New York, NY, May 11, 2023 —The Whitney Museum of American Art presents a series of free, on-site public programs and events celebrating Pride throughout the month of June. Pride at the Whitney will activate the Museum building and surrounding neighborhood with festivities for visitors of all ages. Pride at the Whitney is part of the Museum’s ongoing commitment to support LGBTQ+ artists and communities and offer an inclusive space for all to gather and enjoy American art.
Pride at the Whitney kicks off on June 5 with a Celebration for The Stroll on the occasion of the New York premiere of the moving and powerful HBO Documentary Film The Stroll (2023).
The celebration will honor the history of the Meatpacking District and the transgender women who helped shape it following the film screening in Gansevoort Plaza, just down the street from the Whitney. Guests will be welcomed for an after-hours event at the Museum featuring music, dancing, and refreshments.
On Friday, June 9, 4–7 pm, the Museum will host a Queer Teen Night where LGBTQ+ teens and allies can participate in artmaking workshops, enjoy performances, dancing, giveaways, and a tour of landmark exhibitions Jaune Quick-to-See Smith: Memory Map and Josh Kline: Project for a New American Century. Starting Friday, June 9 at 6 pm and continuing through the weekend, visitors are invited to join Whitney education staff on a Queer History Walking Tour of the Meatpacking District to learn more about the impact and history of LGBTQ+ communities in the neighborhood around the Whitney. Museum admission is pay-what-you-wish on Friday, June 9, 7–10 pm. The festivities continue with Whitney Pride Celebration on Saturday, June 10, 11 am–6 pm. The Whitney will welcome visitors to enjoy family-friendly activities, including hands-on artmaking, collaborative coloring projects, giveaways, and more.
Highlighting the history and documentation of Manhattan’s west side piers in the 1970s and 1980s, The Piers Project invites visitors to engage with writings and photographs from that time. Through photographs and first-hand written accounts capturing the scene, dancers imagine the moments and movements that occurred there in the post-Stonewall era. The performance will be presented by The Matthew Westerby Company and Hudson Guild Theatre Company in the Museum’s Susan and John Hess Family Theater on Saturday, June 17.
On Thursday, June 22, 5–6 pm, the Whitney and community partner ADAPT Community Network will host a Radical Joy Ball in the Museum’s Theater. Museum visitors are welcome to join in celebrating and recognizing those within our community who are LGBTQ+, BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color), and living with a disability. Drawing from New York’s ballroom culture traditions, this event creates a space to celebrate the vibrancy of LGBTQ+ and disability pride through music, dance, and runway performances.
PROGRAM LISTINGS
These events are part of Pride at the Whitney, a series of free public programs and events dedicated to LGBTQ+ artists and communities, offering an inclusive space for all to gather and enjoy American art. Additional information about Pride at the Whitney, digital offerings, and visitor information, including accessibility services and health and safety guidelines, is available on the Museum’s website at whitney.org/pride-2023. More details about programs and events will be added to the website as they are confirmed.
Tickets to the Museum must be reserved separately. Advance booking is recommended.
Learn more about access services and programs on whitney.org. Please email accessfeedback@whitney.org or call (646) 666-5574 for access-related questions or feedback.
Celebration for The Stroll
Monday, June 5, 10 pm ET
The Whitney will host an after-hours event celebrating the history of the Meatpacking District and honoring the transgender women who helped shape it. This event follows the New York premiere of the HBO Documentary Film The Stroll (2023), a documentary film that explores the history of New York City’s Meatpacking District through the eyes of the transgender women of color who lived and worked there. Guests are invited to join community partners and collaborators Rooftop Films, HBO, Meatpacking BID, and NewFest for an evening of music, dancing, and refreshments in the Museum’s Lobby. This event is for adults 21 years of age and over.
Location: Floor 1, Kenneth C. Griffin Hall
Tickets: Free, registration required. Registration opens May 15.
Event Link: whitney.org/events/celebration-for-the-stroll
Queer Teen Night
Friday, June 9, 4–7 pm ET
The Whitney will host a dedicated evening designed for LGBTQ+ youth and allies. Join the Museum’s Youth Insights Leaders, in collaboration with The Door, The Center, and Haus of Us, for an evening of artmaking, performances, dancing, giveaways, and a tour of exhibitions Jaune Quick-to-See Smith: Memory Map and Josh Kline: Project for a New American Century.
Location: Floor 3, Susan and John Hess Family Theater
Tickets: Free, registration required
Event Link: whitney.org/events/queer-teen-night
Queer History Walking Tours
Friday, June 9, 6 pm ET
Saturday, June 10, 1 pm, 3 pm, and 5 pm ET
Sunday, June 11, 2 pm ET
Sunday, June 18, 2 pm ET
Friday, June 23, 6 pm ET
Join the Whitney education team on a Queer History Walking Tour of the Meatpacking District to learn more about the impact and history of LGBTQ+ communities throughout the neighborhood surrounding the Museum. From the Hudson River piers to the clubs, visitors are invited to consider their connection to the changing landscape of the neighborhood that the Whitney now occupies, as well as the city’s history.
Location: Tours will meet outside the entrance of the Museum. The meeting place will be marked with physical signage.
