Photo: Ajay Suresh from New York, NY, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will host the Festival’s kickoff in collaboration with Neue Galerie New York; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum; Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum; The Jewish Museum; Museum of the City of New York; El Museo del Barrio; and The Africa Center
Eight New York City museums are once again coming together to present the 44th annual Museum Mile Festival, which will return to Fifth Avenue with in-person programming on Tuesday, June 14, from 6 to 9 p.m. The celebration of art and culture will feature live programs, musical performances, exhibitions, and art-making activities for all ages, as well as additional virtual events. Beloved by culture enthusiasts who missed the in-person Festival the past two years, this one-of-a-kind celebration will again take place all along Museum Mile. The event is free of charge.
The eight museums participating in this long-standing collaboration are The Metropolitan Museum of Art; Neue Galerie New York; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum; Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum; The Jewish Museum; Museum of the City of New York; El Museo del Barrio; and The Africa Center. The Museum of the City of New York, El Museo del Barrio, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art are members of the Cultural Institutions Group (CIG), a diverse coalition of 34 nonprofit museums, performing arts centers, historical societies, zoos, and botanical gardens in New York that share a private-public partnership with the City and reside within City-owned property. The Church of Heavenly Rest and the New York Academy of Medicine will also participate in the Festival.
“When we say ‘NYC is Back,’ this is what we mean: we’re back to connecting with one another at cultural events, celebrating our diversity and creativity, and providing space for joy and fun and reflection,” said Cultural Affairs Commissioner Laurie Cumbo. “We’ve missed opportunities like the amazing Museum Mile Festival for the past two years, and could not be more excited to have it back. From puppet shows to salsa concerts to exhibition tours: I encourage all New Yorkers to put on their sneakers and check out the Festival’s triumphant return!”
The Museum Mile Festival, which takes place on Fifth Avenue between 82nd and 110th Street, was established in 1978 to increase public awareness of its member institutions, promote public support of the arts, and bring communities together. For the past two years, the Festival was hosted virtually due to the pandemic but will return in person to Fifth Avenue this year. Virtual audiences can follow the hashtag #MuseumMileFestival on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook throughout the evening.
Highlights of In-person and Virtual Events by Cultural Partners:
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Met will host the Festival kickoff with the sounds of Slavic Soul Party at 6 p.m. Performances include IBEX Puppetry on the plaza with puppets, puppeteers, and kites, as well as “Groove on the Plaza” with Balkan brass and jazz sounds of Slavic Soul Party. There will be drop-in art making and drawing, including puppet making with IBEX Puppetry and lantern making. A special “Ask the Artists” with the young artists of P.S. Art 2022 will mark the opening of the annual exhibition featuring work from talented New York City public school students. There will be a bilingual Storytime with Drag Queen Story Hour.
Neue Galerie New York
The exhibition Austrian Masterworks from the Neue Galerie will be open to visitors. The Neue Galerie celebrates the 20th anniversary of its founding this year, and this presentation features highlights from the museum’s extensive collection of Austrian art from the period 1890 to 1940, including major works by Gustav Klimt, Oskar Kokoschka, Alfred Kubin, and Egon Schiele.
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
Join “Sketch with Jeff” outside the museum with illustrator Jeff Hopkins, who will take inspiration from the iconic building. The exhibitions Cecilia Vicuña: Spin Spin Triangulene, Vasily Kandinsky: Around the Circle, and The Thannhauser Collection will be open to visitors, along with poetry interventions throughout the Guggenheim’s architecture in a project conceived by the museum’s inaugural Poetin Residence, Taylor Johnson. The Guggenheim will also feature zero-waste recycling stations outside the museum.
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
Cooper Hewitt will present its latest exhibition, Designing Peace, which explores the unique role design can play in pursuing peace. Visitors will encounter a wide range of design responses to the underlying reasons for conflict and division and will be encouraged to consider their own agency in designing peace. Also on view will be Design and Healing: Creative Responses to Epidemics, which examines design’s role in times of crisis. The exhibition presents architectural case studies and historical narratives alongside creative design responses to COVID-19.
The Jewish Museum
La Rumba de La MUSA, a diasporic collective of artists who gather around the voice of the Caribbean drum, will perform three sets outside the museum at 6, 7, and 8 p.m. Families can view the installation Coney Island and be inspired to sculpt their own animal in action using self-hardening clay and markers. Printed family guides will also be available for works from this installation along with other art on view. The exhibition Scenes from the Collection will also be open to visitors.
Museum of the City of New York
Explore exhibitions that delve into the history, culture, and spirit of New York City. Travel back to a pre digital New York in the latest exhibition Analog City. Experience the sights and sounds of the 1980s in the new blockbuster New York New Music: 1980–1986. Visit the beloved Stettheimer Dollhouse and enjoy the museum’s new Family Guide, providing fun for all ages.
New York Academy of Medicine
The New York Academy of Medicine’s Library will hand out crayons and coloring sheets from its annual #ColorOurCollections campaign, featuring colorable images from over 100 cultural institutions around the world.
El Museo del Barrio
El Museo celebrates the spring opening of Raphael Montañez Ortiz: A Contextual Retrospective, the largest exhibition to date dedicated to the artist, activist, educator, and founder of El Museo del Barrio, with tours of the exhibition and interactive art-making workshops led by museum educators. The evening will also feature a live musical performance by Jose Trombone & Conjunto Rumbon bringing the iconic salsa gorda sound that emerged in New York City during the golden era of salsa, and DJ Taina Enikeyi spinning Afro-Caribbean Boricua sazón with an incomparable New York flavor that makes you groove and move.
The Africa Center
African/American: Making the Nation’s Table, presented by The Museum of Food and Drink in partnership with The Africa Center, will be open to visitors. Events will also include a musical performance by Nkumu Katalay.
Church of the Heavenly Rest
Church of the Heavenly Rest (an all-welcoming Episcopal church) will welcome back the Lesbian & Gay Big Apple Corps marching band. There will also be balloon figures and activities for children and families. The exhibition Earth, Water, Wind, and Fire by Steven Gifford will be open to visitors, as well as the church itself, which opened on its current site in 1929 with art deco informed architecture and stunning stainedglass windows.
Museum Mile Festival is part of Festival of New York, a citywide celebration featuring 200+ diverse organizations with events from Memorial Day to Labor Day 2022.
