Current and Upcoming Art Events in NYC

Art museums have seen a significant drop in attendance, revenue, and programming during the COVID pandemic. Many major performances have been rescheduled and some art institutions have gotten closer to shutting down than we realize. 

As fall brings cooler weather inspiring us to go out and have fun, it’s time to immerse ourselves in the human made beauty that New York City has to offer.

The following is a fantastic selection of art events in the city that you shouldn’t miss.

Artehouse

Artehouse Is an immersive art space that brings in new exhibits every single year, sometimes multiple times a year. Their current exhibit, Life of a Neuron runs until November 13th. However, their next exhibit, The Spectacular Factory, open on November 19th and runs un January 8th, 2023.

Described as a holiday multiverse, this exhibition is like visiting Santa’s Workshop in the North Pole without having to get too chilly. This amazing experience is perfect for all ages, and families can enjoy all the thrills starting at just $20 a ticket! The show is typically an hour, and completely immersive, so your family will have all the fun in the world here.

This exhibit, specifically, include a candy cane carousel,  a bunch of nutcrackers throwing a dance party, and even a train ride through some festive holiday decorations. It’s truly a holiday wonderland that you won’t want to miss, so grab the kids and bring them to Artehouse!

If the holiday wonderland doesn’t seem exciting to you, never fear. Artehouse has a ton of upcoming immersive experiences. This place is where artists come to collaborate and show the world what they can do, so there will always be at least one exhibition for everyone at any given time.

The Titanic Exhibition

Are you a big fan of history or movies?Then the Titanic Exhibition is perfect for you. This state of the art experience opens on November 11th, and gives guests a chance to explore a recreation of this historic vessel. They have over 200 items that have been recovered from the actual ship, even have a host of actors recreating famous moments from history.

The best part is the guided audio tour, a truly immersive experience that will teach you everything there is to know about this history voyage, and the tragic accident that occurred on it. Explore the many personal item collected here like letters and photographs to really get a sense of the time period.

Tickets can be found on their website. Tours can last around 80 to 90 minutes, and people of ages are able to enjoy the exhibit. Children under 4 even get in for free! This is a truly unique experience that you can’t find anywhere else, so get your tickets not, and take a tour through time.

At the Dawn of a New Age

This art exhibit runs until February of 2023, and showcases some of the most amazing works of art from the earl 1900’s. Features works done between 1900 and 1930, this exhibit is all about early 20th century American Modernism, a period of time when art in American really took off. This is when American painters really started to show the world that the USA was a country with artistic merit.

Featuring works from artists like E. E. Cummings, Blanche Lazzell, and Georgia O’Keeffe, this exhibition largely takes from the Whitney’s own permanent  collection, so even when it’s gone, you can still see many of the works here.

Covering topics that are still relevant to this day, this exhibit is one of the ages. Topics covered include race, poverty, and war amongst others. It’s an exhibit that celebrates political progress while also shaming regressive policies and principles that leave people marred and disenfranchised.

Before Yesterday We Could Fly: An Afrofuturist Period Room

Before Yesterday We Could Fly: An Afrofuturist Period Room opens on November 5th, 2021, at The Met Fifth Avenue. Like other installations of The Met’s period rooms, it is a fictitious home setting made up of furnishings and artifacts. Instead of affirming a single point in time, this structure reinterprets the period room’s interactive experience by recognizing the African and African diasporic notion that the past, present, and future are all intertwined. 

Seneca Village, a thriving town built primarily by free Black tenants and proprietors that prospered from the 1820s through the 1850s, inspired the exhibition’s storyline.

Seneca Village was demolished in 1857 by the City of New York, which used prerogative powers to seize property for the building of Central Park and another very different type of neighborhood. Before Yesterday We Could Fly is inspired by Virginia Hamilton’s famous retellings of the Flying African story, which praises enslaved peoples’ creativity, innovative applications of flying, and the importance of mysticism and spirituality to Black communities in the face of enormous uncertainties.

Recognizing this injustice, the show poses the question: What if this settlement was given a chance to grow and flourish?

The Friends Experience

If you want an immersive experience that’s a little lighter in tone, then the Friends Experience is going to be perfect for you. The exhibition has recreated set from various parts of the show, and even has some of the original props from the 1990’s and early 2000’s! This light hearted experience is great for any fan of the iconic show.

This exhibition won’t last much longer, just until January of 2023, so be sure to check it out while you still can. Tickets can be found on their website, and you can even shop on their online store!

NYC has a ton of amazing art in the form of permanent collections and limited time only exhibitions. The limited runs are some of the best exhibits in the world, and are hard to see once they leave the city. It’s important to stay up to date on the art world so you can immerse yourself and continue your artistic education. Some of these exhibits will come back, but many won’t, so experience them while you’re still able to. They are once in a lifetime experiences.