(AGENPARL) – Fri 03 October 2025 https://whitney.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=387f59a72ae7b64ccae37d5c9&id=a4287bbd4e&e=59415c6e7e
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** SPECIAL PERFORMANCES, DANCE CLASS, LIVE MUSIC, AND MORE AT THE WHITNEY DURING FREE FRIDAY NIGHTS AND FREE SECOND SUNDAY
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The Whitney’s October lineup for free programs includes a performance by musicians from Broadway musical Buena Vista Social Club, live music by The Kaleidoscope Collective, a DJ set with DJ Sunny Cheeba, and all-ages activities inspired by new exhibition Sixties Surreal.
New York, NY, October 3, 2025 — The Whitney Museum of American Art is offering free admission, live music, artmaking activities, and much more throughout October during Free Friday Nights (https://whitney.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=387f59a72ae7b64ccae37d5c9&id=64e83a702d&e=59415c6e7e) and Free Second Sunday (https://whitney.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=387f59a72ae7b64ccae37d5c9&id=30d53a30c5&e=59415c6e7e) . In partnership with ¡Viva! Broadway and the Broadway League, the Whitney is excited to welcome musicians from the critically acclaimed musical Buena Vista Social Club for a special performance on October 17. Coinciding with a Free Friday Night, the pop-up performance features musicians Renesito Avich, Javier Díaz, Román Diaz, David Oquendo, Marco Paguia, and Gustavo Schartz, who will bring the transporting sounds of Cuba to life in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month. Gather with family and friends this October to enjoy free programs and experience the exhibitions on view, including the recently opened Sixties Surreal (https://whitney.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=387f59a72ae7b64ccae37d5c9&id=a5889d9f83&e=59415c6e7e) and the upcoming High
Wire: Calder’s Circus at 100 (https://whitney.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=387f59a72ae7b64ccae37d5c9&id=5f96548fcf&e=59415c6e7e), which opens to the public on October 18. There’s something for everyone this fall season at the Whitney!
Friday, October 3 and Friday, October 10
Offering free admission from 5–10 pm, the Whitney’s Free Friday Nights features art, drinks, special programming, music, and more. Though admission is free, tickets are required, and capacity is limited. Advanced tickets are recommended. The latest information about Free Friday Nights programming is always available on whitney.org (https://whitney.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=387f59a72ae7b64ccae37d5c9&id=f17ba484c6&e=59415c6e7e) .
Sunday, October 12
On Sunday, October 12, the Whitney is offering free admission from 10:30 am–6 pm for all visitors. This is the first Free Second Sunday that Sixties Surreal is on view, and the Museum is excited to offer three special programs inspired by the exhibition. Sixties Surreal brings together more than 100 artists who turned to vivid color, bold imagery, and unexpected ideas to make sense of a rapidly changing world.
From 11 am–12 pm in the third-floor theater, travel back to the 1960s and listen to a rock and roll performance by The Kaleidoscope Collective (https://whitney.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=387f59a72ae7b64ccae37d5c9&id=ec308b2e78&e=59415c6e7e) . From 11 am–3 pm in the third-floor Artspace, artists of all ages are invited to play a giant version of the Surrealist drawing game Exquisite Corpse (https://whitney.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=387f59a72ae7b64ccae37d5c9&id=2d4f03572d&e=59415c6e7e) . All are welcome to create drawings and then mix and match with others to see what unexpected combinations emerge. From 12–4 pm in the third-floor theater, visitors are invited to make six-sided self-portraits inspired by Marisol’s Women and Dog (https://whitney.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=387f59a72ae7b64ccae37d5c9&id=d747abce06&e=59415c6e7e), which is featured in Sixties Surreal. The full schedule can be found at whitney.org/visit/second-sundays.
Friday, October 17
In partnership with ¡Viva! Broadway and the Broadway League, the Whitney is excited to welcome musicians from the critically acclaimed musical Buena Vista Social Club for a special performance at the Museum (https://whitney.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=387f59a72ae7b64ccae37d5c9&id=0729fe5813&e=59415c6e7e) at 6 pm in the third-floor theater. Buena Vista Social Club captivates audiences with the soul-stirring music of Cuba’s golden age, earning 10 Tony Award nominations and winning five, including a special Tony Award for the band. To celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, enjoy an exclusive pop-up performance by musicians from Buena Vista Social Club, featuring Renesito Avich, Javier Díaz, Román Diaz, David Oquendo, Marco Paguia, and Gustavo Schartz.
Friday, October 24
This of the first Free Friday Night that the upcoming exhibition High Wire: Calder’s Circus at 100 will be on view to the public. High Wire celebrates the centennial of one of Alexander Calder’s most iconic works and one of the most beloved in the Whitney’s collection, Calder’s Circus (https://whitney.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=387f59a72ae7b64ccae37d5c9&id=77f64e171c&e=59415c6e7e) (1926–31), and is the Museum’s first exhibition dedicated to the Circus since moving downtown to 99 Gansevoort. Additional programming includes a Sixties Surreal film program (https://whitney.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=387f59a72ae7b64ccae37d5c9&id=738cc80bc3&e=59415c6e7e) taking place in the third-floor theater from 3–7:30 pm and featuring works by Kenneth Anger, Ed Emshwiller, and Ken Jacobs. The program is free with Museum admission.
