• Kids and Families
  • Youth + Community
  • School & Educator Programs
  • Online Education
  • Daily Free Exhibition Tours
  • Senior Programs
  • Public Programs
  • Performing Arts
  • Member Events
  • Whitney Education

    Established in 1966, the Whitney Museum of American Art's Education Department is committed to exploring new approaches to education for all age groups and to developing interdisciplinary, multidimensional programs and materials. Educational programs and resources are designed to make the Whitney's world-renowned collection of American art and its comprehensive exhibition program accessible to multiple audiences with a wide range of interests and needs and to remain ever attentive to addressing the critical, historical, and contemporary issues of our increasingly complex, multicultural society.

    Kids and Families
    Kids and Families
    Family Programs at the Whitney use the Museum's collection and special exhibitions as the foundation for learning through a variety of interactive gallery tours and hands-on activities. Our programs are designed to encourage children and adults to observe, discuss, and explore art together while developing a sense of life-long experimentation, critical thinking, and creative expression in both the Museum and beyond. All Family Programs are led by Museum Educators who specialize in facilitating programs for intergenerational audiences.
    Youth + Community
    Youth + Community
    Youth Programs
    An Alternative Learning Space

    The Whitney Museum of American Art offers a variety of unique experiences for young people interested in actively exploring art and museums. Working with contemporary artists, museum staff and a variety of community groups, young people investigate new ways to engage a larger audience in the alternative learning space within and around the museum.
    School & Educator Programs
    School & Educator Programs

    School and educator programs use works of art in the Whitney's permanent collection and temporary exhibitions as a foundation for learning. A variety of programs, both at the Museum and in the classroom, offer multiple opportunities for teachers and students to develop an informed, critical understanding of American art and culture, and its relationship to their own lives. Inquiry-based exhibition tours, multi-session outreach programs, professional development workshops, and interdisciplinary resource materials are designed to facilitate in-depth exploration of the works of art on view, create a forum for ideas, dialogue, and exchange, and enhance visual literacy and critical thinking skills. All programs address the New York State Learning Standards as well as the NYC DOE Blueprint for teaching and learning in the visual arts. Programs and resources also focus on school curriculum areas including art, English language arts, social studies, and technology.



    Online Education
    Online Education
    Expanding the dialogue about American art and culture to a worldwide audience, the Whitney maintains resources on the web directed to teachers, students, families, researchers, and youths, as well as the general public.
    Daily Free Exhibition Tours
    Daily Free Exhibition Tours
    Free docent-led Gallery Tours through the Museum's current exhibitions are offered each day. Tour schedules are available at the Information and Membership desk in the Museum Lobby. Tours meet in the galleries. No reservations are necessary.
    Senior Programs
    Senior Programs
    An open forum for dialogue, exchange, and intellectual stimulation, Programs for Seniors builds on the unique life experiences of its participants.
    Public Programs
    Public Programs

    The Whitney's public programs are designed to address key issues in twentieth-century and contemporary American art and culture for a general adult audience. Through these programs, the Museum offers a unique blend of new perspectives and well-known, established voices. Artists, architects, critics, writers, and scholars are invited to participate in a wide range of courses, lectures, conversations, seminars, symposia, performances, off-site gallery and architectural tours, readings, and special programs in the galleries that respond to exhibitions on view and to broader cultural trends.

    Save the Date:
    Friday, September 12 - Saturday, September 13
    Buckminster Fuller Symposium
    The Great Hall of the Cooper Union
    7 East 7th Street, at Astor Place

    Visionary designer, philosopher, poet, inventor, engineer, and advocate of sustainability, Buckminster Fuller was one of the great transdisciplinary thinkers of the last century with a legacy that extends to nearly every field of the arts and sciences.  This symposium takes its cue from Fuller's dictum, "I always say to myself, what is the most important thing we can think about at this extraordinary moment," and explores the diverse ways in which contemporary scholars and practitioners are pushing Fuller's ideas and projects into the 21st century.

    This symposium will run in conjunction with the exhibition Buckminster Fuller: Starting with the Universe, on view at the Whitney Museum of American Art, June 26 - September 21, 2008. It is co-sponsored by The Architectural League of New York and The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture, The Cooper Union.

    Please check whitney.org on June 26 for admission information and ticketing.

    Performing Arts
    Performing Arts

    Whitney Live, the Whitney Museum's performance series, features a range of sensibilities and reflects the Whitney's commitment to American art past and present. Performers represent new trends, reinterpret American traditions, and resonate with the Whitney's exhibitions and permanent collection.

     

    Member Events
    Member Events
    Exclusive events for Whitney Members and select guests.