The Press Release:
Eight New York City museums are once again coming together to present the 46th annual Museum Mile Festival, New York City’s biggest block party, which will take place, rain or shine, on Tuesday, June 18, 2024, 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. Festival attendees can walk Museum Mile on Fifth Avenue between 82nd Street and 110th Street while visiting eight of New York City’s finest cultural institutions, all of which open to the public with free admission throughout the event.

Museum Mile received its name because of the cultural diversity and vast richness of the museums located on the stretch of the Upper East Side. Since its inception, upwards of two million visitors have come from all over the country to take part in this annual celebration. The Museum Mile Festival was established in 1978 to increase public awareness of its member institutions, promote public support of the arts, and bring communities together.

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, the New York Academy of Medicine, The Asia Society, AKC Museum of the Dog, and 92Y will also participate in the festival as cultural partners.

The Museum Mile Festival’s opening ceremony takes place at 5:45 p.m. at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum (2 East 91st Street). Virtual audiences can follow the hashtag #MuseumMileFestival on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook throughout the evening.

Highlights of events and offerings presented by the museum partners:

The Metropolitan Museum of Art (82nd Street):
The Met will present a wide range of programming for audiences of all ages, including: a chamber music performance from Sugar Hill Salon inspired by The Harlem Renaissance and Transatlantic Modernism, drop-in gallery chats in Hidden Faces: Covered Portraits of the Renaissance, artmaking activities, Storytime for all ages, photo opportunities, and more. The Met will host a closing performance on the steps of the Museum with a New Orleans-style jazz performance by The Jon Lampley Band, presented by the National Jazz Museum in Harlem.

Neue Galerie New York (86th Street):
Neue Galerie New York will be open with free admission throughout the Museum Mile Festival. “Paula Modersohn-Becker: Ich bin Ich / I am Me” and “Austrian Masterworks from the Neue Galerie” will be on view. Admission will be granted on a first-come, first-served basis. Please note that the Neue Galerie’s Visitor Policies remain in effect for Museum Mile Festival, and that children under 12 will not be admitted.

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (89th Street):
The Guggenheim will host family-friendly activities including water painting, and a sustainability program presented by the museum’s School, Youth and Family team and Green Team involving upcycling of fabric to make a banner in the shape of the Guggenheim building. Visitors will have access to current exhibitions Jenny Holzer: Light Line and By Way Of: Material and Motion in the Guggenheim Collection.

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum (91st Street):
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum will feature hands-on design activities, as well as access to its exhibitions, including Give Me a Sign: The Language of Symbols; Acquired! Shaping the National Design Collection; and An Atlas of Es Devlin.

The Jewish Museum (92nd Street):
The Jewish Museum will feature a musical performance by Matt Darieu World Klezmer Kapelye, presented as part of our ongoing collaboration with Bang on a Can (three sets at 6 pm, 7 pm, and 8 pm); a drop-in art making project; and the exhibitions Overflow, Afterglow: New Work in Chromatic Figuration and Frederick Kiesler: Vision Machines.

Museum of the City of New York (103rd-104th Streets):
Museum of the City of New York will feature activities for kids, as well as access to its exhibitions including This Is New York: 100 Years of the City in Art and Pop Culture (named the “Best exhibition of 2023 by Time Out New York); Changing the Face of Democracy: Shirley Chisholm at 100; and Byzantine Bembé: New York by Manny Vega.

El Museo del Barrio (105th Street)
El Museo del Barrio invites Festival attendees to explore its current exhibitions, including Amalia Mesa-Bains: Archaeology of Memory, the first retrospective exhibition by the pioneering artist, curator, and theorist, and Cuerpo: Carlos Martiel, the first solo exhibition in a New York City Museum of Carlos Martiel, the inaugural recipient of the Maestro Dobel Latinx Art Prize. El Museo’s celebration features outdoor art-marking activities––inspired by the exhibitions––live musical performances by Osmay Calvo and his band, and gallery tours. All ages are welcome!

The Africa Center (110th Street):
The Africa Center invites Museum Mile visitors to explore two new exhibitions Except this time nothing returns from the ashes, Asmaa Jama and Gouled Ahmed’s short film and exhibition that reimagines African identity and historical memory, and I Hope This Helps a multi-sensory exhibition by Harlem-based artist, Samiya Bashir. The Museum Mile program will include performances by Asmaa Jama, Caleb Giles, and Ladan Osman, and Danaya Band, a West African collective will bring the energy and rhythms of Malian, Mandingo, Afrobeat music to The Africa Center plaza, and more.

Highlights of events and offerings presented by cultural partners:
Join Asia Society for a variety of family friendly crafts and activities as we celebrate all that New York’s cultural institutions have to offer. Learn more about our current and upcoming exhibitions and events, and pick up maps, postcards, and other giveaways related to COAL + ICE, an immersive photography and video exhibition that visualizes the causes and consequences of the climate crisis and foregrounds creative solutions.

Church of Heavenly Rest (90th Street) presents a performance by The Queer Big Apple
AKC Museum of the Dog (40th Street) (we would like to set up at 91st street)
The AKC Museum of the Dog will offer fun activities to do with your dogs! Insert yourself in a painting from our collection, craft a show ribbon or a dog tag, or try out some agility obstacles with your furry best friends.

Asia Society (70th Street)
Corps Marching Band. Other activities include art & music for kids, a “Stop and Be Dazzled” public art installation, art exhibit by James DeWoody: Inward and Outward—Past and Present , and an organ demo inside our beautiful church building!

New York Academy of Medicine (103rd Street)
The New York Academy of Medicine will be outside to help you decompress! You can color images and turn them into buttons, take a picture with our skeleton, or get a glimpse at the history of public health through a few items from our collection. There will be giveaways throughout the event.

92NY will offer program information and activities including glitter tattoos, stamp art print activities, bookmark making, and a wheel of fitness presented by the May Center.

Participating museums offer programs and services for visitors with disabilities. Visitors needing assistance should contact the museums they plan to visit to arrange access accommodations and for further information.

Download the Bloomberg Connects app before your visit.

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Piercing Ken Thoughts: This is something I’ve been interested in for quite some time but truth be told I’ve never participated in the Museum Mile Festival. Sure its great to be able to visit so many places but historically I’ve needed at least three hours in each individual place if I chose to pay any of them a visit. From the whole list I’ve only visited the Museum of the City Of New York, The Met and The Guggenheim with the latter being far too long ago and due for an exploration. I’ll actually be out of town for this years event so can’t even explore the region to see what content I could wrangle up. Wrapping this one up I wonder what you out there in the readership think about it. Will you be hitting any of these magnificent places to explore? Chime in down below in the comments section and I will see you again next time.

Official: https://www.mcny.org/
Official: https://www.metmuseum.org/
Official: https://www.guggenheim.org/
Official: https://www.neuegalerie.org/
Official: https://www.cooperhewitt.org/
Official: https://thejewishmuseum.org/
Official: https://www.elmuseo.org/
Official: https://www.theafricacenter.org/