Walking Tour: Art Wars! The Met, MoMA, and the Whitney, and What Each Will Argue Is Art

• Art/Photo

After the Civil War, the stewards of our young nation sought to develop artists with talent to rival that of Old Europe. Their goal was to elevate the level of refinement of the average American, and prove that we could be preoccupied with more than the almighty Buck! On this pleasant Museum Mile trek, we will discover how the keepers of our first cultural collections defined art and decided what would or would not hang within their walls, in the process competing with each other and the highbrow institutions overseas. Learn how our premier cultural institutions would later be at the vanguard of the Cold War battle for hearts and minds. This is an outdoor tour focusing on museum architecture as a reflection of their founders and the collections inside. Tour includes viewing and discussion of the exterior of the National Academy of Design and Whitney Museum uptown (now the Met Breuer), as well as the landmarked Metropolitan and Guggenheim Museum facades.

Meet at the NE corner of 5th Avenue and 82nd St. across the street from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 5th Avenue, New York, NY 10028