Far from Paris, the Pompidou plans an outpost in Jersey City

IN recent years, the Pompidou Centre in Paris has tried to extend its reach globally by opening museum outposts in cities hundreds, sometimes thousands, of miles away. In 2015, it opened one in Málaga, Spain; in 2018, in Brussels; one year later, in Shanghai.

So what's the next destination for the art museum and cultural centre? Jersey City, New Jersey, naturally.

The institution's president, Serge Lasvignes, and Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop has announced that the city plans to turn a century-old industrial building in Journal Square into the Pompidou's first North American satellite. If the City Council approves the plan, the museum, which is expected to open in early 2024, will have access to art from the Pompidou's collection of about 120,000 works and to its array of experts - as well as the benefit of being associated with one of Paris' most popular cultural attractions.

In signing on to host the Pompidou satellite, Jersey City has agreed to assume the financial burden of renovating the building and operating the museum, which will be called Centre Pompidou x Jersey City. The city will also pay the museum an annual fee that covers project development, branding and the organisation of exhibitions. A spokeswoman for the city said it has agreed to pay the museum an annual fee that phases up to US$6 million over the course of the contract to cover project development, branding, educational programming and the organisation of exhibitions.

The Pompidou's global outposts will become more critical for the institution when it closes for renovations for roughly four years starting in late 2023, temporarily closing its striking inside-out home - designed by Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers - which has colour-coded water pipes, air-conditioning ducts and a caterpillar-like escalator on its exterior. The satellites will allow the Pompidou to display art from its collection outside its Paris hub.

Haven for the arts across the Hudson River

Jersey City's government has been working to establish itself as a haven for the arts, just across the Hudson River from New York City - one that is willing to invest in new cultural attractions, such as the recent restoration of the century-old Loew's Jersey Theater. In November, voters also approved a ballot measure that promised to create a new tax that would help finance cultural institutions.

The city has been looking for a use for the four-storey brick building at 25 Journal Square - called the Pathside Building, it's adjacent to a PATH train station - since 2018, when it purchased the building for US$9 million. The city prevented it from being turned into residential units, instead promising to turn it into a museum and community centre.

Built in 1912 as part of a trolley compound, the building was turned into Hudson County Community College classrooms and a library during the mid-1990s. During recent renovations, the city exposed a gallery space with 17-foot-tall ceilings on the first floor.

The total cost of the renovation is not yet clear, but Mr Fulop estimated it would be between US$10 million and US$30 million. To help pay for the museum, the city expects to raise funds from the private sector and seek state subsidies, Mr Fulop said.

The city has yet to determine the artistic direction of the museum. Like the Pompidou Centre in Paris, the Jersey City branch will be not just a gallery but a multi-disciplinary cultural and educational center that could host talks, films and live performances.

The Pompidou Centre has considered museum outposts in North America before, including in Chicago, but those plans never came to fruition.

As with the outposts in Málaga and Shanghai, the contract between the Pompidou and Jersey City will last five years, starting in 2024, after construction is expected to finish; afterward, there will be the option for an extension. NYTIMES