The Big Apple! New York City is one of the world’s most impressive urban epicenters. But anyone that’s ever lived there or even those that have just visited the city knows that it can be a pretty expensive place to explore. Lodging, transportation, dining, and entertainment costs can accumulate quickly. So, if you’re planning on visiting this bustling metropolis on a budget, you might be looking for a few affordable activities to keep you and your family happy and occupied. Sure, it doesn’t cost anything to roam around the streets and Burroughs of New York City, but eventually, you’re probably going to want to check out some of the world-class attractions and sights that the city is known for.
New York City has no shortage of top-tier museums. Fortunately, you don’t always have to spend a fortune visiting them. A ton of museums, including leading research institutions, eclectic art spaces, and facilities dedicated to preserving local history, now offer free or pay-what-you-can admission. For budget-conscious travelers looking to explore the unknown at zero cost, we’ve compiled a list of free or donation-based New York City museums that we’re about to go over in this video. So, let’s go ahead and get started, shall we?
American Folk Art Museum
This museum features a permanent collection that showcases textiles, paintings, crafts, and sculptures made by well-known artists and self-taught outsider artists. Some famous pieces included in their collection include an 18th century Tree of Life motif whitework bedcover and a painting called Girl in Red Dress With Cat and Dog which was produced by the 19th-century American nomadic painter Ammi Phillips.
At the moment, there is a temporary exhibit on display featuring weathervanes constructed during the 18th to 20th centuries. They also have another featured exhibit of the works of famed self-taught artists.
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And don’t go anywhere just yet. Keep watching to learn all about the many other free and pay-what-you-can museums in New York City.
MoMA PS1
Free for New York City residents and pay-what-you-wish for everyone else, this Queens-based museum was first founded in 1971 with the goal of transforming abandoned buildings in New York City into art centers. In 2000, MoMa PS1 joined forces with Manhattan’s world-renowned Museum of Modern Art to become one of the nation’s largest modern art museums.
The exhibits change pretty often, but they typically focus predominately on experimental and installation art. One of the current special exhibitions showcases the works of Niki de Saint Phalle, an artist known for her overtly feminists and performative artwork.
If you plan on visiting this museum any time soon and like hands-on activities, be sure to visit its courtyard which now features participatory installation art that explores the themes of land use, urban space, and ecology.
American Museum of Natural History
Founded in 1869, this sprawling pay-what-you-can museum is one of the premier science and educational institutions in the nation. One can easily spend their entire day here. The museum’s collection features 34 million specimens of plants, fossils, animals, minerals, and human cultural artifacts.
After being closed for four years, the museum’s newly redesigned gems and minerals exhibit features an impressive collection of precious and semi-precious stones, minerals, and jewelry from all over the planet.
Bronx Museum of Arts
This museum opened in the early 70s with the admirable goal of bringing art to the Bronx. It has since become one of the most progressive and well-curated museums in the city. The Bronx Museum of Arts collection features both contemporary and 20th century works by esteemed American artists. It also hosts exhibitions featuring modern art from various other regions of the world.
Currently, the museum is celebrating its 50-year dedication to social justice with a new solo exhibit that features the works of Harlem-based artist Wardell Milan.
Museum of the City of New York
This museum is committed to preserving New York City’s rich history and has a pretty remarkable collection of historic artifacts, photos, drawings, documents, and so much more to see and experience. Kids will enjoy the educational programs here as well.
As of right now, the museum has several temporary exhibits including one that takes a look at the diverse history of New York’s quirkiest residents – puppets that have traveled with migrant communities from across the globe as they made their way to the city.
El Museo del Barrio
Located at the northern end of Fifth Avenue’s Museum Mile, this pay-what-you-can museum showcases the art and culture of Puerto Ricans and all Latin Americans in the US. The museum houses a collection of more than 8,000 artworks by Latin American, Caribbean, and Latinx artists spanning from per-Columbian times to today.
At the moment, El Museo del Barrio has a temporary exhibit that shines a light on the modern artworks of 40 Latino artists from across the country.
