Beyoncé Donates $2M to Studio Museum in Harlem for 45th Birthday

On 4 September, Beyoncé celebrated her 45th birthday by donating $2 million to the Studio Museum in Harlem, coinciding with the release of a deluxe anniversary edition of her 2006 album B'Day. The gift supports the museum's mission to make art accessible and to strengthen its community engagement. Beyoncé praised the museum for introducing her to emerging Black artists and for its role as a source of inspiration. Thelma Golden, the museum's director and chief curator, expressed gratitude, noting the gift will enhance work for Harlemites, New Yorkers, and global audiences. This donation comes nearly a year after the museum reopened in its new $300 million, 82,000-square-foot building on 125th Street, designed by Adjaye Associates with Cooper Robertson as executive architect. The facility includes expanded galleries, spaces for the artist-in-residence program, a rooftop terrace, and community areas. Beyoncé and her husband Jay-Z are known art collectors, with works by Andy Warhol, Richard Prince, George Condo, and Laurie Simmons, and they own two 1982 Jean-Michel Basquiat paintings: Mecca and CPRKR. The Studio Museum is among few institutions with a major Basquiat in its permanent collection, notably Bayou (1984), displayed prominently at the reopening.