Art moves people, challenges them, sparks creativity, and so much more. And we’re lucky enough to have some of the best art exhibits in the world, right here in NYC!
That’s why we’ve scoured museum websites to pull together all of the most exciting exhibits that are currently showing or coming soon. A few go beyond traditional art museums, but it’s all about blurring the lines, right?
Check out these wonderful exhibits happening in NYC right now:
1. “Barbie: A Cultural Icon”
Through March 16, 2025
Visitors of all ages will find a lot to love while exploring the new Barbie exhibit at the Museum of Art and Design: vintage dolls, life-size fashion designs, advertisements, exclusive video interviews with the doll’s designers, and so much more. According to the museum, there are plenty of memorable moments along the way, like fashion looks from the ’70s to the 2000s, the creation of the Barbie Dreamhouse, and learning how Christie, the first Black doll, and Ken came to be. And should you appreciate a good selfie, you’ll be pleased to know a life-size Barbie Mirror-Pink Corvette is zipping into the space, and it has your name written all over it.
Where: The Museum of Arts and Design (2 Columbus Circle)
2. “The Subway Is…”
Ongoing
The subway is…turning 120 years old in October 2024. Can you believe it? To celebrate the momentous occasion, the New York Transit Museum is hosting an exhibit that explores how the system has taken on a life of its own as the city’s “circulatory system.”
Where: New York Transit Museum (99 Schermerhorn Street)
3. “Real Clothes, Real Lives: 200 Years of What Women Wore”
Through June 22, 2025
An examination of women, their clothes, and how they’ve evolved over the past two centuries in the U.S., this New York Historical Society exhibit has everything from house dresses to mini skirts and everything in between. Each garment tells a story that takes us back in time, sets a scene, and gives us an understanding of the woman who wore it. This exhibit also showcases items from the Smith College Historic Clothing Collection that are on display in a museum for the first time.
Where: New-York Historical Society (170 Central Park West)
4. “Ice Cold: An Exhibition of Hip-Hop Jewelry”
Through January 5, 2025
Tracing the history of hip-hop from the 1980s to today, Ice Cold features some of the most iconic star-studded jewelry donned by hip-hop’s biggest cultural influences. From Slick Rick’s gem-encrusted crown to the Notorious B.I.G.’s legendary gold ‘Jesus piece’ and Jay-Z’s diamond-studded Roc-A-Fella medallion, the exhibit walks through the evolution of jewelry and its intertwined relationship with rap culture. Other artists’ accessories on display include Nicki Minaj, Erykah Badu, A$AP Rocky, Joey Bada$$, FERG, and Tyler, the Creator, among others. Learn more about the exhibit here.
Where: American Museum of Admission (200 Central Park Ave)
5. “Survival Piece #5: Portable Orchard”
Open through January 5, 2025
This 1972 vision by artists Helen Mayer Harrison and Newton Harrison “explores the need for a productive and sustainable food system in an imagined future where natural farming practices are obsolete and cannot be taken for granted.” Eighteen live citrus trees have taken over The Whitney’s 8th floor gallery, which originally were created in response to the dwindling presence of oranges in Orange County, California. Now, they’re in NYC taking center stage, hoping to create social awareness of the planet’s vulnerable ecosystems.
Price: Museum admission
Where: The Whitney (99 Gansevoort St)
6. Arbetare, The Met’s Rooftop Commission
Open through October 27, 2024
The Met’s latest iteration of the rooftop commission piece taps Kosovar artist Petrit Halilaj, who’s created a sprawling installation consisting of various sculptures inspired by childhood doodles he found on the desks of his former school in Kosovo, in addition to other student’s desks in Albanian and Yugosloavian schools. With cultural and political tensions of the region in the spotlight, the theme of growing up in a traumatic environment evidently shines through. Learn more about the exhibit here!
Where: The Metropolitan Museum of Art (1000 Fifth Avenue)
7. The Banksy Museum
Open through December 31, 2024
Consisting of over 160 Banksy-inspired works, the brand new Banksy Museum in SoHo brings art lovers as close as possible to the beloved mysterious artist. This museum actually pulls together a collection of other artists’ works who have reimagined iconic pieces like “Girl with Balloon” and “Flower Thrower.”
🎈 Buy your tickets to the Banksy Museum here!
Where: 277 Canal St
8. “From Paul Revere to Edward Hopper: Treasures from the Leonard L. Milberg Collection of American Prints, Drawings, and Watercolors”
Open through October 27, 2024
Appropriately ranging from Edward Hopper to Paul Revere, this exhibit showcases more than 140 prints, drawings, and watercolors depicting America’s long history. It offers a glance at all aspects of “the American experience” including early 18th-century portraits of Indigenous leaders, picturesque views of towns and cities, inspiring landscapes, and dramatic images of historic events. Learn more about the exhibit here!
Where: New-York Historical Society (170 Central Park W)
9. “Other of Pearl”
Open through October 31, 2024
This climate change-focused exhibit on Governors Island is the brainchild of Jenny Kendler, whose new activation features intimate, delicate works—all displayed in the cavernous, subterranean magazine of historic Fort Jay, a star-shaped fortification built on Governors Island between 1775 and 1776. Visitors can get up close and personal with pearl sculptures grown inside oysters, bells rung by fossilized whale ear bones, a crystalline whale eye cast of sea salt and human tears, glass vials filled with oil from long dead whales, and a human nervous system meticulously strung from thousands of tiny pearls.
It’s meant to serve as commentary on oysters and whales as central players in an ecological entanglement between human and nonhuman beings, waterways, and flows of capital. Learn more about the exhibit here!
Where: Governors Island National Monument
10. INTER_, SoHo
Open now
Take a journey of self-discovery at this groundbreaking and interactive art experience in SoHo. Consisting of a multi-sensory environment where your presence becomes part of the art, the mind-bending installations and digital creations here invite you to explore mind, body, and reality. There’s also an INTER_planetary section of the exhibit that explores Earth’s elements like ether, earth, water, air and fire. This storytelling experience that spans visual, spatial, audio, and experiential elements simply cannot be missed!
Learn more about INTER_ here.
Where: 415 Broadway
11. “Ghost Stories: A Mysterious, Macabre Interactive Tour”
Open now
Happening on select weekends is a Ghost Stories tour, an interactive tour of all things frightful in the Metropolitan Museum of Art! Get ready to travel across time and cultures to see things like Flying Dutchmen and funerary masks, still life art and sculptures from Egypt, Europe, and beyond. Plus, you’ll even hear some ghoulish stories about the museum itself… Do you have what it takes to make it through the Ghost Stories tour? Buy tickets to the Ghost Stories tour here!
Where: The Met (1000 5th Avenue)