Make the Most of Free Fridays At MoMA

Explore the Museum of Modern Art at No Cost

Aug 15, 2008 Mary Macrae Warren

Don't break the bank with pricey museum admission. Savvy New Yorkers love bargains. Follow their lead & take advantage of Target Free Fridays at the Museum of Modern Art.

Reopened four years ago after a visionary $425 million revamping by Japanese architect Yoshio Taniguchi, The Museum of Modern Art is located at 11 West 53rd St., between Fifth and Sixth avenues. The cultural icon houses more than 150,000 paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints, photographs, architectural models and drawings, and design objects. There are roughly 22,000 films, videos and media works in the museum’s collection as well.

Target Free Fridays, when everything but café and restaurant experiences are accessible to all at no cost, runs from 4-8 p.m. Regular admission is $20 with additional fees for film. Do the math and join the queue early to beat the long lines or go about 6 p.m. to enter without waiting. Don’t bring large backpacks or be prepared to wait on another long line to check excess baggage.

Photography for personal use, no flash or tripods allowed, and sketching in pencil are permitted in the museum’s galleries. Enjoy a casual meal, fine dining, a glass of wine or an espresso in one of the museum’s cafés or restaurants. From fine dining at the three-star Modern with $85 prix fixe menus, full service dining at Terrace 5 with entrees starting at $14 to upscale cafeteria offerings at Café 2 with entrees starting at $10, there is something for every palate and every price range.

Some Museum Must Sees

Special Exhibition

Dalí: Painting and Film, through September 15, 2008

This exquisitely curated exhibition of the works of renowned Surrealist Salvador Dalí features more than 130 paintings, drawings and films covering the vast oeuvre of the visionary Spanish artist, critic and creative collaborator.

A highlight of this exhibit that focuses on the influence of film on the artist’s work is Un Chien Andalou (1929), Dalí's first cinematic partnership with Luis Buñuel, that shows the infamously gritty and visceral, near-impossible-to-watch slicing of a young boy’s eye with a straight razor.

Another must-see is the Disney-resurrected film project , Destino, completed in 2003 from the original 15-18 seconds of film created by Dali and animator John Hench. The six-minute short tells the tale of a star-crossed love affair between a mortal girl and the God of Time, Chronos, with the action driven by the Surrealist’s signature metamorphoses.

Painting and Sculpture

Picasso: Girl Before a Mirror This vibrant abstract portrait of the artist’s mistress and favorite subject during the 1930s, Marie-Thérèse Walter, depicts the vanity of youth facing mortality.

Van Gogh: Starry Night The troubled Dutch-born genius’ most famous and most reproduced painting. Returns September 20th.

The Olive Trees A classic hilly Provençal landscape with its twisted and gnarled grove of olives and a vast cloud-filled sky featuring the artist’s signature palette and brush strokes.

Matisse: Dance (I) This joy-filled and energetic canvas fills a stairwell view and is one of Matisse’s most striking works, evocative of the rhythms of life.

(Please note not all works are on display at all times.)

Make time to dawdle outdoors in the courtyard, a calming oasis of magnificent sculptural art.

While you’re in the neighborhood, save an hour to explore the small gem next door to the giant, the American Museum of Folk Art. It’s free on Fridays too. On another day, take advantage of the added bonus of this no-cost MOMA ticket -- free entry to PS 1 Contemporary Art Center located in Long Island City, Queens, an offer that expires one month after MOMA entry.

The copyright of the article Make the Most of Free Fridays At MoMA in NE U.S. Travel is owned by Mary Macrae Warren. Permission to republish Make the Most of Free Fridays At MoMA in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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