MUSE Winston-Salem to Transform Former Federal Court into Museum

MUSE Winston-Salem, a community history museum, is investing $3.1 million to transform the former U.S. Federal Bankruptcy Court building into its new permanent home!

October 20, 2025

Background of MUSE Winston-Salem

Founded in 2012 as the New Winston Museum, the museum was located at 713 South Marshall Street until 2017. The museum didn’t have its own space again until January 2020, when it began leasing the U.S. Federal Bankruptcy Court from the City of Winston-Salem.

Renovations to the building were expected to happen sooner, but fundraising was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Behind the Name: MUSE is both short for “museum” and an acronym for Museum of Understanding, Storytelling, and Engagement!

What to Expect

Once complete, MUSE Winston-Salem will feature multiple exhibits and experiential spaces, including:

• The Core Exhibition: Located in the former courtroom space, this exhibition will tell the overarching history of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County through digital interactive elements, artifacts, and story hubs highlighting individual stories. The exhibit will feature a 1905 horse-drawn fire engine!
  

• Immersive Theater: With three LED walls, the theater’s first exhibit will spotlight the history of the Safe Bus Company, a Black-owned transit service that ran from 1926 to 1972. The experience is being developed in partnership with UNCSA’s Media and Emerging Technology Lab.
• Sounds of Winston-Salem: A listening room where visitors can listen to local music traditions – from Moravian hymns to contemporary rock acts – through a retrofitted jukebox.
• Special Exhibition Gallery: This gallery will host regularly rotating exhibits, beginning with “The Ones Who Stayed,” which will feature works by the late local artist, Jerry Hanes, Sr.

• Community Gallery: A flexible, multipurpose space for programs, field trips, education, temporary galleries, and private events. 
  • The gallery will feature a large stained glass mural that formerly hung in the Smith Reynolds Airport.

Timeline

MUSE Winston-Salem is projected to open in late summer 2026.

The Big Picture

MUSE Winston-Salem will preserve and share the stories of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County while also helping complete a cultural corridor that runs from Industry Hill to Happy Hill.

Additionally, the museum will be located next to the future Peter Oliver Pavilion Gallery, which will spotlight the story of a local enslaved man who purchased his freedom and returned to Winston-Salem. The Peter Oliver Pavilion Gallery is expected to open at least a year after MUSE.