Neuberger Museum of Art

Purchase, NY

Founded in 1969, the Neuberger Museum of Art (NMA) is a center of teaching and learning for all stages of life. It hosts exhibitions of modern, contemporary, and African art, and holds art-inspired events in a Philip Johnson-designed building on the campus of Purchase College, State University of New York. The Neuberger Museum of Art is one of the most important academic museums in the country and one of only a handful of major museums attached to a public institution. It stewards a collection of approximately 7,000 objects and holds twelve special exhibitions on average a year in its nearly 30,000 square feet of exhibition space. Last year, the Neuberger celebrated its 50th anniversary and launched a new 5-year strategic plan, a major goal of which is to create new paths for sustainability.

With the help of FCI funding, NMA will upgrade to LED fixtures to light works of art and installations in the 5,000-square-foot Stairway Gallery which exhibits select works of art from the permanent collection. This initiative is part of a larger initiative to convert all exhibition spaces (measuring nearly 30,000 square feet) in the museum to LED, as well as other work and storage space. Updated lights will replace discontinued halogen bulbs that have been in use for nearly fifty years. The LED track installation is time-lined with other renovations including door actuators and stair banister modification. This will reduce greenhouse gas emissions, energy consumption, and costs. LED lighting will also better present and protect the artwork and shape the light for specific needs of the artist, conservation, and accessibility.

Milestones

• Reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions by 13 percent

• Reduce annual site energy costs by 13 percent

• Reduce annual energy consumption by 13 percent