The Statue of Liberty Museum is located on

Liberty Island Liberty Island is a federally owned island in Upper New York Bay in the United States. Its most notable feature is the Statue of Liberty (''Liberty Enlightening the World''), a large statue by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi that was dedicated in ...

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. The museum opened on May 16, 2019, and is focused on the creation, meaning, and history of the Statue of Liberty (formally ''Liberty Enlightening the World''), a large statue by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi which the people of France gave to the people of the United States in 1886.

Exhibits

The original torch, carried by ''Liberty'' from 1886 to 1984, is located in the museum. The museum includes exhibits relating to the statue's construction and history, and a theater where visitors can watch an aerial view of the statue. The exhibits include more than 500 photographs and graphics from more than 100 different sources. Examples include rare historic photos of the statue's construction from the

Musée Bartholdi The Musée Bartholdi is a museum dedicated to French sculptor Auguste Bartholdi and is situated at 30 rue des Marchands in Colmar, at the artist's birthplace. The museum has the "Musée de France" label. In 2011, the building was labeled "Maiso ...

Colmar, France Colmar (, ; Alsatian: ' ; German during 1871–1918 and 1940–1945: ') is a city and commune in the Haut-Rhin department and Grand Est region of north-eastern France. The third-largest commune in Alsace (after Strasbourg and Mulhouse), it i ...

, and sketches of early designs for the pedestal from the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The librar ...

. The exhibition was designed by the New York firm ESI Design.

Funding

The museum was funded privately by Diane von Fürstenberg,

Michael Bloomberg Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman, politician, philanthropist, and author. He is the majority owner, co-founder and CEO of Bloomberg L.P. He was Mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013, and was a c ...

Jeff Bezos Jeffrey Preston Bezos ( ;; and Robinson (2010), p. 7. ''né'' Jorgensen; born January 12, 1964) is an American entrepreneur, media proprietor, investor, and commercial astronaut. He is the founder, executive chairman, and former preside ...

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, the family of Laurence Tisch and Preston Robert Tisch, Mellody Hobson, and George Lucas. Von Fürstenberg headed the fundraising for the museum, and the project raised more than $40 million in fundraising as of its October 6, 2016, groundbreaking.

Construction

Construction of the new Statue of Liberty Museum started in early October 2016. The $70 million museum can accommodate all of the island's daily visitors, while the former museum could hold only 20 percent. The museum was designed by FXCollaborative, and is integrated with the parkland around it. Upon the museum's opening, tour guides were banned from certain parts of the island, including part of the museum.

In media

The construction of the museum, and Diane von Furstenberg's role in its funding, are featured in the 2019 documentary ''Liberty: Mother of Exiles''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Statue of Liberty Museum 2019 establishments in New York City Museums established in 2019 Museums in New York City Museums devoted to one artist

Museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical History (derived ) is the systematic study and th ...