The Armory Show announces programming details for its 2025 edition, taking place at the Javits Center September 5–7, with a VIP Preview Day on September 4. This year’s edition brings together city-wide collaborations, thought-provoking panels, and partnerships with leading cultural institutions and brands.

Highlights include reinforced Curatorial Leadership Summit and Armory Live programs, a collaboration with the Queens Museum and Gagosian presenting a commissioned banner by Honor Titus coinciding with the US Open, and the work of Marina Zurkow as part of September’s Midnight Moment presented with Times Square Arts and the Whitney Museum of American Art.

“This year, we’re focusing in on the qualities that make The Armory Show’s programming so impactful—deepening our relationships with institutions, curators, and galleries, and fostering cross-organizational collaborations that help the art world persevere,” says Kyla McMillan, Director of The Armory Show. “By introducing new partnerships such as Queens Museum and the Delfina Art Foundation, and creating opportunities for engagement across an array of formats, we aim to offer audiences meaningful experiences that reflect the richness and dynamism of contemporary culture.”

“The programming across The Armory Show demonstrates a deep investment in curators and institutions as a point of connection, dialogue, and fostering long-term relationships,” says Christine Messineo, Director of Americas, Frieze.

Curatorial Leadership Summit

The eighth edition of The Armory Show’s Curatorial Leadership Summit (CLS), chaired by Eric Crosby, Henry J. Heinz II Director of Carnegie Museum of Art and Vice President of Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, will take place on Friday, September 5. CLS gathers leading curators to reflect on their shared responsibility to the art and artists of our time. The program, titled What If, includes:

• For the first time, an expanded breakfast will invite curators and gallerists to gather and connect, fostering new conversations and shepherding impactful communication.
• Two closed-door panel discussions, one exploring curating contemporary museum collections and another addressing the evolving needs of artists today.
• A moment for curators to gather in groups to explore gallery presentations within curated pathways.
• A public conversation in the afternoon, also part of Armory Live, between Eric Crosby and Paul Pfeiffer, examining the artist’s practice as it relates to the process of exhibition making.

Armory Live

Armory Live runs September 5-7 and consists of insightful debates and discussions with significant artists, curators, writers, collectors, and institutional leadership from across the art world. The discussions will take place in the Armory Live Theater at the Javits Center and will feature:

• Puncturing the Grid: If you can sit on it, it doesn’t belong here, with artists Sylvie Hayes-Wallace, Tunji Adeniyi-Jones, and Cauleen Smith in conversation with Ebony L. Haynes, Senior Director at David Zwirner and 52 Walker and curator of the new Function section.
• Beyond the Fair: New Pathways for Engagement—a partnership with The Armory Art Week —bringing together Silke Lindner, Founder of Silke Lindner and recipient of the Gramercy International Prize; artist Iman Raad; and Guillermo Ruiz de Teresa, Deputy Director and Curator of Storefront for Art and Architecture and recipient of Armory Spotlight, moderated by Marko Gluhaich, Senior Editor of frieze.
• In Conversation: A Permeable South, uniting Renée Stout, Baldwin Lee, and Joel Gaitan in conversation with Jessica Bell Brown, Executive Director of the Institute for Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University and curator of the 2025 Focus section.
• In Conversation: My Art Is the Evidence of My Freedom, spotlighting Simon Benjamin and Mary Margaret Pettway in conversation with Raina Lampkins-Fielder, Chief Curator of Souls Grown Deep and curator of the organization’s presentation in the 2025 Platform section.
• Overcoming Obstacles: Leadership and Perseverance in Unprecedented Times, a conversation with Connie Butler, Director of MoMA PS1; Erin Christovale, Curator at the Hammer Museum; and Eva Respini, Co-CEO and Curator-at-Large of the Vancouver Art Gallery—moderated by Andrew Russeth, Editor of Artnet News.

Collaborations

This year’s programming expands across New York City with a focused line-up of cross-institutional collaborations.

• In collaboration with Queens Museum and Gagosian, Louis Malle Practice (2025) by Brooklyn-born, Los Angeles-based artist Honor Titus will be installed as a monumental reproduction on the museum’s façade during the US Open. This large-scale banner depicts a male tennis player in a moment of leisure, watching a game of tennis that is out of frame.
• Additionally, in collaboration with Times Square Arts and the Whitney Museum of American Art, will be September’s Midnight Moment, featuring The River is a Circle (Times Square Edition) by Marina Zurkow. Shown nightly from 11:57 pm to midnight across more than 95 synchronized electronic billboards, the work combines animation, custom software, and real-time weather data to create a vivid portrait of the Hudson River’s ecological and historical narratives. This special cut of Zurkow’s 2025 piece—created with James Schmitz and Blake Goble—is drawn from the full version on view at the Whitney Museum of American Art as the second Hyundai Terrace Commission, part of her solo exhibition Parting Worlds , through January 11, 2026.

Prizes

During the run of the fair, The Armory Show will award three prizes, showcasing the fair’s commitment to providing support to artists and galleries. Recipients will be announced during the fair. Prize details are as follows:

• The Pommery Prize, a $10,000 award presented to an artist featured in the Platform section and generously supported by Champagne Pommery.
• The SAUER Art Prize, a $10,000 award presented to an artist featured in the Focus section and generously supported by SAUER.
• The Armory Show x Delfina Foundation Artist Residency Prize, awarded to artists from or based in the Southern States of the United States showing with galleries participating in the Focus section at The Armory Show 2025. This prestigious, twelve-week residency in London during 2026 is made possible by support from Suzanne McFayden and Delfina Foundation’s Network of North America Patrons.

Fair Partners

Champagne Pommery is one of France’s most iconic estates, renowned for elegant, mineral-driven Brut champagnes. Founded by trailblazer Madame Pommery—who created the first Brut-style champagne in 1874—the house continues her legacy through innovation, sustainability, and cultural patronage from its historic home in Reims.

LINDBERG provides the ultimate design, comfort, and individuality through innovative Eyewear solutions, representing true Danish luxury. Utilizing premium materials like titanium, gold, horn, and wood, LINDBERG crafts lightweight frames without any screws or rivets. LINDBERG's dedication to Danish design traditions and innovation have garnered an impressive 112 design awards.

Founded in 1941, SAUER is a Brazilian fine jewelry house known for its cultural depth and artistic dialogue. Under Stephanie Wenk’s creative direction, the brand blends heritage and innovation. Its SAUER Art Prize honors contemporary art, while its presence at The Armory Show reinforces jewelry as cultural language and expression.

Founded in 1980, the legendary arthouse TASCHEN is renowned globally for publishing ambitious illustrated books on art, architecture, design and more. As a partner of the Armory Show, TASCHEN will highlight Salvador Dali. Baby Sumo, architectural sketches by Tadao Ando, as well as photography prints by Bruce Weber and photographs highlighting the history of America’s Cup.

VIP Partners

Aesop was established in Melbourne in 1987 and offers skin, hair, fragrance, and body care formulations created with meticulous attention to detail, and with efficacy and sensory pleasure in mind. Aesop products are available at aesop.com, in Aesop signature stores, and from select like-minded retailers across the globe.

Founded in 2000, Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle gives perfumers creative freedom to craft bold, timeless fragrances. Each scent, signed by its creator, is made with the finest ingredients. The Maison is celebrated as a modern perfumery pioneer, inspiring the industry through uncompromising artistry and olfactory excellence.