Museum Mile, New York City

Museum Mile is the name for a section of Fifth Avenue in Manhattan in the city of New York, in the United States, running from 82nd to 104th streets on the Upper East Side in a neighborhood known as Carnegie Hill. The "mile", which contains one of the densest displays of culture in the world, is actually two blocks longer than one mile.[1] Nine museums occupy the length of this section of Fifth Avenue.[2] A tenth museum, the Museum for African Art, joined the ensemble in 2009, however its Museum at 110th Street, the first new museum constructed on the Mile since the Guggenheim in 1959,[3] won't open until late 2012. In addition to other programming, the museums collaborate for the annual Museum Mile Festival, held each year in June, to promote the museums and increase visitation.[4]

Contents

Museums on the mile

Museum Mile Festival

The annual Museum Mile Festival traditionally takes place on the second Tuesday in June from 6 – 9 p.m. in Manhattan, New York City, United States. It was established in 1979 to increase public awareness of its member institutions and promote public support of the arts in New York City.[6] The first festival was held on June 26, 1979 (1979-06-26).[7]

During the past two decades, well over one million people have taken part in this annual celebration. Festival attendees can walk the Mile from 82nd Street to 104th Street and visit ten of New York City's finest cultural institutions, open free that evening to the public. Several of the participating museums offer outdoor art activities for children.[8] The Frick Collection, a great but small museum is on the MUSEUM MILE. However it may choose not to participate. It may however have a free day in December on its anniversary. The green museum mile street sign shown is obsolete: It is now brown for a historic district. During the event, Fifth Avenue is closed to traffic and it becomes a strollers' haven. Special exhibitions and works from permanent collections are on view inside the institutions and live music from jazz to show tunes to string quartets are featured in front of each museum. Additional street entertainers perform along Fifth Avenue all evening.

The 2007 opening ceremony were hosted by Paul Thompson, the new director of the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution.

References

  1. ^ Sean Daly (2003-04-13). "Museum Mile High". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2003/04/13/AR2005041501248_pf.html. Retrieved 2008-07-15. 
  2. ^ "Museums on the Mile". http://www.museummilefestival.org/museums/. Retrieved 2011-06-24. 
  3. ^ Sewell Chan (2007-02-09). "Museum for African Art Finds its Place". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/09/arts/design/09muse.html?_r=3&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1171034919-Ngcv5cZscyaXSLcM4mrzXw&pagewanted=all&oref=slogin. Retrieved 2008-07-15. 
  4. ^ "New Drive Promoting 5th Ave.'s 'Museum Mile'". The New York Times. 1979-06-27. http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0F1FFA395D12728DDDAE0A94DE405B898BF1D3. Retrieved 2008-07-15. 
  5. ^ Catton, Pia (2011-06-14). "Another Delay for Museum of African Art". The Wall Street Journal. http://blogs.wsj.com/metropolis/2011/06/14/another-delay-for-museum-of-african-art/. Retrieved 2011-06-24. 
  6. ^ "Museum Mile Festival held in New York" UPI NewsTrack (June 8, 2004.)
  7. ^ New drive promoting Fifth Avenue's 'Museum Mile', The New York Times, June 27, 1979.
  8. ^ Fass, Allison and Murray, Liz (2000) "Talking to the Streets for Art" The New York Times June 11, 2000, p.17, col. 2.

External links

Streets and Avenues of Manhattan
North–South
East–West
Italics indicate streets no longer in existence.
See also: Commissioners' Plan of 1811 and List of eponymous streets in New York City.