NYC's First Poster Museum is Coming to Chelsea

Collage of posters

A museum dedicated to poster art is coming to New York City. To be known as Poster House, it will be opening in Chelsea in Winter of 2018 in TekServe’s former space at 119 West 23rd Street. A series of pop-up exhibitions will run from September 20 to October 20 to preview the museum’s extensive collection of posters.

Image Courtesy of Poster House

New York City has every kind of museum imaginable, from large, well established institutions like the Metropolitan Museum to lesser know gems like the Sanitation Department’s Art Gallery. It seems only natural that a museum dedicated solely to poster art should join the ranks. The Phillips Williams Poster shop, which has branded itself as The Poster Museum, boasts the largest collection of vintage posters in the world. In contrast, Poster House would become an institution dedicated to the art of the poster. It already has a collection of 1,000 posters, featuring works from Milton Glaser, creator of the “I ❤ New York” logo and street artist Shepard Fairey, who created the Obama “Hope” poster.

Poster House’s Director, Julia Knight explained that it made sense “to celebrate a medium that teeters on the edge of art and design with a strong commercial thrust behind it – because that’s a pretty good description of contemporary society. And it turns out that’s a pretty good description of different eras and places throughout history, made manifest through advertising at large and posters specifically ever since the Industrial Revolution.”

Image Courtesy of Poster House

Posters are everywhere in New York. On the subway, in the streets, and even printed on clothing. It is so much a part of our everyday lives, why shouldn’t there be a space dedicated to celebrating the medium? Director Knight continues to say that its the fact posters have become such a fabric of our society, encountering it on a daily basis that people can truly enjoy and understand a museum such as this.

According to their mission statement, “Poster House is dedicated to presenting the impact, culture, and design of posters, both as historical documents and methods of contemporary visual communication.” The museum is will not only be putting up temporary exhibitions, but will also be working on growing a permanent collection while putting on education events and creating publications to explore poster art’s impact on society.

Image Courtesy of Poster House

When the museum opens in late 2018, admission will be suggested making it easily accessible to the public. In anticipation of the opening, Poster House will host a month-long pop-up in their Chelsea space starting with Gone Tomorrow featuring posters from iconic venues and cult events that make up the fabric of the city’s history. It is set to open on September 20 to the public and will be viewable by appointment after that.

Image Courtesy of Poster House