New Jewish Museum to Open in Philadelphia

The National Museum of American Jewish History is constructing a new 100,000–square-foot, five-story building on Independence Mall in Philadelphia, set to feature plenty of unique exhibits for school trips to visit. Set to open in fall 2010, it will stand directly across from the Liberty Bell, a block south of the National Constitution Center and one block north of Independence Hall.

The core exhibition will trace the lives of American Jews from 1654 to the present and will encompass some 25,000 square feet of gallery space on three floors. An additional 5,000 square feet of gallery space is provided for changing exhibitions. The ground floor will feature an evolving multimedia exhibition, titled Only in America®/The Hall of the Famous gallery, which will highlight the accomplishments of many Jewish Americans. Exhibitions will explore how Jews created a new home in a free land and will examine how America shaped the lives, communities and livelihoods of its Jewish citizens.

Exhibits will also explore how Jews shaped America, using their unprecedented freedom not only to create the largest and most prosperous Jewish community in the world, but also to help make America one of the most successful and vital countries in the world. The exhibitions will draw on the museum’s permanent collection of approximately 20,000 objects whose origins span from the Colonial period to the present day. The collection includes 18th century ritual and domestic silver; ritual objects and embroidered textiles carried to America by 19th-century Jewish immigrants; original drawings, prints, paintings and sculptures that illustrate the American Jewish experience; rare books, posters and other printed materials; photographs, scrapbooks and illuminated certificates; and a variety of manuscript materials, including poetry, letters, diaries and personal memoirs.

The museum’s design is a composition of two interlocking volumes. A glass prism facing Independence Mall expresses the accessibility of the museum and the openness of America as well as the perennial fragility of democracy. A beacon, located within the uppermost corner of the glass enclosure, evokes the torch of the Statue of Liberty, whose “beacon-hand glows world-wide welcome,” as Emma Lazarus wrote.

A terracotta volume fronts Market Street and houses the Museum’s collections and principal exhibition spaces; it expresses the strength of Jewish survival and the protective shelter of American freedom. The warm tones of the terracotta complement the adjacent Bourse at Independence Mall and the brick structures of Philadelphia’s historic center.
An 85-foot-high, light-filled atrium organizes the interior space, connecting the entry level to the education center and auditorium below and to the exhibition floors above. Across this void are bridges linking the glazed and terracotta volumes.

The new building will also allow for expanded programming and activities that are not possible in the current facility. Major spaces will include a Center for Jewish Education that will serve schoolchildren and young adults of every background, the 200-seat Dell Family Theater, an event space overlooking Independence Mall and a gift shop.

For more information, visit http://www.nmajh.org.