Design work underway for UB Libraries’ James Joyce Museum

BUFFALO, N.Y. – The UB Libraries has hired an architect for its new James Joyce Museum, a permanent exhibition space that will attract thousands of visitors, students and scholars from around the world to experience the achievements of the renowned Irish author, widely recognized as the 20th century’s most influential literary figure.

The architectural firm of Bostwick Design Partnership will lead a team that includes Luci Creative as the exhibit designer and Watts Architects & Engineers as a collaborating architect for the museum.

The international destination and cultural landmark will be built in roughly 11,000 square feet of the first-floor atrium in Abbott Hall on the South Campus.

The libraries received $10 million in funding from New York State in June 2023 for the museum, which will feature materials from the James Joyce Collection, one of the world’s greatest literary treasures housed by the Poetry Collection in 420 Capen Hall on the North Campus. That funding, a capital project priority for UB, was secured through the advocacy of Rep. Tim Kennedy, who was then serving in the New York State Senate, with the support of Gov. Kathy Hochul.

“I am thrilled by the progress to advance the University at Buffalo’s James Joyce Collection, preserving our Irish heritage here in Buffalo and showcasing the school’s extensive collection of James Joyce’s work on an entirely new scale,” Kennedy says. “The selection of the architectural design firm is an important step in fulfilling our vision of honoring Joyce’s life and artistic contributions for people from around the world to learn from and enjoy.

“I was proud to secure funding for this project while in the state Senate to build on our region’s commitment to creating inclusive spaces for learning and discovery.”

The James Joyce Collection, the largest such collection in the world, covers the entire span of Joyce’s artistic life and consists of more than 10,000 pages of the author’s working papers, notebooks, manuscripts, correspondence, photographs, memorabilia and ephemera, along with Joyce’s Paris library and a complete collection of significant Joyce criticism, as well as a complete set of Joyce first editions.

“Our vision of success is to create a vibrant exhibition and engagement center where a wide and inclusive audience can discover these resources,” says James Maynard, PhD, curator of the Poetry Collection. “We look forward to having an exhibit space in which we can convey through these materials the complex and engaging stories of Joyce’s literary life and work, his social and historical contexts, the enduring legacy of his influence and the history of the UB James Joyce Collection.”

The project officially began in August, and architects and designers conducted a site visit in September.

“That visit provided the foundation for a step one: a concept design, expected to be complete by early 2025,” says Kelly Hayes McAlonie, director of campus planning. “For concept design, the team thinks conceptually about the space and considers how best to tell the collection’s stories to visitors, turning a narrative of a visitor experience into the museum’s physical exhibits.”

The entire UB team is thrilled to be working with the architectural and design partners to share the James Joyce Collection with a broader group of people.

“As a public humanities project, we look forward to welcoming a diverse audience composed of the local and regional communities of Western New York, the UB community of faculty, staff, students and alumni, as well as Joyce enthusiasts and scholars, writers and artists, and cultural travelers from around the world,” says Maynard.