Reflections by Brad Balfour
Though I’m not sure I was ready for it, I made my way on September 30th to the re-opened Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum for its media preview. That was the first major arts space I’ve visited in about six months. Before the lock-down, I had been an enthusiastic visitor of such places, where I could be stimulated both aesthetically and socially (note the above photo of two fellow investigators that I had met at the event).
Late in February, shortly before the pandemic forced the global shutdown on March 13th, cutting-edge Dutch cutting-edge thinker/architect Rem Koolhaas had unveiled “Countryside, The Future” — his expansive Guggenheim exhibition which examines the experience of the country vs city life. I was there at its press preview in February and wrote a piece reflecting on its prescient notions. It seemed fitting that in re-viewing this show, IEUSA should also offer a list of the spaces that have been re-opening and re-start your need for museums.
Now, with this week’s Guggenheim re-opening, and that of The New Museum, most of the major arts spaces are to the general public. Many had opened with Governor Cuomo’s blessing in August, but others have been rolling out over time through the month of September in October. And since restaurants, cafes and bars are also re-opening, take in one or the other to bring life back to the City.
This of course, has implications beyond just having something else to do. After spending more than six months without attending events and going to these places, I wondered how much I wanted to re-engage. Am I ready to see people, consider art and culture, and should I try to re-filter it in some new way? Has this break from my old life offering me an opportunity to do it in some new way or does it make me want to do my whole life differently?In some strange fashion, I believe this pause has given everyone an opportunity to reconsider their lives. Are we doing all that we can do to make them better, deal with people differently and try some new things? Well, I hope so.
As I consider these questions, I looked up online what was going to be available.
I turned to the site TheSkint.com as a source for this material and I give them a plug here; the aesthetically or historically inclined can make their way to most of these institutions again.
Here’s a listing of what’s open, where, and if it matters now, when. I will revise this list as new information of openings comes in.
American Kennel Club Museum of the Dog
hours: Tues-Sun 10am-5pm
admission: $15 general, $10 seniors/students
Opened for the general public on 8/25
American Folk Art Museum
hours: Weds-Sun 11:30am-6pm
admission: free
Opened on 8/26 members, 8/28 general public
Museum of Modern Art
hours: Mon-Sun 10:30am-5:30pm
(Mondays are open to members only)
(admission had been free through 9/27)
Opened 8/27 for the general public
Museum of the City of New York
hours: Thurs-Mon 10am-6pm (Thurs. 10-11am is open to seniors and other high-risk individuals)
admission: free thru 9/14
Opened 8/27 general public
Metropolitan Museum of Art
hours: Thurs-Fri 12-7pm, Sat-Mon 10am-5pm
Admission: Pay-what-you-wish admission for New York State residents and students from NY, NJ and CT; otherwise fee is $25 general, $17 seniors, $12 students (includes same-day admission to The Met Cloisters)
Opened 8/27 members, 8/29 general public
Poster House
hours: Thurs-Sun 11am-7pm
admission: suggested through September
(reg. $12 general, $8 seniors/students)
Opened 8/27 members, 8/31 general public
Whitney Museum of American Art
hours: Mon 11:30am-6pm, Thurs 11:30am-6pm, Fri 1:30-9pm, Sat-Sun 1-6pm
admission: pay-what-you-wish
Opened 8/27 members, 9/3 general public
Fotografiska New York
hours: Weds-Sun 11am-9pm
admission: $24 general, $14 students/seniors
Opened 8/28 general public
The Morgan Library and Museum
hours: Weds-Sun 10:30am-5pm (Weds+Sat 10:30-11:30am reserved for members)
admission: $22 general, $14 seniors, $13 students
Opened 9/2 members, 9/5 general public
American Museum of Natural History
hours: Weds-Sun 10am-5:30pm
admission: pay-what-you-wish for NY, NJ and CT residents; otherwise fee is $23-33 general, $18-27 seniors/students
Opened 9/2 members, 9/9 general public
Bronx Museum of the Arts
hours: Weds-Sun 1-6pm
admission: free
Opened 9/9 general public
Swiss Institute of Contemporary Art
hours: Weds-Fri 2-8pm, Sat 12-8pm, Sun 12-6pm
admission: free
Opened 9/9 general public
Brooklyn Museum
hours: Weds-Sun 11am-6pm
admission: suggested admission: $16-20 general, $10-12 seniors/students
Opened 9/9 community day, 9/10-11 members, 9/12 general public
Museum of Jewish Heritage
hours: Weds, Thurs, Sun 10am-5pm
admission: $16 general, $12 seniors, $10 students
Opened 9/9 members, 9/13 general public
Society Of Illustrators
hours: Weds-Sat 11am-5pm
admission: $15 general, $10 seniors/students
Opened 9/9 members, 9/16 general public
The Noguchi Museum
hours: Weds-Fri 10am-1pm, 2-5pm; Sat-Sun 11am-2pm, 3-6pm
admission: $10 general, $5 seniors/students
Opened 9/9 members, 9/23 general public
The Rubin Museum of Art
hours: Thurs 11am-5pm, Fri 11am-10pm, Sat-Mon 11am-5pm
admission: $19 general, $14 seniors/students, free Fridays 6-10pm
Opened 9/10 members, 9/12 general public
The New-York Historical Society
hours: Thurs 11am-5pm (age 65+ and immunocompromised), Fri 11am-8 pm, Sat-Sun 11am-5pm
admission: free
Opened 9/11 general public
El Museo del Barrio
hours: Sat+Sun 12-5pm
admission: suggested admission: $9 general, $5 seniors/students
Opened 9/12 general public
The Met Cloisters
hours: Thurs-Mon 10am-5pm
admission: with same-day fee to The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Pay-what-you-wish for New York State residents and NY, NJ and CT students; otherwise admission is $25 general, $17 seniors, $12 students
Opened 9/12 general public
9/11 Memorial Museum
hours: Thurs-Fri 12-7pm, Sat-Mon 10am-5pm
admission: TBA
Opened 9/11 for 9/11 families, 9/12 general public
New Museum
hours: Weds-Sun 12-6pm
admission: $18 general; $15 seniors and disabled; $12 students
Opened 9/15 general public
Queens Museum
hours: Weds-Sun 12-5pm
admission: free
Opened 9/16 general public
MOMA PS1
hours: Thurs-Mon 12-6pm
admission: suggested at $10, $5 seniors/students
Opened 9/17 general public
The Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum
hours: Weds-Sun 10am-5pm
admission: $33 general, $31 seniors
Opened 9/25 general public
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
hours: Thurs-Mon 11am-6pm
admission: $25 general, $18 seniors/students share
Opened 9/30 members, 10/3 general public
[this list will be further updated as spaces re-open]