West Side Fest July 12–14, 2024

Person in a green shirt and apron pins colorful artwork to a white wall, with various prints and patterns already displayed.

Join us and our neighboring cultural institutions on July 12–14, 2024 for West Side Fest, a free, multi-site celebration organized by the West Side Cultural Network.

The West Side Cultural Network—a group of museums, parks, performing arts centers, and cultural institutions located within a half-mile portion of historic New York—is presenting free admission days, special indoor and outdoor programming, artmaking for all ages, performances, and more to welcome all New Yorkers to the culturally vibrant western edge of Manhattan.

The Whitney Museum will offer free admission on Friday, July 12 from 5–10 pm and on Sunday, July 14 from 10:30 am–6 pm. While admission to the Museum is free on Friday nights and the second Sunday of every month, tickets are required, and capacity is limited. Advance booking is strongly recommended.

Friday, July 12, 2024 at the Whitney

People entering a museum with a "Free Friday Nights" sign, motion blur conveying the bustle.

Free Friday Night
5 pm–10 pm

Admission to the Museum is free on Friday evening. Join us for music, tours, and special programming. Reserve tickets in advance.

Learn More about Free Friday Nights

On a table sits multiple wooden flat rectangular panels with an assemblage of materials on top for a collage.

Open Studio for Teens
1 pm–3 pm

Grab your friends and get creative! New York City teens are invited to a free drop-in artmaking program at the Whitney in collaboration with The Studio Museum in Harlem’s Expanding the Wall program.

Learn More about Open Studio for Teens

Organic swirls of pale blue and green float through shades of white and grey.

And More
Museum hours are 10:30 am–10 pm

Explore even more of the Whitney with tours and talks throughout the Museum.

Learn More about all Friday events

Saturday, July 13, 2024 at the Whitney

A woman in a black coat walks through an art installation with large, semi-transparent colored panels hanging from the ceiling.

Gallery Tours
Throughout the day

Stop by the Museum on Saturday and join a tour of the galleries. Tours are free with Museum admission but capacity is limited to twenty people on a first-come, first-served basis.

Learn more about Saturday tours

Sunday, July 14, 2024 at the Whitney

Sign reading "Welcome to Free Second Sundays" in a museum, with people viewing art and a statue in the background.

Free Second Sunday
10:30 am–6 pm

Admission to the Whitney is free all day on the second Sunday of every month. Visitors of all ages enjoy artmaking, activities, tours, and story times with NYPL librarians at 11 am, 1 pm, and 3 pm.

Learn More about Free Second Sundays

Vintage drawing of a room corner with a draped table, dresser, ornate lamp, and various small figurines.

Artmaking Inspired by Wanda Gág
11 am–3 pm

Artists of all ages are invited to get creative and build a story world inspired by the exhibition Wanda Gág’s World.

Learn More about Artmaking

A vibrant painting depicts a bustling nighttime street scene of an African American community in an urban setting. A glowing street lamp casts a blue hue over the scene, in which a diverse group of musicians play brass instruments and tambourines, people dance, and others converse. A tall man with exaggerated features stands on a pedestal that reads "Jesus Saves," playing a trumpet. To the right, a woman in a green dress and red stilettos walks a small white dog past an elderly man with a cane. In the background, buildings with lighted windows reveal more onlookers, including a market storefront with meat hanging in the window, a house with a front porch where a woman and a child observe the scene, and an apartment building with residents peering out.

Artmaking and Storytelling
11 am–4 pm

Visitors of all ages are invited to a day of artmaking and storytelling inspired by Archibald John Motley, Jr.’s iconic painting Gettin’ Religion.

Learn More about Artmaking and Storytelling

West Side Fest throughout the Neighborhood

West Side Fest highlights the city's newest cultural destination on the western edge of Manhattan, a historic area with a welcoming and unique mix of fresh activities, open gathering spaces, and more. The neighborhood includes organizations that have been on the West Side for decades as well as newer arrivals like Gansevoort Peninsula in Hudson River Park. While many organizations are offering free admission to programs and events, advance registration may be required.

Participants include: Center for Art, Research and Alliances; Chelsea Factory; Dia Chelsea; the High Line; Hill Art Foundation; Hudson Guild; Hudson River Park; The Joyce Theater; The Kitchen; The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center; Little Island; NYC AIDS Memorial; Poster House; Print Center New York; Rubin Museum of Art; The Shed; Westbeth; West Village Rehearsal Co-Op; and White Columns.

Check out the full list of events

LISTEN

A group of people crowd around a person holding a rainbow pride flag.

Queer History Walk
Audio tour and podcast minisode

Explore the rich queer history of the Meatpacking District. Listen to our podcast minisode for a quick five-minute snapshot and find the complete twenty-minute tour on the audio guide. Listen while walking in the neighborhood or from the comfort of your home.

Podcast Minisode Full Audio Tour

Whitney Art Outside

A large billboard is displayed on the facade of a beige brick building at 95 Horatio Street, across from the Whitney Museum and the south end of the High Line. The billboard is part of the Whitney Biennial 2024: Even Better Than the Real Thing and is presented by the collective People Who Stutter Create (PWSC). The billboard has a light blue background and features the phrase "stuttering can create time" in three languages: Spanish, Chinese, and English.

The text is black and positioned in three distinct lines. The first line reads "la tartamudez nos ofrece tiempo" in Spanish, the second line is in Chinese characters, and the third line reads "stuttering can create time" in English. Each line is evenly spaced, with the Chinese text having a repeated character sequence that creates a rhythmic visual pattern.

The surrounding area includes a row of brick buildings in various shades of brown and red, with black fire escapes visible on the sides. There is a street below with parked cars, including a white truck and several other vehicles, and a blue bike-sharing station. The street is wet, indicating recent rain, and the sky is overcast with gray clouds.

People Who Stutter Create: Stuttering Can Create Time
95 Horatio Street

People Who Stutter Create: Stuttering Can Create Time is part of Whitney Biennial 2024: Even Better Than the Real Thing and is presented at 95 Horatio Street, on the facade of the building across the street from the Whitney and the south end of the High Line.

Learn More about the Billboard

A brightly painted portion of a sidewalk near a tall brick building and the waterfront.

Alake Shilling: Buggy Bear Goes on a Cool Cruise
Gansevoort Street and 10th Avenue

Buggy Bear Goes on a Cool Cruise is the latest in a series of paintings and sculptures that depict Buggy Bear, a character imagined by Los Angeles–based artist Alake Shilling. The mural is painted on the ground at the corner of Gansevoort Street and 10th Avenue. Relax at benches and tables there too.

Learn More about the Mural

A large stainless steel structure—the outline of a pier—hovers over the Hudson River at dusk.

David Hammons: Day’s End
Hudson River Park

Across from the Museum in Hudson River Park is a monumental installation by David Hammons titled Day's End. The artwork traces the outline of a pier that once existed on this site. Enjoy the sculpture from sandy Gansevoort Beach nearby.

Learn More about Day's End

Land Acknowledgment

The Whitney is located in Lenapehoking, the ancestral homeland of the Lenape. The Whitney acknowledges the displacement of this region’s original inhabitants and the Lenape diaspora that exists today.

Read the full acknowledgment

Accessibility

To learn more about the accommodations offered at each program, please visit the individual event pages. Email accessfeedback@whitney.org or call (646) 666-5574 with additional questions. View additional Museum access information and resources.

Free West Side Fest transportation is available for older adults on Saturday, July 13, 10 am–6 pm, provided by New York Foundation for Senior Citizens' Project CART. View the schedule and pick up locations.

West Side FestJuly 12–14, 2024