National Museum of the American Indian New York
This free museum features both historical and modern art pieces as well as artifacts related to the Native Americans. The museum’s collection is organized by geographic region and is a nice hybrid of ethnology, anthropology, art, and history. If you are looking to brush up on your history of the United States’ first occupants and the atrocities that they had to go through throughout their storied history on this soil, then this museum is precisely what you are looking for.
Noguchi Museum
Isamu Noguchi, the Japanese-American artist and landscape architect, is perhaps best known for his abstract sculptures and Akari Lights, which in case you didn’t know are lamps made out of washi paper and bamboo that create a soft, warm glow. The museum is the brainchild and the cumulative work of the artist himself. Here you can find a collection that features not only his world-famous lamps but also his furniture, drawings, and sculptures. It’s also worth noting that the atmosphere here is also tranquil, roomy, and contemplative, so if you are looking for a meditative environment to calm your mind, then this just might be the right museum for you.
Queens County Farm Museum
Here we have another free museum that dates back to 1697. Queens County Farm currently sits on New York City’s largest remaining undisturbed farmland. On this site, you can find historic buildings, a lush greenhouse, multiple livestock areas, an orchard, and various gardens where herbs, flowers, fruits, and vegetables grow. Not only does the museum present the historical farm lifestyle but it also does a great job of educating the public about topics ranging from biodiversity to climate change to nutrition.
Queens Museum
At this free museum, you’ll find a permanent exhibit that features a room-size scale model panorama of the City of New York commissioned by the master builder Robert Moses back in 1964 for that year’s World’s Fair.
The Queens Museum also has on display a relief map of the New York City water system as well as a pretty terrific exhibit of Tiffany glasses.
Socrates Sculpture Park
This plot of land alongside the East River waterfront used to be an abandoned landfill and illegal dumpsite until the 1980s when it was turned into an open-air museum featuring a large-scale modern installation art and performance exhibit.
One of the current exhibits on display named Planeta Abuelx makes use of recycled and found materials to creatively explore the themes of healing a recovery throughout earth’s history. Additionally, it serves as a homage to marginalized and vulnerable groups who their lives to the pandemic.
Staten Island Museum
This hidden gem of a museum features natural science specimens, archival records, and works of art and design related to Staten Island. Even though the museum clearly is coming from a Staten Islander’s perspective, visitors can still enjoy taking a closer look at American History and culture in the past two centuries.
The Jewish Museum
Established in 1947, this free museum is unique for being both the first Jewish museum in the United States and the oldest existing Jewish museum in the world. It can be found on New York’s famed Fifth Avenue Museum Mile and over 30,000 objects including artifacts of thousands of years of Jewish history as well as contemporary pieces are on display.
A current exhibit that will be around until January 2022 highlights the stories of Jewish art that were stolen during World War II and were only recently recovered.
The Bushwick Collective
When we think about art and museums our minds typically shoot to ornate, sprawling indoor galleries featuring the works of renowned and celebrated artist elites, but there is something to be said about less glamorous artworks and their creators as well. Even though this isn’t an indoor museum, this area of street art and graffiti is a curated space that features the works of some of the most talented street artists on the planet. A free Bushwick Street art tour runs daily as well.
Schomburg Center For Research In Black Culture
Located in Harlem, this free museum is one of the world’s top institutions dedicated to the preservation and exhibition of materials pertaining to African American and African culture, art, experiences, and contributions.
They have over 10 million objects, artifacts, documents, recordings, art pieces, and more on display. The Schomburg Center is also a featured stop on numerous Harlem tours, so if you’re already in the area checking out the sights, you’d be silly not to stop here for a few hours.
Who says that vacation has to be expensive? Sure, you’re going to shelling out quite a bit of dough for accommodations anywhere in New York City, but you can make up for that by visiting some of the many free world-class museums that the city has to offer.
What do you think of the museums that we featured in this video? Did we miss one of your favorites, perhaps? Let us know in the comments section below.
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