New York Studio School renovation uncovers long-hidden murals

The New York Studio School is renovating its historic Greenwich Village buildings in Manhattan, once home to Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney’s sculpture studio and museum.

The school moved into the five-building compound in 1967, after the Whitney Museum relocated.

The buildings had serious leaks, unsafe wiring and limited wheelchair access, and the renovation is addressing those problems.

Workers were asked to preserve the site’s history rather than erase marks left by artists who used it.

They uncovered murals by Cecily Brown and Robert E. Locher beneath layers of plasterboard.

The first phase will double public exhibition space and add an accessible lecture and performance hall, with completion planned for this autumn.

A second phase is due to begin in the spring.