A new arts institution focused on video art, sound art and performing arts will open in Manhattan’s Lower East Side in 2026. The 40,000-square-foot location, called Canyon, will occupy a long-term scattered commercial space at the foot of the Williamsburg Bridge.
The project is the creative idea of philanthropist and art collector Robert Rosenkranz and Joe Thompson, founding director of Volkswagen Moca. According to its organizers, Canyon was designed for work that went through time rather than glimpsed.
Thompson will serve as director, and the goal he said is to keep the work natural and enjoyable. “Humans are connected to things that take time (night, having a leisurely dinner with friends),” he said in an email. Artnews. “If we invite people to spend time in the canyon and make us really comfortable, the gallery is more like a living room than a living room, rather than a bright white box that holds wine.”
The new branch of the construction company has been eavesdropped to redesign the venue, which includes 18,000 square feet of exhibition space and a 60-foot high area for performances and gatherings. The dedicated 300-seat performance hall will host concerts, screenings, speeches and podcast videos.
The exhibition will rotate three times a year, with early plans including a retrospective exhibition by Japanese artist Ryoji Ikeda, and an iteration of the expanded “World Building”, a small-scale exhibition on video games and contemporary art organized by curator Hansulrich Obrist.
Obrist described the canyon as “not only a new institution, but a new time zone for art.” He added that it would provide “a much-needed space for duration, immersion and reflection”, noting that “world building” would benefit from the site’s support for experiments and its emphasis on collective, time-based experiences. The show debuted in 2022 in the Julia Stoschek series, another institution that focuses on the art of video.
The Canyon is also designed to meet artists on its own terms. “Video has become a major way of communication,” said Sam Ozer, founder of Tono and Canyon’s newly appointed general curator. “Video has become a major way of communication,” said Sam Ozer, founder of Tono and Canyon’s newly appointed general curator. “Artists working in performance, sound and dynamic images are trying new forms of communication and gathering. Canyon is designed to support the complexity of these works and reimagine how audiences experience them.”
In addition to immersive programming, the venue will also house long-term partners including Electronic Arts Intermix, Rhizome and contemporary music archives, each of which will aid the programming of the canyon.
The space will charge the public $30 admission fee – same as the Museum of Modern Art, one of the most expensive art institutions in the country, but is free for school groups and library cardholders. The initiative was initiated through what Rosenkrantz calls “risk philanthropy.” His foundation covers $10 million in construction and will help fund an estimated $10 million annual operating budget.
