Located at 65 I Street in the Southwest neighborhood, the Rubell Museum DC brings the Rubell Family’s extensive contemporary art collection to the nation’s capital. Dedicated exclusively to contemporary art, the Rubell Museum DC reinvigorates the 1906 building of the former Randall Junior High School, a historically Black public school in Southwest DC that ceased operations in 1978. The museum, which is free for Washington DC residents, serves as a place for the public to engage with the most compelling national and international artists of our time.
Shortly after Mera and Don Rubell married in 1964, they started visiting artists’ studios and collecting art in New York. Their son, Jason Rubell, joined them in 1982 in building the collection, creating the exhibitions, and developing the museums, reflecting the multi-generational family passion for discovering, engaging, and supporting many of today’s most compelling artists. The Rubell Family Collection was established in 1993 in the Wynwood neighborhood of Miami, and in 2019 was relocated to the Allapattah neighborhood. Following the move and expansion, the institution was renamed the Rubell Museum to emphasize its public mission and expand access for audiences.
The Rubell Museum’s collection is distinguished by its unprecedented range and depth that has enabled the Museum to organize over 50 exhibitions during the last three decades drawn entirely from its holdings in painting, sculpture, photography, video, and installation. These have included such groundbreaking and diverse exhibitions as Richard Prince (2004), Against All Odds: Keith Haring (2005), Red Eye: Los Angeles Artists (2006), 30 Americans (2008) (which has since traveled to 24 museums around the country), Beg Borrow and Steal (2009), NO MAN’S LAND (2015) (which traveled to the National Museum of Women in the Arts in 2016), Purvis Young (2018), and Yayoi Kusama (2020). Many of these exhibitions have toured to museums internationally and have been accompanied by catalogues.
Make sure to stop by the museum’s coffee bar, run by independently owned, DC-based Grace Street Coffee Roasters, where visitors can enjoy espresso drinks, cold brew, tea, and select pastries.