5 Things To Know About The New Museum Right Now

The New Museum is taking tradition and throwing it right out the window. Think you know proper museum behavior? Think again! There’s a sing-along opera, and the kids can draw on the walls. If it’s been a while since you’ve checked out the New Museum, then now is definitely the time to go.

Current Exhibitions

Sculptor Pawel Althamer has left the walls of the fourth floor of his exhibition, “The Neighbors,” both empty and white. This is all done on purpose of course as part of the exhibition’s interactive installation called “Draftsmen’s Congress,” where visitors are allowed to draw on the walls. Jen Song, the associate director of education, explains, “Essentially it’s turning the museum into a giant drawing space.”

So yes, for perhaps the only time in your child’s life, he or she will have the privilege of running various drawing utensils along the walls and not have to worry about the dreaded Magic Eraser ruining their work of art. In fact, people will actually stop to admire it.

And be sure to check out Laure Prouvost’s exhibition, “For Forgetting.” This space is filled with a semicircular collage mural, a multichannel video installation, scattered sculptural elements, and a film, “How to Make Money Religiously.” Song encourages families to go and, “have fun thinking how the installation works for the objects.”

All  exhibitions are open until April 13.

First Saturdays

For the first Saturday of each month, the museum opens its door exclusively to families. From 10am to 11am, families can explore the museum’s main exhibitions. Then at 11am, families are welcome to head up to the museum’s top-floor Sky Room for an hour of creativity. There are a range of age-appropriate activities from drawing to sculpting. This day-long event is recommended for ages 4 to 12.

Mark your calendar for the next First Saturday: April 4. It’s the perfect time to explore the three exhibitions explained above without the usual crowd of visitors.

G:Class Programs

The Global Classroom (G:Class) is a program for high school students that utilizes the museum as a resource to explore contemporary art and connect it to local, global, and cultural issues. G:Class offers a variety of different programs including school partnerships, curriculum development for teachers through professional development workshops, and an after school program in which teens are paired to an artist.

Got older kids? Make sure to tell them about teen night coming up on April 4. From 6:30pm to 8:30pm, teens ages 14 to19 will be allowed to explore the museum for free! Different activities are set up in each of the galleries. “The museum is naturally well suited to being a great destination for teenage visitors, but this is a program that we have that turns the museum over just to teens for a moment,” Song says.

Rocky Horror Opera

On March 7 you will be able to get up out of your seat to sing and dance when attending a special operatic production at 7pm. This might just be the only family-friendly opera around! Music curator Cori Ellison has created this piece as a part of an experimental series that involves placing operatic voices in non-traditional contexts. Song encourages audience members to “do whatever you would like to do but are normally restricted from doing” while watching an opera.

Preview: Jeanine Oleson 

During Jeanine Oleson’s four-month residency at the New Museum beginning in April , she will create an exhibition, publication, experimental opera, and hold public workshops and programs.  All of the work she does will be centered around the theme of voice. Her exhibition, Song explains, is “going to have different objects that are related to her interesting voice and that also play a part in an experimental opera that she’s developing for the museum.” The objects range from musical instruments to different kinds of step pieces. The opera is not until June 13 but mark it on the calendar. This could be an event the whole family will never forget.

BONUS!!

Need a place to go to remember why you love New York City? Then you must check out the New Museum’s Sky Room. It’s located on the top floor of the museum, and its floor-to-ceiling windows and wrap-around terrace make for some of the most spectacular views of the New York skyline.

Also, upon entering the museum, be sure to ask for a family guide at the visitor’s check-in desk. Song says, “The family guides are a short guide to the bigger exhibitions, and they provide information that’s suitable for young viewers and suggestions for different activities and ways for thinking about the art in the galleries.”