Program Support
The Whitney offers an array of programs for audiences of all ages.
ACCESSIBILITY
The Whitney strives to provide every visitor the ability to experience and enjoy the Whitney’s collection, exhibitions, and programs. Each month we host a free American Sign Language gallery tour led by Museum educators who are deaf. We also offer programs and services for visitors who are hard of hearing, blind, visually impaired, or have limited mobility. Such services and programs include use of free sound amplification devices, sign language interpretation for tours and programs, transcripts, captioning, large print materials, verbal description tours, and customized guided visits for school aged visitors with disabilities or diverse learning needs.
conservation
The Whitney’s Conservation Department preserves our collection, evaluates and treats new acquisitions, and advances scholarship of modern and contemporary art in the United States. We have recently undertaken several long-term projects, including treating Alexander calder’s Circus, developing a state-of-the-art crating system for transporting and storing Eva Hesse’s famed Untitled (Rope Piece), and conserving three George Segal works from our collection.
education
The Whitney’s Education Department offers diverse programs that respond to the complexity and challenges of contemporary art and extend the themes of exhibitions on view. Each program encourages creative thinking and, whenever possible, incorporates working artists into the programming. In 2008–09, our education programs impacted over 100,000 people, including 11,000 schoolchildren and 1,000 seniors.
exhibitions
Installation view of Wade Guyton OS (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, October 4, 2012 – January 13, 2013). Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Each year the Whitney demonstrates the exciting range and diversity of American art through its forward-thinking, creative exhibitions. Hundreds of thousands of visitors annually explore displays drawn from the permanent collection and special exhibitions, all of which focus on artistic process and seek to further the dialogue on the nation’s cultural fabric.
INDEPENDENT STUDY PROGRAM
The Whitney’s Independent Study Program (ISP) is one of the world’s leading centers for the study of the history, theory, and practice of art. The program features weekly seminars with a professional artist, theorist, or art historian, as well as weekly reading seminars in social and cultural history. Over the past four decades, the ISP has launched the careers of many prominent artists, curators, and historians throughout the art world.
library
Photograph © Bill Orcutt
The Whitney’s Frances Mulhall Achilles Library serves Whitney staff as well as an international community of scholars, curators, and students. Its unique holdings and special collections chronicle the development of modern and contemporary art through extensive archives on artists ranging from Edward Hopper to Ed Ruscha.
Performance
"Burying the Blues," a performance arranged by William Pope.L., 2013. Photograph by Tiffany Oelfke
Performance at the Whitney presents emerging artists, supports the creation of new work, and honors established artists who keep the legacy of American performance vibrant and relevant.
publications
Each year, the Whitney publishes an array of catalogues in conjunction with works on view. They often sell out due to their scholarly significance and public popularity and frequently earn awards. In 2009, Buckminster Fuller: Starting With the Universe was selected for inclusion in the the Association of American University Presses Book, Jacket, and Journal Show in the category “Trade Illustrated.” In 2008, two catalogues, Terence Koh and Gordon Matta-Clark: You Are the Measure, each won an award of Merit in the International Design Annual.