Whitney Museum Marks a Decade Downtown with Special Free Programs Including DJ Sets by Swizz Beatz, April Hunt, and More!

Installation view of Amy Sherald: American Sublime (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, April 9-August 10, 2025). Ecclesia (The Meeting of Inheritance and Horizons), 2024. Photograph by Filip Wolak

In celebration of 10 years in the Meatpacking District, the Whitney’s Decade Downtown lineup includes 10 weeks of free programming kicking off in May.

The Whitney Museum of American Art invites visitors of all ages to celebrate the Whitney’s decade downtown! The Museum is offering free admission, DJ sets and music, artmaking activities, open studios for teens, neighborhood walking tours, and more all month long during Free Friday Nights and Free Second Sunday. As part of a neighborhood rich in history, creativity, and cultural exchange, the Whitney has played an integral role in contributing to this vibrant cultural center on Manhattan’s west side by bringing art, ideas, and community together with its state-of-the-art exhibitions, education programing, free admissions initiatives, and strong engagement with partner organizations and neighbors. Gather with family and friends to enjoy free programs and experience the exhibitions currently on view. During the weekend of May 9 and May 11, join a Free Friday Night dance party in the Whitney’s lobby featuring DJ sets by Swizz Beatz and April Hunt, along with other music performances. During Free Second Sunday, the lineup offers exciting programs for artists of all ages, as well as live performances and walking tours of the neighborhood surrounding the Museum.

Friday, May 2

The Whitney’s Free Friday Nights feature music and DJ sets, and the latest information on upcoming performances and Friday night programs is always available on whitney.org. There will also be an open studio for teens in the third-floor Artspace from 4–6 pm. Teen can join contemporary artists and educators to learn new techniques through hands-on artmaking projects inspired by themes and artists in the Whitney’s exhibitions and collection.

Friday, May 9

On May 9, the Whitney is partnering with Mixtape to co-host a special Free Friday Night filled with music and dance in the lobby of the Museum. Mixtape Vol. 1 will feature a live performance by trumpeter Dave Guy, known for his work with The Roots and Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings. Guy will be accompanied by producer and The Roots member Stro Elliot at 7:15 pm followed by a dance party featuring DJ sets by Swizz Beatz and April Hunt at 7:45 pm. Earlier in the day, there will be an open studio for teens in the third-floor Artspace from 4–6 pm where participants will draw inspiration from current exhibitions and the Museum’s collection and explore new methods through hands-on artmaking projects.

Sunday, May 11

On Sunday, May 11, the Whitney is offering free admission from 10:30 am–6 pm for all visitors. The Museum is excited to celebrate a decade downtown with this special edition of Free Second Sunday packed with creative programs and live music. From 11 am–4 pm, artists of all ages can draw inspiration from works on view from the Whitney’s collection that feature flowers before joining floral still life drawing in the third-floor theater. There will also be a live figure drawing session from 11 am–2 pm on the fifth floor where visitors can drop in and experiment with portraits of their own. Other all-ages artmaking programs include the collective bouquet in the third-floor Artspace from 12–3 pm. Inspired by Shifting Landscapes artist María Berrío, visitors can draw a flower celebrating an important woman in their life, then cut out the flower and add it to the collective bouquet.

From 1–2:30 pm, visitors can enjoy live music performances on the seventh floor during the program Embodying Eastman: Speculative Listening with Isaac Jean-François. Join BlackBox Ensemble for an unforgettable afternoon of live performance at the Whitney. This New York-based contemporary music ensemble and creative laboratory is committed to experimentation, collaboration, and education. This program includes a brief Q&A session with Eastman Scholar Isaac Jean-François, moderated by Cris Scorza, Chair of Education. Later on, there will be DJ sets by Lovie and Honeybun from 2:30–5:30 pm in the pop-up listening lounge on the seventh floor presented by Public Records. Lovie’s eclectic sets blend house, techno, and global club sounds, creating an electrifying and unpredictable sonic journey, while Honeybun’s signature style fuses deep grooves, left-field electronic textures, and soulful beats, making each set a dynamic and immersive experience.

Visitors can participate in Decade Downtown Whitney Walking Tours at 1 pm or 4 pm. Join a Whitney Museum Educator or Teaching Fellow to learn about the vibrant and varied cultural highlights within just a few blocks of the Whitney. Additional Second Sunday programs include free story times with librarians from The New York Public Library in the Museum’s lobby at 11 am, 1 pm, and 3 pm. The full schedule can be found at whitney.org/visit/second-sundays.

Friday, May 16

This Free Friday Night features a dance party with DJ Justin Strauss and DJ Shannon in the Whitney’s seventh floor at 5–10 pm. DJ Justin Strauss and DJ Shannon will pay tribute to the three decades of club music and culture that shaped New York’s downtown nightlife scene. There will also be a Decade Downtown Whitney Walking Tour offered at 6 pm. Led by a Whitney Museum Educator or Teaching Fellow, participants will learn about the surrounding neighborhood’s long, vibrant, and storied past.

Friday, May 23 and Friday, May 30

Enjoy art, drinks, special programming, music, city views, and more. Though admission is free, tickets are required and capacity is limited. Advance tickets are recommended. The latest information about Free Friday Nights programming is always available on whitney.org.

Ongoing Exhibition Tours

A variety of free exhibition tours led by Whitney educators, ranging from family-focused to 15-minute tours, are offered during Free Friday Nights and Free Second Sundays. Select tours include 15-Minute Tours: Highlights of Amy Sherald: American Sublime, 15-Minute Tours: Highlights of Whitney’s Collection, 15-Minute Tours: Highlights of Christine Sun Kim: All Day All Night, Recorridos Familiares, and exhibition tours of Shifting Landscapes. For further details on upcoming tours, please visit whitney.org/events.

While general admission to the Whitney is free every Friday from 5–10 pm and all day on Sunday, May 11, tickets are still required, and capacity is limited. Advance booking is strongly recommended, and Museum tickets can be reserved at whitney.org/admission.

New Free Admission Offerings at the Whitney

The Whitney Museum now offers free admission to all visitors 25 years of age and younger. The new Free 25 and Under program builds on the Museum’s popular Free Friday Nights and Free Second Sundays initiatives. With the addition of free admission for visitors 25 and under, the Whitney—already a leader in the field, providing free admission for visitors 18 and under for over a decade—offers one of the broadest and most comprehensive free admissions programs among museums in New York and the United States, affirming the Whitney’s commitment to broadening access to American contemporary art and culture, and to reaching new audiences. Free 25 and Under is made possible with the generous support of two three-year gifts from Whitney Museum Board members, longtime supporter Susan Hess, and artist Julie Mehretu.

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 twenty-five 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.