The Studio Museum in Harlem has closed through February 7 after a sprinkler emergency forced visitors to evacuate on Friday. Water poured from a ceiling near the gift shop, creating a large pool on the floor, but no artworks or galleries were affected. The museum initially planned a weekend closure, but repairs proved more extensive after a sprinkler was damaged during preparations for a record-breaking snowstorm that dropped 11 inches on Manhattan.
The closure comes at an inopportune time for the museum, which only reopened in November in a new building designed by David Adjaye’s Adjaye Associates. All programs and events are canceled, and ticketholders will be refunded. While the incident is a logistical setback, the fact that no artworks were damaged is a relief for an institution that has long been a cornerstone of Harlem’s cultural scene.