The rise of laminated wood beams, sprawling openings that will house glass walls and windows, and concrete spanning the block from Front Street and Union Avenue to Front and Monroe Street is more than a construction site. It is the promise of a cultural shift. Scheduled to open in December 2026, the Memphis Brooks Museum will take on a new name, Memphis Art Museum, and a new home that is poised to transform both the city’s downtown landscape and its creative ecosystem.
During a recent hard-hat tour led by the construction team and museum staff, the project revealed itself as a bold, intentional design meant to integrate art, community and the Memphis riverfront in unprecedented ways.
“Memphis has a long history as a vibrant hub for art and culture. This expansive and innovative new campus will further reinforce the city’s status as a global cultural destination,” said Zoe Kahr, Executive Director of the Memphis Art Museum. “We look forward to welcoming visitors to experience the very best of what Memphis has to offer, in 2026, and for years to come.”
From the outset, the vision is clear: The museum is being designed as part of the “fabric of downtown,” not apart from it. Thirty feet of curbside frontage and wrap-around sidewalks will welcome pedestrians into an environment where the boundaries between interior and exterior space intentionally blur. The entire eastern side will be a continuous glass façade, allowing passersby to see directly into active galleries and making “world-class art spill out onto the street,” as one project representative described it.
The building’s footprint supports a dynamic mix of public and private functions. A north-side restaurant, featuring an 1,800-square-foot dining room and an additional 400-square-foot private space, will anchor one corner, while a museum store connects seamlessly to the main lobby. That lobby, described by the design team as the “connective tissue” of the museum, will serve as an entry point to the galleries, the mezzanine-level theatre and a rooftop designed for both public gathering and low-sensory reflection.
With a collective 122,000-square-feet, the scale of the project is massive. The central courtyard alone spans the size of two NBA courts, about 10,000-square-feet. Galleries will soar to 18 feet in height and provide 50 percent more exhibition space than the museum’s current building, along with a remarkable 600 percent increase in community congregation areas. Even from behind scaffolding and temporary railings, it’s clear this building is designed for community and world-class art.
The people-centered focus threaded throughout the tour, inside and out. The top third of the museum’s exterior, on the north side at Monroe, will be closed to form a public park that connects visitors to Cossitt Library. The middle third is where the parking garage entrance is. The lower third connects to the riverfront via an ADA-accessible switchback pathway, similar to that on the bluff entrance to Tom Lee Park. Elevated bleachers and multiple outdoor gathering zones will support everything from casual hangouts to large community events.
Education and community engagement are at the core of the museum’s mission, and the new facility is built to support year-round programming. Formal classrooms and interactive art-making spaces, currently located in the basement in the existing museum, will now sit adjacent to the galleries. Teaching artists will host workshops for all ages, from children to adults to seniors. The museum expects to host approximately 400 events a year, ranging from informal drop-in programs to structured classes.
Photos from the hard-hat tour highlight the rising galleries, courtyard and community spaces taking shape as the Brooks Museum prepares to move downtown. (D’Angelo Connell/Tri-State Defender) 
Photos from the hard-hat tour highlight the rising galleries, courtyard and community spaces taking shape as the Brooks Museum prepares to move downtown. (D’Angelo Connell/Tri-State Defender) 
Photos from the hard-hat tour highlight the rising galleries, courtyard and community spaces taking shape as the Brooks Museum prepares to move downtown. (D’Angelo Connell/Tri-State Defender) 
Photos from the hard-hat tour highlight the rising galleries, courtyard and community spaces taking shape as the Brooks Museum prepares to move downtown. (D’Angelo Connell/Tri-State Defender) 
Photos from the hard-hat tour highlight the rising galleries, courtyard and community spaces taking shape as the Brooks Museum prepares to move downtown. (D’Angelo Connell/Tri-State Defender) 
Photos from the hard-hat tour highlight the rising galleries, courtyard and community spaces taking shape as the Brooks Museum prepares to move downtown. (Candace Gray/Tri-State Defender) 
Photos from the hard-hat tour highlight the rising galleries, courtyard and community spaces taking shape as the Brooks Museum prepares to move downtown. (Candace Gray/Tri-State Defender)
Inside the galleries, visitors can expect a dynamic mix of local, national and international art, including a special focus on Black and African art. The museum currently houses a 10,000-piece art collection, which requires specialized protection from light and environmental conditions. New gallery infrastructure will support both permanent collections and traveling exhibitions. Staff emphasized that “every time you come back, there will be new things to see,” a promise reinforced by the ability to stage up to 15 exhibitions a year, compared to just four to six currently.
Indoor and outdoor performance spaces, including areas suited for jazz concerts, theater and even Shakespeare in the Park, expand the museum’s multidisciplinary approach. Meanwhile, two distinct sculpture gardens will showcase both international works and pieces by Memphis artists, reinforcing the institution’s commitment to representing the full breadth of visual and performing arts.
Accessibility is prioritized throughout. Multiple elevators will connect the underground parking garage, three times larger than the current capacity, to the building’s lobby, mezzanine and rooftop. The rooftop, the pièces de résistance, bordered by nano-walls that can retract to allow airflow, will serve as a public terrace offering views of river sunsets alongside flexible seating and house a sculpture garden. Museum staff imagine wine programs, intimate gatherings and low-sensory evenings hosted above the galleries’ visual footprint. (I hear wedding bells, too!)
Though the museum is city-owned, its ethos reflects a collaborative civic spirit. With its wrap-around sidewalks, world-facing glass, interconnected public park, river connections and emphasis on community education, the museum is positioning itself as a cultural anchor for Downtown Memphis.
As construction continues, the end result is coming into view: a vibrant, accessible and future-focused home for Memphis’ artistic legacy. When the doors open in December 2026, the city will gain not only a new museum, but an expanded vision for what art can mean to a community, and what a community can mean to art.
