Chelsea Art Museum

The Chelsea Art Museum (CAM) was a contemporary art museum located at 556 West 22nd Street on the corner of Eleventh Avenue in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City.

The museum was in a 30,000 sq ft (2,800 m2) renovated historic building, which is also the location of the Miotte Foundation, which was committed to archiving and protecting the works of Jean Miotte and providing new scholarship and research on L'Art Informel. Miotte’s collected works are conserved as a legacy for New York, where he has kept a studio in SoHo since 1978. Rotating selections of Miotte’s work are shown at the museum on a regular basis, as are selections from the museum permanent collection,which contains 500 works, including paintings, etchings, sculpture, ceramics, tapestries, and works on paper, primarily focusing on L'Art Informel and Abstract Expressionist artists from Europe and the United States, including Pol Bury, Mimmo Rotella, and Jean-Paul Riopelle.

The museum focused on 20th and 21st Century including artists who have been exposed more in their home countries than the United States. It was committed to an exploration of "art within a context," offering a program of exhibitions inspired by current social, political, and cultural events. "Insight" was a series of small exhibitions and creative projects showcasing new talent by providing a forum for emerging artists. "The Project Room for New Media" was an incubator of new ideas, showcasing groundbreaking concepts in all art mediums and emphasizing the intersection of the arts through technology.

The museum also presented film, performance and frequent artist talks and round-tables. "Performing Arts at CAM" was a concert and dance performance series featuring internationally recognized and emerging performing artists whose work relates to the exhibition on view. "CAMKIDS", an interdisciplinary education program for children between the ages of 4 and 16, was designed to facilitate youth's access to, and understanding of contemporary art. All public programs take place within the exhibition galleries.

The museum offers docent-led exhibition tours, and the CAM Store offers publications including rare art books, periodicals on contemporary art, exhibition catalogs, and limited editions. It also features artist multiples and a selection of gifts.

The museum and shop closed as of December 31, 2011. The closing followed lengthy financial difficulties which eventually led to the sale of the building. A search is underway for a new home for the museum and Miotte Foundation, preferably in Manhatttan, but a new European location is possible.