The Italian American Museum cordially invites you to attend the opening reception for "The New Italian American Museum: Architectural Renderings and Model for the Forthcoming Newly Designed Museum". Presented by Dr. Joseph V. Scelsa, Founder and President. Thursday, January 11, 2018. 6:00 to 8:00 P.M. Italian American Museum 155 Mulberry Street (Corner of Grand and Mulberry Streets). New York, NY 10013. Refreshments will be served. R.S.V.P. 212.965.9000 [email protected]

The Italian American Museum, located in Little Italy since 2007, is about to embark on a major project that will quadruple its size at its current location. But it is more than a physical expansion. It is an endeavor to ensure that Little Italy will have a permanent anchor institution that will preserve and promote not only the neighborhood, but the legacy of Italians in America from Peter Caesar Alberti in 1635 to present-day immigrants who continue to seek opportunity on these shores.

The Museum’s mission will also be to celebrate modern-day Italian culture with exhibitions and programs that feature artists, authors and thinkers from Italy.

The Museum’s historic location on the corner of Mulberry and Grand Streets once housed the Banca Stabile which was founded by Francesco Rosario Stabile in 1885. During its heyday, the bank offered newly arrived immigrants much more than financial services. It was a link for the immigrants in the United States with their relatives in Italy. In addition to a full range of banking services, it also provided the following services: telegraph, travel via steam ships, import-export, notary public, and post office; in essence, a community nexus. The Museum intends to re-establish this “hub” of activity--on a cultural level.

With construction beginning in early 2018 and slated for completion in 2019, the new Italian American Museum will encompass four levels in a new structure located on Mulberry St. It will feature a majestic street-level entrance, four levels for permanent and temporary exhibitions, and an auditorium for film screenings, lectures, presentations, meetings and theatrical, music and dance performances.

The Italian American Museum was officially founded on June 12, 2001 when it was chartered under the aegis of the University of the State of New York Education Department as a museum.

The Italian American Museum is more than an immigration museum. Its purpose is to document the myriad of contributions made by the people of Italy and their descendants to the very fabric of American society from its earliest origins and its philosophical underpinning through philosophers, explorers, adventurers, industrialists, scientists, educators, politicians, and everyday extraordinary people, telling the whole story which continues to flourish and evolve in America today.

Italian Americans are the fifth largest ethnic group in the United States of America today, with distinct cultural values and traits which distinguish them as a people within the greater multicultural American society. Thus, the museum serves as a point of reference for those who are Italian Americans and those who wish to learn about Italian Americans, as well as Italian culture as it is today.