Whitney, Hudson Yards arts center to anchor a new Museum Mile

From left: Culture Shed model and a rendering of the Whitney Museum in the Meatpacking District

If the city has its way, New Yorkers will be able to walk along the High Line from the Whitney Museum, take a few stops at Chelsea galleries, and continue to a Hudson Yards arts center called the Culture Shed.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the arts center, which Mayor Michael Bloomberg said this week would host Fashion Week, would be home to theater performances, traveling exhibitions and community events. The city hopes to have a clear plan for the center by next summer, including funding and a non-profit organization to lead it. An early model of the Culture Shed shows a five-story, 22,000-square-foot building that could be expanded to 55,000 square feet.

Elsewhere along what’s becoming a Museum Mile for the West Side, the Dia Art Foundation bought a property steps from the High Line on West 22nd Street that it hopes to turn into an art destination.

Cecilia Alemani, director of the High Line’s art program, said the Culture Shed, art projects on the High Line and the Dia Art Foundation could pique the interest of more casual arts followers, who would, in turn, be more compelled to visit the Chelsea galleries that typically only draw enthusiasts. “I like to think of the new Museum Mile on the West Side of Manhattan,” she said. [WSJ]