NEW YORK CITY: Challenge: Position and introduce The Rubin Museum of Art from Grand Opening through exhibition. For more than 2 years, Workhouse handled communications included print, radio, public relations, invitation design, guest list promotion, sponsorship and event production.
The agency collaborated with graphic legend Milton Glaser, creator of the I Love New York campaign, to craft the iconic graphic content that became the hallmark of this illustrious institution.
The Buddha works in mysterious ways. At the behest of energetic Jewish couple Shelley and Donald Rubin, the Enlightened One has symbolically claimed the former Barneys emporium in Chelsea, once the downtown center of hothouse fashion, and transformed Mammon into a temple of Himalayan art. The Rubin opened in October 2004 and houses about 2000 works in 25,000 square feet of exhibition space, with a central six-story spiral staircase. Though he admires scholarship, former CEO Donald Rubin did not want his museum to become forbiddingly academic. He emphasized the living quality of Buddhist art, its ability, he said, to stimulate an "emotional rush" in viewers. The floor-wide exhibitions around the staircase are therefore organized by theme rather than by particular time or place. Rubin himself, who lost much of his family in the Holocaust and continues to be troubled by the eruptive violence in the human heart, takes a special interest in the demonic strains of Buddhist art: the nightmarish imagery represents a Buddhist's determination to confront internal demons—and tame them. The six-story spiral staircase, originally designed by Andrée Putman for the Barneys that previously inhabited the building, now suggests cycles, transcendence, and the rippling forms of Buddhist art. Tours Guided tours are included with admission and offered daily. Complimentary audio guides and private group tours are also available.
Result: Stories appeared in WWD, Oprah, Lucky Magazine, Marie Claire, Boston Herald, OK!, Elle Girl, Essence Magazine, MTV, TRL, NY Post, US Magazine, Business Week, FWD, Timeout NY, Today Show and the NY Times
The agency collaborated with graphic legend Milton Glaser, creator of the I Love New York campaign, to craft the iconic graphic content that became the hallmark of this illustrious institution.
The Buddha works in mysterious ways. At the behest of energetic Jewish couple Shelley and Donald Rubin, the Enlightened One has symbolically claimed the former Barneys emporium in Chelsea, once the downtown center of hothouse fashion, and transformed Mammon into a temple of Himalayan art. The Rubin opened in October 2004 and houses about 2000 works in 25,000 square feet of exhibition space, with a central six-story spiral staircase. Though he admires scholarship, former CEO Donald Rubin did not want his museum to become forbiddingly academic. He emphasized the living quality of Buddhist art, its ability, he said, to stimulate an "emotional rush" in viewers. The floor-wide exhibitions around the staircase are therefore organized by theme rather than by particular time or place. Rubin himself, who lost much of his family in the Holocaust and continues to be troubled by the eruptive violence in the human heart, takes a special interest in the demonic strains of Buddhist art: the nightmarish imagery represents a Buddhist's determination to confront internal demons—and tame them. The six-story spiral staircase, originally designed by Andrée Putman for the Barneys that previously inhabited the building, now suggests cycles, transcendence, and the rippling forms of Buddhist art. Tours Guided tours are included with admission and offered daily. Complimentary audio guides and private group tours are also available.
Result: Stories appeared in WWD, Oprah, Lucky Magazine, Marie Claire, Boston Herald, OK!, Elle Girl, Essence Magazine, MTV, TRL, NY Post, US Magazine, Business Week, FWD, Timeout NY, Today Show and the NY Times
