Here’s an exclusive first look inside the new $180M Memphis Art Museum

By Joyce Peterson & Lydian Coombs – Reporter, Action 5 News

November 18, 2025

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) - Six years in the making, Action News 5 offers viewers a glimpse inside the new Memphis Art Museum in Downtown Memphis.

Slated to open this time next year, it’s still under construction, but museum officials are giving hard hat tours to drum up excitement about the project.

$180 million is the initial price tag, but the final cost, expected to be higher, isn’t known yet. The City of Memphis contributed $30 million, and the State of Tennessee provided $12 million. The Hyde Foundation made a $40 million donation, and more private donations are coming in to finish a building that the public is sure to love.

Jeff Rhodin, Chief Revenue Officer for MAM, led Action News 5’s tour group on Tuesday, November 18.

“This is the big main entrance to the museum... come on in,” he said, welcoming everyone into the main lobby.

The new MAM sits at Front Street and Union, where the old Memphis Fire headquarters used to be located. The museum boasts 122,000 square feet, offering 50% more gallery space all on one level.

“It’s double height,” Rhodin said, pointing upwards as we entered a large room, “so the galleries are all 18 feet!”

The current Brooks Museum of Art in Overton Park can host four exhibitions at a time. The new museum can feature at least 15 exhibits, so more of the museum’s collection of 10,000 artworks spanning 5,000 years of art and culture can be displayed, luring locals and tourists to downtown.

“We hope that folks come and park at the museum,” said Rhodin, “and have an art experience, go have lunch with one of our restaurant partners downtown, go check out the civil rights museum, go see a show at the Orpheum, and then come back. We want it to be a more holistic experience.”

The front of the building will be glass-enclosed, with 30-foot-wide sidewalks. The back side offers magnificent views of the Mississippi River from multiple floors.

“The rooftop is an art garden in the sky,” Rhodin tells us as we walk up the stairs, seeing the view at the perfect time - sunset.

The rooftop Sculpture Garden is 50,000 square feet, with sculptures, plantings and a 1/4 mile walking track.

Back downstairs, the community courtyard is so spacious—equivalent to two NBA basketball courts—it will host large-scale events like Dia de los Muertos and Chalkfest. The courtyard will be free and open to the public during museum hours.

The new museum also has 600% more art-filled public space.

The River Steps, part of the mini amphitheater, lead up to the River Window, providing another gorgeous view. There’s also an auditorium with state-of-the-art recording and broadcasting technology.

The museum’s international designer, Herzog and de Meuron, teamed with local architecture firm Archimania to create the ultimate community meeting space: Memphis’ “living room,” says the museum’s website.

It will have a gift shop, along with a restaurant and cafe, operating independently from the museum with its own entrance, accessible when the museum is closed.

Education spaces double in the new museum, allowing MAM staff to teach 30,000 kids a year, up from 20,000 currently at the Brooks Museum of Art.

And the new museum will have 150 parking spots beneath it. MAM officials say parking won’t be free, though the prices are not yet available.

But it’s the art that will be the star of the show, housed in a building that doesn’t have climate control and water leakage issues, like the Brooks does. Rhodin says that will make MAM a much more attractive facility for art lenders, no longer worried about challenging conditions that could potentially harm a collection.

“The galleries will speak for themselves,” said Rhodin, “The art experience here is going to be incredible!”

The doors to the new Memphis Art Museum are expected to open in December 2026, five years after the groundbreaking took place.

When asked what’s going to happen with the beautiful and historic Brooks Museum of Art building in Midtown, MAM officials referred Action News 5 to Mayor Paul Young’s administration to get the answer.

A spokesperson for the City of Memphis provided the following statement when asked:

“The Brooks building is a historic and iconic asset within Overton Park, and we are approaching its future with care and intention. As the museum prepares for its transition Downtown, we are looking for opportunities that would ensure the building continues to serve the public in a meaningful way. Our goal is to align any future use with the broader vision for Overton Park as a vibrant cultural and community destination.”