Eight New York City museums are joining together to create the first ever day-long virtual Museum Mile Festival on Tuesday, June 9, 2020, from 9 am to 9 pm. Throughout the day, each museum will host live and pre-recorded programs, virtual exhibition tours, live musical performances, and activities for families streamed across their respective websites and social media platforms. Culture enthusiasts from around the world will now be able to join New Yorkers, during this unprecedented moment, and enjoy the festival.
The day’s offerings will be listed on each participating museum’s website. In addition, audiences can follow the hashtag #VirtualMuseumMile on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook for cultural happenings throughout the day.
The eight institutions participating in this highly successful collaboration are The Metropolitan Museum of Art; Neue Galerie New York; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum; Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum; The Jewish Museum; Museum of the City of New York; El Museo del Barrio; and The Africa Center.
“The Museum Mile Festival has been bringing New Yorkers together through the power of culture since 1978, creating a unique annual celebration that taps in to the collective energy of these diverse institutions,” said New York City Cultural Affairs Commissioner Gonzalo Casals.” The festival began in the midst of one crisis as a way to keep New Yorkers connected through the arts, and I’m thrilled that these institutions have committed to bringing it online for the #VirtualMuseumMile this year. From artist interviews with El Museo to creating potato stamps with the Cooper Hewitt, I encourage all New Yorkers to check out this eclectic, exciting program.”
This year, the Festival, which normally occurs on Fifth Avenue between 82nd Street and 110th Street on the second Tuesday evening in June, has been cancelled, due to the ongoing pandemic. Established in 1978 to increase public awareness of its member institutions and promote public support of the arts, the Museum Mile Festival serves as a model for similar events across the country. Virtual Museum Mile Festival is presented in this convivial spirit, with the same goal of increasing public awareness of arts and culture, and bringing communities together in a socially responsible manner.
#VirtualMuseumMile