Looking for a fun new cultural activity but not sure what to check out next? We’ve rounded up some of the highlights that you can experience for free this month with Culture Pass, from new exhibition openings to limited-run live performances. Check back each month for a new set of recommendations!
You can learn more about individual exhibitions and events by clicking the links in the blurbs below, but if you want to book a Culture Pass, click here to return to the homepage and log in with your library card to make a reservation.
September 2024
All offers listed below are subject to availability.
LAST CHANCE: The Rubin Museum is Closing Soon
Dates: Thursdays-Sundays
After two decades, Chelsea's Rubin Museum of Art will permanently close its physical galleries in just a few weeks. Grab a Culture Pass and head to 18th Street for your last chance to experience this unique cultural destination that has introduced countless New Yorkers to the ideas, cultures, and art of Himalayan regions.
EXHIBITION: NYHS Commemorates 50 Years of the Power Broker
Date: Opening 9/6
A new special installation at the New-York Historical Society celebrates the 50th anniversary of the publication of the monumental work that has been called “surely the greatest book ever written about a city.” Robert Caro's The Power Broker at 50 will explore—from research material to manuscript drafts—Jones Beach, the Cross-Bronx Expressway, and Robert Moses himself through Caro’s lens.
EVENT: Celebrate at MOCA with Crafts & Cakes
Date: 9/14
Grab the kids and head to the Museum of Chinese in America for an afternoon of mooncakes, magic, and the Jade Rabbit on the moon! From storytelling to arts and crafts, the museum's Mid-Autumn Family Festival has fun for everyone! Highlights will include a Tiger Tales Shadow Puppet Performance by Chinese Theatre Works, Mooncake Making & Tasting Stations, and a MOCAKIDS Storytime.
EXHIBITIONS: Check Out Three New Exhibitions at the Sugar Hill Children's Museum
Date: Opening 9/14
The Sugar Hill Children's Museum of Art and Storytelling is rolling out three new exhibitions when it reopens to visitors in mid-September. This season's offerings include Order / Reorder: Experiments with Collections (pictured), which invites viewers to find connections in unexpected groupings of objects; When the Children Come Home; and Conduit: An Immersive Art & Storytelling Exhibit Celebrating Mothers.
EXHIBITION: Explore the Intricacies of Aboriginal Art at the Asia Society
Dates: Opening 9/17
Maḏayin: Eight Decades of Aboriginal Australian Bark Painting from Yirrkala presents a watershed moment in global art history, sharing with the American public a history of Aboriginal Australian bark painting curated by Yolŋu knowledge holders from Arnhem Land in Northern Australia. Coming to the Asia Society Museum this month, Maḏayin encompasses eight decades of artistic production, from 1935 to the present, including 33 new works commissioned especially for the exhibition.
PERFORMANCE: Catch the Multi-talented Kengchakaj at The Jazz Gallery
Date: 9/25
Toward the end of the month The Jazz Gallery will welcome Kengchakaj, a Bangkok-born, New York-based award-winning pianist, improviser, and electronics experimentalist. Kengchakaj will revisit and reimagine composition from his debut album "Lak Lan" as well as continue to explore and experiment with music from his new project "Yon Yæng."
EXHIBITION: Discover the Groundbreaking Work of Paul Rudolph at the Met
Date: Opening 9/30
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is set to debut the first-ever major museum exhibition to examine the career of the influential 20th-century architect Paul Rudolph, who came to prominence during the 1950s and 1960s alongside peers such as Eero Saarinen and I.M. Pei. Materialized Space: The Architecture of Paul Rudolph showcases the full breadth of Rudolph’s important contributions to architecture—from his early experimental houses to his utopian visions for urban megastructures and mixed-use skyscrapers.