Home Delivery, Part I includes patents and other historical documents that trace development of prefabrication from the early nineteenth century to the current day. 

Home Delivery, Part II is the outdoor component located on the west side of the museum where five full-scale prefabricated houses were constructed on a vacant lot.  Of the initial 500 architectural firms that applied for the project, only five were chosen to create commercially-viable homes for the exhibit.  Each house is unique in its design and all employ some type of “green” technology, such as the use of recycled materials or use of photovoltaic cells, that promotes sustainability.  

Next time you drive past a trailer park, think about the evolution of the prefabricated home.  What do you think?  Would you live in a house a pre-fab house?     

Location: MoMA, 11 West 53rd (between Fifth and Sixth Avenues) map (212) 708-9400

Subway: E or V to Fifth Avenue-53rd Street

Hours: 10:30am -5:30pm Mon, Wed, Thurs, Sat, Sun; 10:30am-8pm Friday; Closed Tuesday.  Home Delivery: Fabricating the Modern Dwelling is on exhibit through October 20, 2008.     

Cost: $20 adults; $16 65+; $12 full-time students; under 16 free (with paying adult); free to all Fri 4-8 pm.  Cost includes admission to film programs.  Save your MoMA ticket for free admission to P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center in Long Island City, Queens.

Photo credit: Cellophane House flickr, Burst 008 flickr 

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Post from: The New York City Traveler

The American Museum of the Moving Image is dedicated to the art of film and television production by collecting and preserving moving image-related artifacts.  The museum is housed on the same block as the legendary Kaufman Astoria Studios.  The studio was home of the Marx Brothers and Cosby Show and currently receives regular visits from Woody Allen and is the home studio of Sesame Street.   

The museum’s core exhibition, Behind the Screen, has been praised as being the most comprehensive exhibit of its kind.  Behind the Screen covers the process involved in making the moving image, from production to marketing.  The exhibition displays artifacts from the museum’s permanent collection and employs the use of interactive exhibits.      

The museum is undergoing a renovation and expansion resulting in the theater being closed, however, all of the galleries will be open from July 8-August 29, 2008.  The museum’s renovation is scheduled to be complete in late 2009.  

Location:  35th Avenue at 36th Street, Astoria, Queens (map)        718-784-0077

Subway:  R, V to Steinway Street; N, W to 36th Avenue

Hours:  Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday 10am-4pm; Friday 10am-6:30pm.  Closed Saturday and Sunday. 
Fridays: 10:00 a.m. – 6:30 p.m. (Free after 4:00 p.m.)
Saturdays and Sundays: Closed

Cost:  Adults $7; seniors and students $5; children (5-18) $5; children under 5 Free.  Admission to galleries is free on Fridays from 4-6:30pm. 

The weekly “Museum Monday” posts celebrate the over 100 museums that are in New York’s five boroughs.  Check out last week’s Museum Monday post on the Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art.  Museum Monday continues next week with a post on El Museo del Barrio.

Photo credit: flickr; ___________________________________________________________________

Post from: The New York City Traveler

Located in a residential section of Staten Island, the Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art is home of one of the largest collections of Himalayan artifacts in the United States. 

The museum was created an American woman, Jacques Marchais, in 1947 to share the cultural traditions of Tibet of the Himalayan region.  Built by Marchais, the museum is modeled after a Himalayan mountain monastery.  

The current exhibition, From Staten Island to Shangri-La: The Collecting Life of Jacques Marchais, celebrates the museum’s 60th anniversary by revealing the untold story of Marchais through selections from the museum’s permanent collection of books, photos, and artifacts.   

Location: 338 Lighthouse Ave, Staten Island (map) 718-987-3500

Getting There: Take the Staten Island Ferry from lower Manhattan. From the Staten Island Terminal take the S74 bus and get off at Lighthouse Avenue. Walk up the hill (5–10 minutes) to the Museum. The bus ride takes approximately 30 minutes, and the bus meets every ferry.

Hours: Wednesday-Sunday 1-5pm.  Closed Monday, Tuesday.

Cost: Adults $5; Senior and Children $3; 

The weekly “Museum Monday” posts celebrate the over 100 museums that are in New York’s five boroughs.  Check out last week’s Museum Monday post on the New Museum of Contemporary Art.  Museum Monday continues next week with a post on the Museum of Moving Image.

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Post from: The New York City Traveler

Each Sunday evening during the summer, members of the Julliard School and Jazz at Lincoln Center will bring their musical talent to the Sculpture Garden at MoMA.  The museum has a long history of presenting jazz and new concert music in its summer series which dates back to 1971.  Many concerts will feature original works and at least one world premiere will be included.       

