The Bronx Museum of the Arts

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The Bronx Museum of the Arts, also called the Bronx Museum of Art or simply the Bronx Museum, is an American cultural institution located in Concourse, Bronx, New York City. The museum focuses on contemporary and 20th-century works created by American artists, but it has hosted exhibitions of art and design from Latin America, Africa, and Asia. Its permanent collection consists of more than 800 paintings, sculptures, photographs, and works on paper. The museum is part of the Grand Concourse Historic District.HistoryThe museum opened on May 11, 1971, in a partnership between the Bronx Council on the Arts, which was founded in 1961, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The opening coincided with a borough-wide "Bronx Day" event. The first exhibit consisted of 28 paintings from the Met's collection. The museum was originally housed in the first floor rotunda (the Veteran's Memorial Hall) of the Bronx County Courthouse, converted using $77,000 in municipal funds. Additional galleries were located in the Bronx's Co-op City, Bedford Park, and Allerton neighborhoods, with the Allerton gallery was located in the Beth Abraham Hospital. In its first 12 years of operation, the museum held over 350 exhibitions.