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.
April 2024
All offers listed below are subject to availability.
NEW SITE: The Bronx Children's Museum Joins Culture Pass
Dates: Tuesday, Thursday, & Saturday
Looking for something new and fun to do with the kiddos this spring? The cty's newest children's museum, the Bronx Children's Museum, just opened to wide acclaim last year in a historic repurposed powerhouse from the old Bronx Terminal Market complex in Mill Pond Park along the Harlem River. Grab a pass for a family adventure checking out exhibits on everything from animals to music. ¿Hablas español? El museo ofrece Sábados Españoles el segundo fin de semana de cada mes.
RETURNING SITE: Calling All Kids—CMOM is Back in Action
Dates: Tuesday-Sunday & Select Mondays in April
Even more great news for parents just in time for Spring Recess: the Children's Museum of Manhattan has begun offering Culture Passes once again! CMOM has kid-friendly immersive art installations, an interactive water table (pictured), and more. The museum will have an expanded calendar this month to account for kids being off of school, with extra open days on April 1, 22, and 29.
NEW SITE: See Portraits from the Derfner Judaica Museum Collection in Context
Dates: Sunday-Thursday
The Derfner Judaica Museum in Riverdale has just joined Culture Pass, and there's still time to check out the museum's latest special exhibition. Aspects of Appearance: Portraits from the Collection in Context, which features thirty-one imaginative and engaging portraits created in a range of media by more than two dozen different artists
NEW TOURS: Explore the Hidden History of Seneca Village with the Central Park Conservancy
Dates: 4/6, 4/28
There can hardly be a better time of year than spring to welcome a new outdoor cultural site, so we're excited to share that the Central Park Conservancy is now offering Culture Passes to its renowned walking tours of Manhattan's back yard. Up first: tours this month of the site of Seneca Village, once the largest community of free African-American property owners in pre–Civil War New York.
NEW SITE: Carnegie Hall Now Offers Culture Passes to Select Events
Date: 4/13
Good news, music fans: you can now snag free passes to visit Carnegie Hall, one of New York City's most iconic concert venues! This month, you can see the acclaimed Ensemble Modern with Pulitzer Prize winning Cuban-American composer Tania León. The program features driving, multilayered rhythms from the past century, including two seminal works from León’s category-defying catalog.
CONCERT: Swing into Spring at the Museum at Eldridge Street
Date: 4/14
Always worth a visit for its breathtaking architecture and fascinating exhibitions, the Museum at Eldridge Street has something special in store this month. Library cardholders can reserve a Culture Pass to Sounds of Freedom with the Eyal Vilner Big Band, a concert centered around the connections between the Jazz Movement and Jewish music, culture, and values.
CONCERT: See YCA's Chaeyoung Park in Concert
Date: 4/16
Young Concert Artists Pianist Chaeyoung Park will present this year's Michaels Award Concert at Merkin Hall, performing pieces by Debussy, George Crumb, and Beethoven. "My debut program highlights some of the most consequential composers in music history," Park's artist statement attests. "This program celebrates these composers’ visions of grandeur and the profound impact they had on the trajectory of classical music."
EXHIBITION: Last Chance to Get Meta/Physical at MoMA
Date: Closing 4/21
There are just a few weeks left to see artist Shana Moulton's site-specific installation Meta/Physical Therapy at the Museum of Modern Art. Moulton's piece transforms the museum's Kravis Studio into a prismatic environment, highlighting the artist’s signature blend of spiritual imagery, medical technology, popular culture, and references to high art and dollar-store kitsch.
NEW SITE: Swing on Over to the Queens Theatre
Date: 4/27
Puppetry fans rejoice! For their first-ever Culture Pass offering, the Queens Theatre has made passes available to two performances of Tout à Trac's Pinocchio at 1 & 4pm on April 27th. To become a real boy, Pinocchio will have to face Mangiafuoco, the terrible Puppet Master, suffer the malice of Mr. Fox and his sidekick, the Cat, escape from Toyland and save his father from the belly of the giant fish!