Walking The Museum Mile

Nine NYC museums, free admission to all—what could be
better? Bust out your comfy footwear and walk a mile in stride with the coolest
art institutions in town! Fifth Avenue
invites museum lovers to the artiest block party around on Tuesday, June 14
from 6:00 to 9:00 pm, rain or shine (though we’re hoping for shine). 82^nd
Street to 105^th
Street will shut down and transform into a
stroller haven with museum doors open (free admission!) for the 33^rd Annual
Museum Mile Festival. — 

Walk This Way

Kick start the artistic fun at
the Neue Galerie New York (86^th
St.) for the festival’s opening celebration at 5:45 pm; but be sure to swing by later and
explore their soon-to-close Vienna 1900:
Style and Identity exhibit. At 6:00pm,
elbow your way (nicely, of course) through a crowd of over 50,000 festival
attendees and start sauntering down 82^nd
Street.

First up is the Metropolitan Museum of Art
(82^nd St.) where
fashion lovers can check out the popular Alexander
McQueen: Savage Beauty exhibit. The Goethe Institut will return to its former
home on 83^rd Street and
provide participants with information on its new venue and programs. Kids will
delight over A Year With Children 2011
at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (89^th
St.). Next up is the National Academy Museum (90^th
St.); due to renovations, the
Academy will be providing information on its upcoming exhibitions and renovated
space. Gem-adoring mamas and daughters will love Set in Style: The Jewelry of Van
Cleef & Arpels at the Cooper- Hewitt, National Design
Museum (91^st St.). Your walk on the mile will then
take you to the Jewish Museum (92^nd St.) where tots can channel their
inner Indiana Jones at the Archaeology Zone: Discovering Treasures from Playgrounds to Palaces exhibit.
Afterwards, stop by the Joel Grey/A New
York Life exhibit at the Museum of the City of New York
(103^rd St.) 75 new artists will be showcased in El Museo’s Bienal: The (S) Files 2011 at El Museo del Barrio (105^th St.). Finish up your
tour at the Museum for African Art, a newcomer to the
mile as of September 2011, which is preparing for its public opening in its new
swankified space on Fifth Avenue.

The Musical Mile

Live music, from jazz to Broadway tunes, will
entertain stroller-bys. The fun starts on 82nd St. with Dave
Lowe Juggler. The Magic of Neil Alexander will amaze the whole family on 85^th
St. and for singing and dancing head down to 86^th St., in front of the Neue
Galerie for Australian award-winning Cabaret artist Kim Smith.
Introduce the family to the world of jazz with The Hayes Greenfield Band at 89^th
St., in front of the National
Academy Museum.
Bringing
Latin flavor to 104 St., in front of El Museo del
Bario, are DJs Potencia Latina, Johnny Colón and his orchestra.
A list of all performances can be found here.

Make The Most Of the Mile (And Other Family Fun):

–The Museum for African Art teaches African Capoeira
dance

-The Cooper-Hewitt hosts chalk drawing sessions

-Fabulous face painting outside the Goethe-Institut

-Art workshops at El Museo del Barrio

-A live model drawing class at the National
Academy Museum

-Drawing workshops (inspired by illustrator/author Maira
Kalman) at the Jewish Museum