Whitney Signs:
Shaping a Collection: Five Decades of Gifts

Join us for a free tour in American Sign Language of Shaping a Collection: Five Decades of Gifts, with voice interpretation. The tour begins at 4 pm, with a free pre-tour reception from 3–4 pm.

From the Whitney Museum’s inception in 1930, its permanent collection has grown primarily through the generosity of individual donors, beginning with Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney’s founding gift of more than five hundred works of art. In the five decades since Marcel Breuer designed the Whitney’s current building, the collection has expanded dramatically—from about 2,300 objects to more than 21,000 works—in large part due to donations from Museum trustees, collectors, foundations, and artists. Today, gifts comprise nearly two-thirds of the Museum’s holdings, including many works now considered to be icons. While representing only a small portion of the gifts received during the last fifty years, this exhibition honors all of the benefactors who have understood that a museum’s collection is its foundation.

Admission to tour and reception is free with RSVP. ASL students are welcome to attend with student admission to the Museum. Museum staff/interpreters will not be able to sign student assignments.