The Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality and the Rubin Museum Foundation have signed a new agreement transferring operational responsibility for the longstanding museum to the municipality. The move follows the Rubin family’s retirement from active management.
The Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality officially announced that Rubin Museum, the cultural institution operating on Bialik Street for 43 years, has joined the municipal cultural complex around the historic square.
The move follows the announcement by Carmela Rubin, the museum’s director and curator, and David Rubin, chair of the board, that they are retiring from its day-to-day management. Under the agreement signed on March 23, 2026, by the municipality, the artist’s family and the Rubin Museum Foundation, the municipality will assume responsibility for managing and operating the building as an integral part of the cultural center in the square.
What is changing?
Despite the transfer of operations to the municipality, the organizational structure will retain a deep connection to the artist’s legacy:
- Ownership: The Rubin Museum Foundation will continue to own the property and the valuable collection of works by painter Reuven Rubin.
- Oversight: The foundation will remain involved in supervising the museum’s ongoing activity.
- Municipal management: The municipality, which has long been a partner in the foundation and supported its work, will now manage the operational and community aspects.
The fifth institution in the square
With Rubin Museum’s official addition, the Bialik Square complex now includes five main cultural institutions:
- Bialik House, museum and archive of Israel’s national poet.
- Tel Aviv-Yafo City Museum.
- Felicja Blumental Music Center and Library.
- Liebling Haus, the White City Center.
- Rubin Museum.
The municipality said the move is expected to strengthen the square’s status as a leading cultural center and expand the artistic and historical programming offered to residents and visitors in the heart of the city.