Entrance to Summergarden is through the Sculpture Garden gate on West 54th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenue.  Seating is limited by capacity, first-come, first-served. Doors open at 7pm and the concert begins at 8pm. Concerts last 90 minutes. 

Location: The Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden at MoMA, 11 West 53rd (enter through gate on West 54th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues)  212-708-9400

Subway: E or V to Fifth Avenue-53rd Street

Days and Hours:  Every Sunday. July 6-August 24, 2008.  Concert begins at 8pm.   

Cost: Free

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Post from: The New York City Traveler

Dalí: Painting and Film

The exhibition is in conjunction with a selection of weekly film programs featuring Salvador Dalí: Creator Collaborator, Dalí Laughs, Salvador Dalí and Three American Surrealists, and Salvador Dalí: Consumer/Consumed.  Other works, such as the 1930 film by Luis Buñuel and Dalí, “L’Age d’Or,” is on continuous display in the gallery.

Location: MoMA, 11 West 53rd (between Fifth and Sixth Avenues) map (212) 708-9400

Subway: E or V to Fifth Avenue-53rd Street

Hours: 10:30am -5:30pm Mon, Wed, Thurs, Sat, Sun; 10:30am-8pm Friday; Closed Tuesday.  Dalí: Painting and Film on exhibit through September 15, 2008.     

Cost: $20 adults; $16 65+; $12 full-time students; under 16 free (with paying adult); free to all Fri 4-8 pm.  Cost includes admission to film programs.  Save your MoMA ticket for free admission to P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center in Long Island City, Queens.

All photos courtesy of MoMA: Salvador Dalí (Spain, 1904-1989), The Persistence of Memory 1931, Oil on canvas 24.1 x 33 cm, The Museum of Modern Art, New York Given anonymously, © 2008 Salvador Dalí, Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; Luis Buñuel (Spain, 1900-1983) and Salvador Dalí (Spain, 1904-1989), Film still from Un Chien andalou 1929, France, 35 mm print, black and white, silent, The Museum of Modern Art, Gift of Luis Buñuel, © 2008 Salvador Dalí, Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

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Post from: The New York City Traveler

The building, designed by Japanese firm SANAA, has received major recognition this year from Conde Nast Traveler when it was named one of the “New Seven Wonders of the Architectural World.”  You can’s miss it as you walk down Bowery, a stack of metal mesh boxes with the rainbow “Hell Yes” sign is a beacon to gentrification in the once-seedy Lower East Side.

But the museum has been met with its fare share of criticism as well.  It has been said that three floors of exhibition space simply isn’t enough for the world’s premier contemporary art museum and even people are saying “Hell, No” to Ugo Rondinone’s “Hell, Yes” on the exterior.   

Free 45-minute docent-led public tours are available to visitors with museum admission.  Current exhibitions as well as the building’s architecture are discussed in the tours.   Tours are conducted on Wednesday and Thursday at 2pm, Friday at 2 and 7pm, and Saturday and Sunday at 2 and 4pm. 

Location: 235 Bowery (map) 212-219-1222

Subway: F, V to 2nd Avenue-Lower East Side; J, M, Z to Bowery; 6 to Spring Street

Hours:  Wednesday 12-6pm; Thursday and Friday Noon-10pm; Saturday and Sunday 12-6pm.  Closed Monday and Tuesday.

Cost:  Adults $12; Seniors $8; Students $6; 18 and under Free.  Free admission every Thursday evening from 7-10pm. 

The weekly “Museum Monday” posts celebrate the over 100 museums that are in New York’s five boroughs.  Check out last week’s Museum Monday post on the New York Transit Museum.  Museum Monday continues next week with a post on the Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art. 

Photo credits: personal collection

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Post from: The New York City Traveler

“Rococo: The Continuing Curve, 1730-2008″ | Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum  Exploring rococo style and its continuing revivals up to the present day in multiple fields, including drawings, decorative arts, furniture, textiles, and prints.  Through July 6.   

“Sosua : A Refuge for Jews in the Dominican Republic” | Museum of Jewish Heritage  This exhibit tells the story of the the Jewish refugees who found safety on a banana plantation in 1938 in the Dominican Republic.  Through July 13.

“@MURAKAMI” | Brooklyn Museum  This show exhibits the popular artist’s popular commercial and fine art works.  Through July 13.

“Book/Shelf” | MoMA  Explores how artists use classic and contemporary books in their art.  Through July 7.

Sigalit Landau, DeadSee” | MoMA  Performing art that explores the landscape of the Israel.  Through July 28.

