The Whitney Museum of American Art invites families to check
out its newest exhibit – itself. This iconic New York museum will break ground on its new Meatpacking
District location this Saturday, and will also host a free Community Day (read:
family fun!) in celebration of its expansion. —
From 9:30 am to 5 pm, at the new building site at Washington
and Gansevoort Streets, peruse the Renzo Piano-designed building with kids in
tow! Families will get to meet the team responsible for bringing the museum to
life, snag free giveaways, munch on snacks and have some fun in an array of
kids’ activities.
Once you’ve talked to the visionaries behind the expansion,
put your own vision to work (all levels of imagination welcome) with the
Whitney Family Programs on the High Line. Take a guided tour of the suspended
urban oasis and surrounding neighborhood before sketching your own ideas of The
Whitney’s future. Read the finer print here.
History buffs should make a beeline to the Open House tent (located
at the new building site) at 1:30 or
3 pm to latch onto one of artist Lize
Mogel’s hour-long walking tours of the Meatpacking District. She will discuss the area’s
transformation and expose the street’s hidden histories.
If all this art inspires you to make some of your own (we
hope!), hit the Artist Project programs between 1 and 4 pm. Families with kids ages 6-12 can swing by 72
Gansevoort Street to p-l-a-y and get their imaginations pumping with
interactive artist Aki Sasamoto. Teens that guffaw at the kid’s stuff can shoot
over to The Wall at the Details Guild and get to work on a mural celebrating
the Whitney’s new home with artists Mario Ybarra Jr. and Karla Diaz.
Alas, dancing queens and kings, The Whitney hasn’t forgotten
about you! Don your dancing pants after lunch. Youth from the Lesbian, Gay,
Bisexual and Transgender Community
Center will premiere their original choreography
from their seven-week collaboration with dancers from the STREB Extreme Action
Company. (11 am & 12 pm, Standard
Hotel Plaza
on Washington Street) At 2 pm, the Merce Cunningham Studio will offer an
all-ages and abilities dance workshop plus a Q&A session with its dancers
at the Westbeth Artists Housing Courtyard on Bank
Street.
After your groove thing has been shaken, visit the
exhibition at the Westbeth from participants in the Whitney’s semester-long
Youth Insights Program. The diverse teens’ work will be on display from 12 to 6 pm,
and a rockin’ reception and celebration for the students will be held from 4 to
6.
Whew! All this action could definitely drum up some
exhaustion, but the Westbeth has chill time options for families who need to
take a break. The “Chalk It Up!” activities will have fun things for the kids
to unwind with while parents catch a much-needed breath.
Let the creative community building commence!
