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Read the press release here.

Noguchi Museum Marks 30th Anniversary With Interactive Teahouse and Garden

 The museum's anniversary programs also include its first solo show by an artist other than its namesake.
Noguchi Museum 30th Anniversary
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LONG ISLAND CITY — The Noguchi Museum in Queens is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, with several special programs over the next several months — including an interactive tea house and an off-site exhibit at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

The museum was founded in 1985 by Japanese-American artist and designer Isamu Noguchi three years before his death to house his works of sculpture, furniture, lamps and architectural design.

The anniversary celebration will continue into 2016 and will feature several special exhibits, including ones that present Noguchi's work alongside contemporary artists — what head curator Dakin Hart said will demonstrate how the museum "is not a set piece."

"It's a living work of art," Hart said. "It's meant to breathe, it's meant to be able to change."

The first anniversary exhibit kicked off earlier this month, and features nine of Noguchi's bronze sculptures, replicating how the artist himself had arranged them in one of the museum's gallery spaces when it first opened.

The exhibit, called "Editing Area 5" will be on view through Sept. 20, and one of the pieces will be removed from the gallery every two weeks until just one is left, according to a press release.

In September, the museum will be staging an off-site exhibit for the first time at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, where 15 of Noguchi's sculptures will be on display, including several that will be placed in the Japanese-Hill-and-Pond Garden.

"We're incredibly excited about it. it's a wonderful venue," Hart said.

Then, in October, the museum will open another exhibit called "Museum of Stones," on its first and second floors that will feature pieces by 30 artists — Noguchi included — that focus on the use of rock and stone as a medium.

Stone was "a constant" for Noguchi and his work, according to Hart.

"For him, it was a way of working with the earth's most fundamental material," he said.

The final show in the year's anniversary programming will open in March, and will be the first solo show at the Noguchi Museum featuring an artist other than its founder.

The interactive exhibit will be a Japanese tea house and garden created by artist Tom Sachs, which will be displayed at the museum and accessible to visitors.

Sachs will also be hosting a series of traditional Japanese tea ceremonies there throughout the viewing, though dates have not yet been set. Access to the ceremonies will be limited, with public spots doled out via a lottery.

Hart said the series of shows aim to showcase how Noguchi's legacy continues to hold a strong place in today's art world.

"I think the main goal for the year was to demonstrate the ongoing potency of Noguchi," he said, saying the artist started the space when Long Island City — where his studio was located — was not nearly the vibrant hub it is today.

"As Long Island City grows, we really hope to be a linchpin in the cultural emergence of Queens," Hart said.

For more about the Noguchi Museum and its upcoming exhibits, visit its website.