Friday, October 31
The Whitney is excited to welcome Bronx native and founder of Uptown Vinyl Supreme, DJ Sunny Cheeba (https://whitney.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=387f59a72ae7b64ccae37d5c9&id=cdd8a220c1&e=59415c6e7e), for the final time this year from 5–10 pm in the Lobby. As an artist and activist, DJ Sunny Cheeba’s investment in her community is reflected in her founding of Uptown Vinyl Supreme, a DJ collective paying homage to the analog roots of music, party, and dance culture. Earlier in the evening, the Whitney will host Halloween Teen Night (https://whitney.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=387f59a72ae7b64ccae37d5c9&id=763e086b02&e=59415c6e7e) from 4–7 pm in the third-floor theater. Organized by the Youth Insights Leaders, this year’s event is inspired by the current exhibition Sixties Surreal, a bold reimagining of American Art from 1958 to 1972 that channels the eerie, fantastical, and dreamlike spirit of the decade.
Ongoing Exhibition Tours
A variety of free exhibition tours led by Whitney educators, ranging from family-focused to 15-minute tours, are offered during Free Friday Nights and Free Second Sundays. For further details on upcoming tours, please visit whitney.org/events (https://whitney.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=387f59a72ae7b64ccae37d5c9&id=9982a3627d&e=59415c6e7e) .
New Free Admission Offerings at the Whitney
The Whitney Museum offers free admission to all visitors 25 years of age and younger. The new Free 25 and Under program builds on the Museum’s popular Free Friday Nights and Free Second Sundays initiatives. With the addition of free admission for visitors 25 and under, the Whitney—already a leader in the field, providing free admission for visitors 18 and under for over a decade—offers one of the broadest and most comprehensive free admissions programs among museums in New York and the United States, affirming the Whitney’s commitment to broadening access to American contemporary art and culture, and to reaching new audiences. Free 25 and Under is made possible with the generous support of two three-year gifts from Whitney Museum Board members, longtime supporter Susan Hess, and artist Julie Mehretu.
Free Second Sundays at the Whitney help connect more people to the Museum and its mission of celebrating contemporary American art and artists. Second Sundays is made possible by a generous three-year grant from the Art Bridges Foundation’s Access for All Program (https://whitney.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=387f59a72ae7b64ccae37d5c9&id=82f60b8dd9&e=59415c6e7e), which supports increased access to museums across the country and fosters engagement with local communities by focusing on common barriers to access. The program and another Whitney initiative, Free Friday Nights (https://whitney.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=387f59a72ae7b64ccae37d5c9&id=b75c0bd5f8&e=59415c6e7e), both aim to reduce barriers to access, removing admission fees and offering programs that are entry points for anyone interested in visiting.
Photo and video assets from previous Free Friday Nights and Second Sundays at the Whitney can be found at whitney.org/press/free-days-and-nights.
** PRESS CONTACT
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For press materials and image requests, please contact:
Meghan Ferrucci, Senior Publicist
Whitney Museum of American Art
(212) 671-8346
Whitney Press Office
whitney.org/press
(212) 570-3633
** PROGRAM SUPPORT
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Major support for Free Friday Nights is provided by Jen Rubio and Stewart Butterfield and Paul Arnhold and Wes Gordon. Significant support is provided by Leslie Bluhm and David Helfand, and the Brown Foundation Inc., of Houston.
Major support for Free Second Sundays is provided by Art Bridges Foundation’s Access for All program. Significant support is provided by Julie and Doug Ostrover.
** ABOUT THE WHITNEY
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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 Acknowledgment, visit the Museum’s website (https://whitney.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=387f59a72ae7b64ccae37d5c9&id=8b38c0cccf&e=59415c6e7e) .
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** VISITOR INFORMATION
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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, 10:30 am–6 pm. Closed Tuesday. Visitors twenty-five years and under and Whitney members: FREE. The Museum offers FREE admission and special programming for visitors of all ages every Friday evening from 5–10 pm and on the second Sunday of every month.
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Whitney Museum of American Art
99 Gansevoort Street New York, NY 10014
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Image credit:
Lead image: Installation view of Sixties Surreal (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, September 24, 2025–January 19, 2026). Raymond Saunders, Untitled, 1968. Photograph by Trevor Felder
Left to right: Second Sunday, September 14, 2025. Photograph by Filip Wolak; Image by Matthew Murphy. The Broadway company of Buena Vista Social Club
Left to right: Halloween Teen Night at the Whitney Museum of American Art. Photograph by Filip Wolak; Second Sunday, September 14, 2025. Photograph by Filip Wolak