Mission

The Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art provides a platform for artistic exploration through multi-faceted queer perspectives. We embrace the power of the arts to inspire, explore, and foster understanding of the rich diversity of LGBTQIA+ experiences.

History and Collection

The Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art was created by our founders to preserve LGBTQIA+ identity and build community. Our roots trace back to 1969, when Charles Leslie and Fritz Lohman held an exhibit of gay artists for the first time in their SoHo loft. Throughout the 1970s, they continued to collect and exhibit gay artists while supporting the SoHo art community. During the height of the AIDS pandemic, the collection continued to grow as they rescued the work of dying artists from families who, out of shame or ignorance, wanted to destroy it. This led to the formation of the Leslie-Lohman Gay Art Foundation in 1987. In recognition of its importance in the collection and preservation of LGBTQIA+ history, the organization was accredited as a museum in 2016. Through exhibitions, public programs, publications, and its collections and library, the Museum examines the interrelationship of art and social justice in ways that provoke thought and dialogue.

The Museum of Art is committed to preserving, diversifying, and making accessible the artworks in its collection, as well as to the representation of an evolving constellation of queer experience. Our collections management policy outlines the processes by which the Museum stewards the more than 25,000 objects in its holdings.

If you are an artist, collector, or dealer with artwork(s) you wish to be considered by the museum as a donation to our collection, please review and fill out the Artwork Donation Intake Form. We do not consider donation offers via email, telephone, or walk-in. All artwork donation offers will be vetted by our staff and reviewed by the museum's Collections Committee to the Board. Do not ship, send, or bring original artworks to the museum; the museum cannot return artworks to senders and will assume no responsibility for the storage and care of unsolicited materials.

Located at 26 Wooster Street in the SoHo neighborhood of New York City, admission is free with a suggested donation of $10. Open Friday-Sunday, 12-6 PM. The Museum is a nonprofit organization and is exempt from taxation under section 501(c)3 of the IRS Code.