“Glossolalia: Languages of Drawing” | MoMA  Using drawings from MoMA’s collection, this exhibit explores unexpected links between artists.  Through July 7.

“Daniel Guzman and Steven Shearer, Double Album” | New Museum of Contemporary Art  Male identity, rock culture, and self-portraits are explored in a variety of artistic mediums.  Through July 6.     

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Post from: The New York City Traveler

Explore the history of the subway with vintage subway cars (complete with ads from the era), old subway maps, wooden turnstiles, and retro mosaics that were once in the station.  Interactive exhibits are fun for the whole family and even allow you to sit in the conductors compartment of a decommissioned subway car.   

The New York Transit Museum also has a Manhattan annex.  The New York Transit Museum Gallery Annex & Store at Grand Central Terminal is open Monday–Friday 8am-8pm, Saturday-Sunday 10am-6pm and admission is free.

Location:  New York Transit Museum, Boerum Place and Schermerhorn Street, Brooklyn Heights (map) 718-694-1600

Subway:  2,3,4,5 to Borough Hall; M, R to Court Street; A, C, G to to Hoyt-Schermerhorn Street; A, C, F to Jay Street-Borough Hall

Days and Hours:  Tuesday–Friday 10am-4pm.  Saturday and Sunday Noon-5pm.  Closed Mondays and major holidays. 

Cost:  $5 Adults, $3 children (3–17 years), $3 senior citizens (62+)

Check out last week’s Museum Monday post on the Museum at Fashion Institute of America.  Museum Monday continues next week with a post on the the New Museum of Contemporary Art. 

Photo credit: Nealy-J via flickr, Kilgub via flickr 

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Post from: The New York City Traveler

The Museum at FIT is a tiny slice of the Fashion Institute of Technology, part of the State University of New York.  The museum’s mission is to “collect, conserve, document, exhibit, and interpret fashion.”  The museum’s permanent collection includes over 50,000 articles and is divided into an accessories collection, a costume collection, and a textile collection that date from the 18th-century to present.  The museum is always acquiring new items, some of its newest acquisitions include a beautiful white organza, silk tulle, and feather dress by Rodarte.  Rotating exhibitions feature photography, clothing, textiles, and accessories.  Student art from FIT is also shown at the museum. 

The current temporary exhibition is Arbiters of Style: Women at the Forefront of Fashion.  The exhibition focuses on the women who have shaped the course of fashion: from the work of female designers to clothing and accessories worn by female department store executives, influential clients, magazine editors, muses, and models.  Items included will be a gown, circa 1770, designed by Anna Maria Garthwaite and a Chanel suit worn by legendary fashion photographer Louise Dahl-Wolfe. Arbiters of Style: Women at the Forefront of Fashion will be on display through November 8, 2008. 

The best bargain in fashion can be found at the Museum at FIT, free admission!

Location:  Museum at FIT, Seventh Avenue at 27th Street (map),  (212) 217-4560

Subway: 1 to 28th Street; R, W to 28th Street

Days and Hours:  Tuesday-Friday Noon-8pm; Saturday 10am-5pm. Closed Sundays, Mondays.

Cost:  Free

Check out last week’s Museum Monday post on the Merchant’s House Museum.  Museum Monday continues next week with a post on the the New York Transit Museum. 

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Post from: The New York City Traveler

The Merchant’s House Museum is a restored 19th-century row house that is located in the now eclectic East Village.  The house, built in 1832, was the former residence of the Tredwells, a prosperous merchant family.

The architecture of the house is considered a transitional architectural style.  The outside is in the federal style while the inside is one of the best examples of Greek-revival style in the United States.  

Much of the family’s personal effects and memorabilia fill the house.  Furniture, unfinished needlework, and family photographs are displayed in the house, leaving the house as one would have found it in the 1800s. 

The Treadwells lived in the house for nearly 100 years and the final member of the family, Gertrude, passed in an upstairs bedroom in 1933, lending credibility to the urban legend that the house is haunted.  Opened as a museum in 1936, Merchant’s House Museum has survived as the only material link to the ever-important 19th-century era when New York City marine commerce flourished. 

Location: Merchant’s House Museum, 29 East Fourth Street, (map) 212-777-1089

Subway: N, R to 8th Street; 6 to Astor Place

Hours:  Monday, Thursday-Sunday Noon-5pm.  Closed Monday and Tuesday. 

Cost:  $8 adults, $5 Students & seniors 65+

Check out last week’s Museum Monday post on the National Museum of the American Indian.  Museum Monday continues next week with a post on the Museum at the Fashion Institute of America (FIT).

Photo credit (top to bottom): flickr; flickr 

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Post from: The New York City Traveler