SculptureCenter

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Located on the site of a former trolley repair shop in Long Island City, the experimental SculptureCenter is as eclectic as its artsy-slash-industrial surroundings. The museum was founded in 1928 by local sculptor Dorothea Denslow, and for the next three-quarters of a century it made its home in a carriage house on the Upper East Side. In 2002, the nonprofit moved to the wilds of Queens, where it tapped Vietnam Memorial architect Maya Lin to add an elegant, rock-covered courtyard to the side of the old trolley shop (she kept the shop’s artfully faded sign), and the building was renovated and expanded by Andrew Berman Architect in 2014. Inside, the main floor still feels like an airy garage, while partitioned lower-level galleries that once stored generators now feature works by up-and-coming artists (Jimbo Blachly, Rita McBride, Mario Ybarra, Jr.) as well as a smattering of recognizable names (Nancy Rubins, Anya Gallaccio, and Sol LeWitt). Because it doesn’t have a permanent collection, the center commissions the majority of its works, borrows from art collections worldwide, and parses through artists’ submissions, hundreds of which stream in during a yearly open call. — Caroline Kinneberg