A welcoming experience

The museum is nine interconnected pavilions, three stories tall. Its façade is a dynamic mix of vertical lines and texture through stone aggregate surfaces, aluminum panels, and bronze finishes. Interior spaces present an interplay of stone finishes with warm woods. The design team included Adjaye Associates, in collaboration with executive architects Cooper Robertson and University Architect Ron McCoy. The new construction doubles the original gallery space and includes lecture halls, object study rooms, conservation studios, creativity labs, a museum shop, and a café called Mosaic (reservations recommended).

The main foyer, Entrance Court, greets visitors with a vivid, monumental mosaic by Nick Cave. Inside, there is a coatroom with free lockers and an information desk. “Artwalks” allow pedestrians access through the ground-floor halls even when the museum is closed. Grand Hall, an inviting seating area, is across from an embedded artwork: a large ancient Roman floor mosaic that visitors literally walk on to see. (Numerous embedded objects are encountered throughout the museum.) A Welcome Gallery for special exhibitions currently features Toshiko Takaezu: Dialogues in Clay through July 5, 2026. A former instructor at the university, Takaezu’s experimental ceramics are in a contextual conversation with artists such as Helen Frankenthaler, Robert Motherwell, and Isamu Noguchi.

Greet new galleries

Most galleries are located on the second level, but you can see artworks from the first floor if you look up, and vice versa. These viewpoints emphasize a key vibe: possibility. What are the options for viewing? How might you think about things you see? Windows provide glimpses of terraces with contemporary sculptures and the surrounding campus landscape, establishing a visual link with the university and its educational mission in the humanities. Unexpected interior views often frame thoughtful juxtapositions of artworks and artifacts. This variety of visual arrangements aims to foster ongoing aesthetic and cultural discussions. Princeton University’s art collection began in 1755 for the study of objects and includes work from African, Asian, Ancient Americas, European, Ancient Mediterranean, and Islamic cultures. There are also galleries dedicated to Modern, Contemporary, and Photography. Several private collections are on long-term loan, and a campus collection features art and artifacts relevant to the university’s history.

The Orientation Gallery at the top of the main staircase invites visitors to explore a lively grouping of art and objects from different cultures and eras, encouraging contemplation of connections between them. For example, how do painted American portraits compare to a Roman portrait head, medieval stained glass, and a Mexican god? Nearby, the European Art gallery features paintings by masters like Claude Monet and Gabrielle Münter, along with cabinets that hold drawers for works on paper. I enjoyed examining a small drawing by Rosa Bonheur. Here, visitors are encouraged to look closely.

Reflect on Viewing Rooms

Viewing Rooms are intermediate spaces, less crowded with artworks, and provide benches for reflection. One features a site-specific ceiling painting (Cosmos Beyond Atrocity, 2024) by Philadelphia artist Jane Irish. There are other notable makers connected to Philly. In the Mediterranean section, it was cool to see an ancient Greek amphora across from Roberto Lugo’s oversized glazed stoneware vessel (The Man Who Carried the Ice Box on His Back up the Mountain: Alberto Ayayla, 2023); an untitled Howardena Pindell painting (1977), along with Edna Andrade’s (Winter Veils, 1973) hung in the Contemporary galleries.

In American Art, a Neo-Classical sofa (circa 1830) made in Philly is paired with a large-format photograph (The Signing, 2018) by Renée Cox. It reimagines the signing of the Constitution, entirely attended by people of color in both colonial and contemporary clothing.

Important qualities for a modern museum

In two temporary exhibition galleries, 150 artworks in all media are on display. Titled Princeton Collects, it showcases the recent philanthropy that benefits the museum’s growing collection. These gifts (and intended gifts) are available for viewing until March 29, 2026. Don’t miss it. Artists include Ai Weiwei, Elizabeth Catlett, Hans Hofmann, Zanele Muholi, Bill Traylor, and Albrecht Dürer.

The Princeton University Art Museum offers important qualities needed in a 21st-century museum: inclusive, accessible, dialogical, and surprising. Art is a record of ideas, and ideas are always about what is possible. The vibe is excellent and I can’t wait to go back.

At top: View of an Interior Artwalk at Princeton University Art Museum in 2025, featuring an ancient Roman floor mosaic. (Courtesy of the Princeton University Art Museum; photo by Richard Barnes.)