Studio Museum in Harlem Reopening Series
After seven years of renovation, the Studio Museum in Harlem reopened its newly rebuilt home designed by Adjaye Associates with Cooper Robertson. To celebrate the milestone, the Museum launched a comprehensive series of reopening events, including a Press Preview, stakeholder receptions, an Art World Celebration, a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony, a Board Member Lunch, and a Community Day.
The goal was to reintroduce the Museum to the public, celebrate its architectural transformation, and engage key audiences across the art world and Harlem community.
Over seven days of live programming, we oversaw event production, AV, talent coordination, creative direction, and onsite operations—supporting more than 4,300 guests. The series included multiple artistic performances, such as The Harlem Chamber Players and Natasha Diggs.
The reopening generated significant buzz, with widespread coverage from The New York Times, ArtNews, Dezeen, Wallpaper, TimeOut, Vanity Fair, The Guardian, Vogue, and Artsy, underscoring the cultural importance of the Museum’s return.
Through close collaboration with the Museum team, we ensured every event aligned with their vision—capturing the energy, spirit, and significance of this new chapter.
Guests received their first taste of technological innovation at registration, where they were welcomed by name on a reactive LED screen installation covering the full width of the entry wall. A large lunch café was created with a décor scheme that incorporated custom-built, ceiling-high steel LED frames draped with foliage to create smaller, intimate restaurant-style spaces that displayed both technology and nature.
A series of breakout sessions presented content targeted to attendees’ varied interests, while imagery displayed throughout the venue showcased real-life applications of how products designed to empower developers help to unleash the power of data and reimagine possibilities that will improve our world.
Every element of Microsoft Connect(); from registration, breakfast and keynote, to lunch and evening cocktails, were custom-designed to communicate exacting brand messaging and to deliver a high-touch guest experience to this important audience. The keynote and breakout sessions were livestreamed through an onsite studio built for this purpose and content was watched online by millions around the world.
Empire is proud to collaborate with Microsoft on this annual, top-tier business communication event.
To view excerpts of Connect(); 2017, please visit https://www.microsoft.com/connectevent
