ROCKLAND, Maine — The Center for Maine Contemporary Art announced Thursday that it will open its new building on Sunday, June 26.

The public opening celebration will begin with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the 21 Winter St. complex that has been under construction for more than a year.

Opening day festivities will be free to the public.

The 11,500-square-foot building will include three exhibition galleries, one of which will double as a lecture hall and performance space, a gift shop, an art laboratory classroom, and a 2,200-square-foot courtyard.

The glass-enclosed courtyard is unlike any other building in the state, CMCA stated in a news release Thursday.

“The opening of this new building will start a new chapter in contemporary art in the state,” said CMCA Director Suzette McAvoy in the release. “By creating an architecturally significant space in the heart of Rockland’s downtown arts district, CMCA will empower itself, more than ever before, to pursue its core mission of showcasing well-known and emerging Maine artists while taking Maine contemporary art to a new and elevated level.”

CMCA announced in May 2013 that it was moving from its longtime home in Rockport Village to Rockland. The city’s planning board approved the project in April 2014

Three solo exhibitions of work by artists Jonathan Borofsky, Alex Katz and Rollin Leonard will kick off the inaugural exhibition schedule, according to the release.

The new arts center was designed by architect Toshiko Mori, who is the Robert P. Hubbard Professor at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design, where she was chair of the Department of Architecture from 2002 to 2008, the release states. Mori is the principal of Toshiko Mori Architect, which she established in 1981 in New York City.

Founded in 1952 as Maine Coast Artists in Rockport, CMCA stated it has evolved to become Maine’s leading contemporary arts organization. It was renamed the Center for Maine Contemporary Art in 2002.

From June 26 through Oct. 31, the CMCA will be open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 1-6 p.m. Sunday. It also will be open 10 a.m. until 8 p.m. on the first Friday of each month during that time frame. The November through May winter schedule will see CMCA closed on Mondays and Tuesdays and closed on federal holidays.

Admission for adults and seniors will be $6, and children under 18 years old will be allowed in free. Admission also will be free for center members.

For more information, call 701-5005 or visit cmcanow.org.