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
"Busted"
- Free
Ditch the stuffy museums and head to the High Line, where you can see a number of sculptures that riff on portraits and monuments, created by nine artists 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 include 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
- Tue May 21 - Wed Sep 18
"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
- Tue May 21 - 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
- Tue May 21 - 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
- Tue May 21 - Sat Jun 29
"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
- Tue May 21 - Tue Dec 31
"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
- Tue May 21 - Sat Jun 29
"100 Years of Flamenco in NYC"
- Free
The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts and Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana present this exhibit in the Astor Gallery, featuring costumes, castanets, engravings and photographs. Screenings of rare documentary films, as well as seminars, lectures and performances, accompany the show, which was curated by scholars Ninotchka Bennahum and K. Meira Goldberg.
- New York Public Library for the Performing Arts 40 Lincoln Center Plaza, at 66th St
- Tue May 21 - Sat Aug 3
“Dramatic Jewelry: The Five Masters”
- Free
Aaron Faber Gallery, 666 Fifth Ave at 53rd St (212-586-8411, aaronfaber.com). Subway: E, M to Fifth Ave-53rd St; F to 57th St While trend-conscious women all over the world are currently donning bold and colorful rings, necklaces and bangles, this contemporary five-designer showcase brings statement baubles to another level. You’ll find glass displays filled with one-of-a-kind bespoke pieces from British designer Charlotte De Syllas, American craftsman Michael Good, Italian sculptor Paolo Marcolongo, Germany’s Peter Schmid, and couple Tom and Jutta Munsteiner. The Instagram-worthy items include 18-karat gold brooches, blown-glass-and-metal rings and geometrically cut gems that are more wearable art than jewelry. On May 18, Good stops by to talk about his work and anticlastic raising, the metalsmithing technique he developed (2–5pm; free).
Alexandre Arrechea, No Limits
- Critics choice
- Free
A new city-within-a-city has sprung up along the Park Avenue Mall: the latest public-art show conceived by the Fund for Park Avenue’s Sculpture Committee. Cuban-born artist Alexandre Arrechea, 42, put up the steel sculptures that create a walkable art tour between 54th and 67th Sts. Each piece is a riff on an iconic NYC building that twists and bends its source of inspiration as though it were a malleable garden hose. Among the architectural gems depicted are the Empire State and Chrysler buildings, plus lesser-known edifices such as the Helmsley, Seagram and Citigroup buildings.—Lee Magill
- Park Avenue Mall Park Ave, between 49th and 68th Sts, 10022
- Wed May 22 - Sun Jun 9
"Doodle 4 Google"
- Critics choice
- Free
Youths in grades K through 12 submit their own version of the Google logo for this annual contest; this year’s theme is “If I could travel in time, I’d visit…” See the finalists from each state, as well as the winning image, which graced the Google homepage on May 18.
- American Museum of Natural History Central Park West, at 79th St, 10024
- Wed May 22 - Sun Jul 14