Tickets: Free, registration required
Event Link: whitney.org/events/queer-history-walks-23
Whitney Pride Celebration
Saturday, June 10, 11 am–6 pm ET
The festivities continue with Whitney Pride Celebration on Saturday, June 10. To honor our LGBTQ+ community and allies, the Whitney will host a celebration with activities designed for community members and families of all ages, including hands-on artmaking, collaborative coloring projects inspired by artist Chitra Ganesh, Queer History Walking Tours of the Meatpacking District, giveaways, and more.
Whitney Pride Celebration festivities are free and open to the public. Tickets to the Museum must be reserved separately. Advance booking is recommended.
Location: Whitney Museum
Tickets: More information will become available as details are confirmed.
Event Link: whitney.org/events/whitney-pride-celebration-2023
The Piers Project
Saturday, June 17, 1 pm and 4 pm ET
Inspired by the history and documentation of Manhattan’s west side piers in the 1970s and 1980s, The Piers Project, presented by The Matthew Westerby Company and Hudson Guild Theatre Company, explores the moments and movements that occurred there. This area of New York, not far from the Whitney, became a space of sexual freedom and expression in the post-Stonewall era. Visitors are invited to engage with writings and photographs from that time, imagining the world that existed around the piers to create a dance work that evokes the freedom, exuberance, anonymity, and dangers of the scene.
Tickets to the Museum must be reserved separately. Advance booking is recommended.
Location: Floor 3, Susan and John Hess Family Theater
Tickets: Free, registration required
Event Link: whitney.org/events/the-piers-project-2023
Radical Joy Ball
Thursday, June 22, 5–6 pm ET
Join the Whitney and our partner, ADAPT Community Network, for an evening celebrating inclusivity, access, and the pride of self-expression in the Museum’s theater. This event creates a space to celebrate the vibrancy of LGBTQ+ and disability pride through music, dance, and runway performances. This event is for adults 21 years of age and over.
Learn more about access services and programs on whitney.org. Please email accessfeedback@whitney.org or call (646) 666-5574 for access-related questions or feedback.
Location: Floor 3, Susan and John Hess Family Theater
Tickets: Free with Museum admission. Seating is first come, first served.
Event Link: whitney.org/events/radical-joy-ball-2023
PRESS CONTACT
For press materials and image requests, please visit our press site at whitney.org/press or contact:
Meghan Ferrucci, Publicist
Whitney Museum of American Art
(212) 671-8346
Whitney Press Office
(212) 570-3633
PROGRAM SUPPORT
Generous support for public programming at the Whitney is provided by the William Randolph Hearst Foundation; the Annenberg Foundation; Gregory Annenberg Weingarten, GRoW @ Annenberg; Krystyna Doerfler; Kevin and Rosemary McNeely, Manitou Fund; Steven Tisch; and Laurie M. Tisch.
Major support is provided by Lise and Michael Evans, Ronnie and Michael Kassan, Barry and Mimi Sternlicht, and Burton P. and Judith B. Resnick.
Additional support is provided by Ashley Leeds and Christopher Harland; public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council; public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a State Agency; and the Whitney’s Education Committee.
ABOUT THE WHITNEY
The Whitney Museum of American Art, founded in 1930 by the artist and philanthropist Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875–1942), houses the foremost collection of American art from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Mrs. Whitney, an early and ardent supporter of modern American art, nurtured groundbreaking artists when audiences were still largely preoccupied with the Old Masters. From her vision arose the Whitney Museum of American Art, which has been championing the most innovative art of the United States for ninety years. The core of the Whitney’s mission is to collect, preserve, interpret, and exhibit American art of our time and serve a wide variety of audiences in celebration of the complexity and diversity of art and culture in the United States. Through this mission and a steadfast commitment to artists, the Whitney has long been a powerful force in support of modern and contemporary art and continues to help define what is innovative and influential in American art today.
Whitney Museum Land Acknowledgment
The Whitney is located in Lenapehoking, the ancestral homeland of the Lenape. The name Manhattan comes from their word Mannahatta, meaning “island of many hills.” The Museum’s current site is close to land that was a Lenape fishing and planting site called Sapponckanikan (“tobacco field”). The Whitney acknowledges the displacement of this region’s original inhabitants and the Lenape diaspora that exists today.
As a museum of American art in a city with vital and diverse communities of Indigenous people, the Whitney recognizes the historical exclusion of Indigenous artists from its collection and program. The Museum is committed to addressing these erasures and honoring the perspectives of Indigenous artists and communities as we work for a more equitable future. To read more about the Museum’s Land Acknowledgement, visit the Museum’s website.
VISITOR INFORMATION
The Whitney Museum of American Art is located at 99 Gansevoort Street between Washington and West Streets, New York City. Public hours are: Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday, 10:30 am–6 pm; Friday, 10:30 am–10 pm; and Saturday and Sunday, 11 am–6 pm. Closed Tuesday. Member-only hours are: Saturday and Sunday, 10:30–11 am. Visitors eighteen years and under and Whitney members: FREE. Admission is pay-what-you-wish on Fridays, 7–10 pm. COVID-19 vaccination and face coverings are not required but strongly recommended. We encourage all visitors to wear face coverings that cover the nose and mouth throughout their visit.
Image credit:
Photograph by Summer Surgent-Gough
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