NYC Arts: The Complete Guide to Art and Culture

The Whitney maintains one of the world's foremost collections of 20th-century American art. The museum mounts about 15 exhibitions a year, including single-artist and group shows, historical surveys and lifetime retrospectives. Lectures, seminars and symposia are an integral part of the museum's programming.

Recent exhibitions have included retrospectives of John Currin and Lucas Samaras, an installation of Thomas Hart Benton's The Arts of America and an investigation of perceptions of Americans in The American Effect. The Whitney Biennial is an invitational showcasing works by living American artists. Started in 1932, it has often been the object of much critical controversy and public squabbling.

Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney established the museum in 1931 using a core group of 700 works, many of them from her own collection. The museum's earliest incarnation was in four remodeled brownstones on West 8th Street. In 1954 it moved to its second home on West 54th Street near the Museum of Modern Art. In 1966 the current facility opened. The structure, designed by Marcel Breuer and sheathed in unpolished granite, resembles a massive inverted staircase fronted by a moat-like well.

The New American Film and Video Series screens independently produced films and videos, as well as film and video installations. 

Programs for Seniors
The Whitney has relationships with various senior centers throughout the city, welcoming resident seniors on field trips and sending museum educators to the centers. The museum also partners with Meals-on-Wheels to offer homebound seniors materials to accompany teleconference lectures that take place several times a year.

• Directions: Subway: 6 to 77th Street

• Archive: Works on and by American artists; open by appointment only, call (212) 570-3628.
• Disability Access: Accessible restrooms on 2nd floor.
• Disability Assistance: Access Services Desk is in lobby. You may also contact (212) 570-7789 or accessfeedback@whitney.org for information.
  Hearing: See Access Services Desk for assistive listening devices (ALD) for programs and tours. Free American Sign Language interpreted tours first Saturday of each month (tour is voice-interpreted and preceded by a welcome reception at 3 pm). Film & Video Gallery has infrared assistive listening system. Works with ALD system are identified with an ALD label.
  Mobility: Wheelchairs are free of charge at coat check area.
  Vision: Large-print labels and brochures are at the Access Services Desk; call (212) 570-7789 to request publications in Braille. Free verbal description tours offered monthly or by request.
• Gift Shops: Store Next Door at 943 Madison Avenue: furniture, jewelry and household objects by leading American artists, architects, craftsmen and designers; also art books, exhibition catalogs and posters; open 10 am-6 pm daily, Thurs until 8 pm.
• On-Site Food: The cafe Sandwiched is open while the permanent dining space on the lower level of the museum is being renovated (set to open in fall of 2010).
• On-Site Parking: On streets or in commercial lots nearby
• Reference Center: Works on and by American artists; open by appointment only, call (212) 570-3628