Closing Time Uptown:
Snapshots from the Whitney’s Final Night on Madison Avenue
Oct 23, 2014

The Whitney's guards lock the front doors every evening at closing time, but on October 19, 2014, the routine resonated differently among staff and visitors. The Marcel Breuer-designed building on Madison Avenue at 75th Street has been the Whitney's home since 1966, when it moved there from West 54th Street. Over the past half-century, the building has served as the site of twenty Biennials, scores of temporary exhibitions, and countless public programs. Last Sunday was the Museum's final night in the space before it moves downtown to its new building, opening in spring 2015.

To say goodbye to the Breuer building—for now—the Whitney held a 36–hour viewing marathon that stretched through the final weekend of Jeff Koons: A Retrospective. At 10:50 pm on Sunday, clapping accompanied the closure of each gallery floor. Visitors moved toward the lobby, where they left notes for the future on self-addressed postcards which will be mailed to them this spring. The Museum's visitor services team gathered near the admissions desk and marked the exhibition's close—and its record-breaking attendance—with a toast. At 11 pm, guards Carlos Noboa and Douglas Burnham, who was celebrating the 38th anniversary of the date he was hired, shared the responsibility of locking up as fellow staff applauded.