The Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris (photo courtesy of Jean-Pierre Dalbéra)
In Paris, when you hear people say they’re going to the Pompidou, they often refer to the National Museum of Modern Art. The museum is often called the Pompidou, especially by non-French tourists, because it is located in the Centre Georges Pompidou with several other organizations. The Pompidou has several satellite locations worldwide, including in Brussels and Shanghai. With the Pompidou closing for renovations in 2025, these satellites will be the only place to view the museum’s collection for a few years at least. But within the next few years, many museum-goers in the United States will be able to get a taste of the Pompidou’s collection without leaving the country. This will be thanks to its newest planned satellite in Jersey City, New Jersey. However, some state lawmakers have recently been drawing attention to the new museum, criticizing the project’s cost and its expected contents.
The Centre Pompidou x Jersey City will be located in the Pathside Building in the city’s Journal Square neighborhood. This was the home of the Jersey City Museum until it closed in 2010. Though nearby New York would have been a more obvious choice to set up the museum, Journal Square is a rather convenient location since the nearby PATH train station puts it less than 20 minutes from Manhattan. The Centre Pompidou x Jersey City was originally meant to open in 2024, but that has since been pushed back to 2026. However, some in New Jersey have been unhappy about the project.
Mike Testa, a state senator representing parts of Atlantic, Cumberland, and Cape May Counties in the south of New Jersey, has criticized what he and others have called “a circus of excess and waste”. This is regarding the $58 million in state money the project receives. A memorandum Testa requested from the Republican Party state senate budget director highlights what some state lawmakers perceive as a lavish endeavor. This seems especially true compared to the other nearby cultural centers like the Newark Museum. They call these preexisting museums “more modest in scope”, and they would be better options as recipients of state money since they focus on American art. Though the Pompidou has not given any details about the Jersey City satellite’s collection yet, Testa and his colleagues seem to have jumped to conclusions by assuming that the entire museum would be dedicated solely to French art. Though the Pompidou is a museum located in Paris, and the Centre Pompidou x Jersey City would feature parts of its collection, it being a French museum does not mean it will contain exclusively French art. As its proper name implies, it is dedicated to modern art from all nations. Yes, French artists are represented, but so are Germans and Russians, and, believe it or not, Americans. The works of Alexander Calder, Andy Warhol, Diane Arbus, Sol Lewitt, Jasper Johns, and Ellsworth Kelly, among many others, are all featured in the museum collection and may make their way to Jersey City upon the museum’s completion.
Jersey City’s mayor Steven Fulop called opposition to the museum’s construction “well-intentioned but, unfortunately, ignorant”. The Centre Pompidou x Jersey City is widely considered the centerpiece of Mayor Fulop’s renewal project for Jersey City’s former industrial districts. Warehouses, factories, and depots that have languished for decades are now being repurposed as galleries, museums, studios, and other cultural spaces. However, some have criticized the proposed museum in a way that avoids unnecessary and unfounded Francophobia. Some, like Tris McCall of the Jersey City Times, point out that Jersey City already has a thriving contemporary art scene. Therefore, the city and the state should invest more in programs and organizations that help living local artists, such as Mana Contemporary and Art Fair 14C. Adding insult to injury is that the state of New Jersey will provide $5 million every year to subsidize the museum’s operating costs. Furthermore, an additional $11 million will go to the Pompidou as a fee to use the Pompidou name for the first five years after its opening. McCall accuses the local government of prioritizing “celebrity and prestige” over anything legitimately beneficial for the city. But with Fulop running for governor of New Jersey in 2025, pulling this project off would certainly benefit his image on top of revitalizing the state’s deindustrialized urban areas using art and culture.