Whitney Museum Celebrates Last Days of 2024 Biennial During Free Second Sundays on August 11

Installation view of Whitney Biennial 2024: Even Better Than the Real Thing (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, March 20–August 11, 2024). Photograph by Ryan Lowry

The Whitney Museum of American Art will offer free admission all day Sunday, August 11, as part of its ongoing Free Second Sundays initiative. Celebrate the final days of the 2024 Biennial with creative activities led by artist Eamon Ore-Giron, and then check out his work in the fifth-floor galleries. The day includes storytimes for families and visitors of all ages with The New York Public Library, family-friendly programs, hands-on artmaking, and guided tours. This is one of the last chances to see Whitney Biennial 2024: Even Better Than the Real Thing in its entirety before it closes on Sunday, August 11. Floor 6 of the Biennial will remain on view through Sunday, September 29.

On Sunday, August 11, Free Second Sundays continue with free admission at the Whitney for all visitors from 10:30 am–6 pm. From 11 am–4 pm, visitors of all ages are invited to make creature collages with Biennial artist Eamon Ore-Giron inspired by his paintings that reimagine deities from ancient Peruvian and Mexican cultures. This activity takes place in the Museum’s lobby and visitors can get temporary tattoos featuring Ore-Giron’s vibrant colors and semi-abstract forms before exploring the artist’s paintings in the galleries. From 11 am–3 pm, join Whitney Museum educators in the third-floor Artspace to design magnetic mosaics. Drop in to create geometric compositions or collaborate with other visitors contributing to the mosaic that evolves throughout the day. Free storytimes with NYPL librarians will take place in the Museum’s seventh-floor galleries at 11 am, 1 pm, and 3 pm. For more details about the August 11 schedule of activities, please visit whitney.org/visit/second-sundays.

While general admission to the Museum is free on Sunday, August 11, tickets are still required, and capacity is limited. Advance booking is strongly recommended, and tickets can be reserved at whitney.org/admission.

Additional free offerings celebrating the final days of the 2024 Biennial include a special DJ set by Biennial artist Eamon Ore-Giron and music by Public Records during Free Friday Night on August 9 from 5–10 pm.

Special events, programs, exhibition-related performances, and screenings may require additional tickets. For more information on these offerings, please visit whitney.org/events.

Free Second Sundays at the Whitney help connect more people to the Museum and its mission of celebrating contemporary American art and artists. Second Sundays is made possible by a generous three-year grant from the Art Bridges Foundation’s Access for All Program, which supports increased access to museums across the country and fosters engagement with local communities by focusing on common barriers to access. The program and another Whitney initiative, Free Friday Nights, both aim to reduce barriers to access, removing admission fees and offering programs that are entry points for anyone interested in visiting.

PROGRAM SUPPORT

Free Friday Nights are generously supported by Jen Rubio and Stewart Butterfield and Paul Arnhold and Wes Gordon.

Generous support for Second Sundays is provided by Art Bridges Foundation’s Access for All program.

ABOUT THE WHITNEY

The Whitney Museum of American Art, founded in 1930 by the artist and philanthropist Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875–1942), houses the foremost collection of American art from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Mrs. Whitney, an early and ardent supporter of modern American art, nurtured groundbreaking artists when audiences were still largely preoccupied with the Old Masters. From her vision arose the Whitney Museum of American Art, which has been championing the most innovative art of the United States for ninety years. The core of the Whitney’s mission is to collect, preserve, interpret, and exhibit American art of our time and serve a wide variety of audiences in celebration of the complexity and diversity of art and culture in the United States. Through this mission and a steadfast commitment to artists, the Whitney has long been a powerful force in support of modern and contemporary art and continues to help define what is innovative and influential in American art today.

Whitney Museum Land Acknowledgment
The Whitney is located in Lenapehoking, the ancestral homeland of the Lenape. The name Manhattan comes from their word Mannahatta, meaning “island of many hills.” The Museum’s current site is close to land that was a Lenape fishing and planting site called Sapponckanikan (“tobacco field”). The Whitney acknowledges the displacement of this region’s original inhabitants and the Lenape diaspora that exists today.

As a museum of American art in a city with vital and diverse communities of Indigenous people, the Whitney recognizes the historical exclusion of Indigenous artists from its collection and program. The Museum is committed to addressing these erasures and honoring the perspectives of Indigenous artists and communities as we work for a more equitable future. To read more about the Museum’s Land Acknowledgement, visit the Museum’s website.

VISITOR INFORMATION

The Whitney Museum of American Art is located at 99 Gansevoort Street between Washington and West Streets, New York City. Public hours are Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday, 10:30 am–6 pm; Friday, 10:30 am–10 pm; and Saturday and Sunday, 10:30 am–6 pm. Closed Tuesday. Visitors eighteen years and under and Whitney members: FREE. The Museum offers FREE admission and special programming for visitors of all ages every Friday evening from 5–10 pm and on the second Sunday of every month.