Free museum shows and exhibits in New York City
Want to get a dose of art and culture without spending a penny? Head to one of these free museum shows.
Attention, art lovers! (Or people who occasionally view art! Or those who’d like to view more!) There are free museum shows happening in Chelsea and beyond every day. Find ’em below.
RECOMMENDED: Full list of free things to do in NYC
Midnight Moment
- Critics choice
- Free
Short film “Surfacing” takes over roughly a dozen of the plaza’s video screens for this nightly event. The three-minute clip, created by artist Neil Goldberg, stars subway commuters as they stumble out of the underground and orient themselves to NYC’s streets.
- Times Square Broadway, between 42nd and 47th Sts
- Thu Jun 20 - Sun Jun 30
"Busted"
- Free
These sculptures, created by nine artists, riff on portraits and monuments from around the world. Think Roman forum, but with a waft of humor and a contemporary spin. Works you’ll see among the benches and greenery include a bronze satyr, Colin Powell and a giant nose. Sculptors represented are Frank Benson, Steven Claydon, George Condo, Mark Grotjahn, Sean Landers, Goshka Macuga, Ruby Neri, Amalia Pica and Andra Ursuta.
- The High Line Washington St at Gansevoort St, to Tenth Ave at 30th St
- Thu Jun 20 - Tue Dec 31
Crest Hardware Art Show
- Critics choice
- Free
The Williamsburg hardware store hosts its annual art exhibit, in which the work is displayed along with stock on the shelves. Crest co-owner Joe Franquinha curates the show, and this year, you can check out pieces by more than 100 artists, all of whom were inspired by nuts, bolts and other fix-it bits. Visit cresthardwareartshow.com for more information.
- Crest Hardware 558 Metropolitan Ave, between Lorimer St and Union Ave
- Thu Jun 20 - Sat Aug 17
"On Time/Grand Central at 100"
- Critics choice
- Free
MTA Arts for Transit and Urban Design curate this contemporary-art exhibit that celebrates the transit hub’s centennial. Artists tackle the theme of time, with pieces that include a video of a recent Improv Everywhere performance in the terminal, an installation of Grand Central ephemera, and photographs and paintings that reference the station’s iconic imagery.
- New York Transit Museum Gallery Annex Grand Central Terminal, E 42nd St, between Lexington and Vanderbilt Aves
- Thu Jun 20 - Sun Jul 7
"The Park: Paintings by Erik Benson"
- Critics choice
- Free
Artist Erik Benson cuts and rearranges dried acrylic paint to craft landscapes that depict playgrounds, jungle gyms and slides devoid of people.
- Arsenal Gallery in Central Park 830 Fifth Ave, at 64th St, third floor
- Thu Jun 20
"Design(in) the New Heart of New York"
- Critics choice
- Free
Hudson Yards, the 26-acre redevelopment effort currently reshaping Manhattan's West Side, is the subject of this exhibit, which features a behind-the-scenes look at the project's design and evolution.
- AIA Center for Architecture 536 La Guardia Pl, between Bleecker and W 3rd Sts
- Thu Jun 20 - Sat Jun 29
The Newsstand
- Critics choice
- Free
This project by creative firm ALLDAYEVERYDAY, brings indie publications underground, to a pop-up shop in the passageway between the Lorimer St L and Metropolitan Ave G stations. Lele Saveri, founder of the 8 Ball Zine Fair, curates a selection of zines and indie publications; Saveri also solicited contributions from booksellers McNally Jackson, Desert Island and Dashwood Books. Music fiends can find CDs, cassettes and vinyl curated by Greenpoint record shop Co-op 87. The selection of on-sale items rotates frequently; to keep up with what's happening, follow ALLDAYEVERYDAY on Twitter at @ALLDAYNYC.
"Infinity of Nations: Art and History in the Collections of the National Museum of the American Indian"
- Critics choice
- Free
Presenting a diverse range of artistic output by natives of North, Central and South America, the permanent exhibition includes approximately 700 pieces spanning thousands of years. Tykes can gape at headdresses, 2,000-year-old duck decoys created by peoples in the Great Basin, elaborate masks from the Northwest Coast, and Olmec and Mayan carvings.
- National Museum of the American Indian Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House, 1 Bowling Green, between State and Whitehall Sts
- Thu Jun 20 - Tue Dec 31
"Doodle 4 Google"
- Critics choice
- Free
The annual nationwide contest asks students (grades K–12) to submit their own version of the Google logo based on the 2013 theme: "My Best Day Ever." In addition to seeing the winning design on the Google homepage for 24 hours on May 23, the top submissions from each of the 50 states, judged on such criteria as artistic merit, creativity and ability to communicate, are on view at AMNH.
- American Museum of Natural History Central Park West, at 79th St, 10024
- Thu Jun 20 - Sun Jul 14
"From Bande Dessinée to Artist's Book: Testing the Limits of Franco-Belgian Comics"
- Critics choice
- Free
See the work of Franco-Belgian comic-book artists, more than 60 of whom are featured in this exhibition, and explore their important role in blurring the line between high-art tomes and kid-aimed flip books.
- Center for Book Arts 28 W 27th St, between Broadway and Sixth Ave, third floor
- Thu Jun 20 - Sat Jun 29
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