33rd Annual Museum Mile Fest Held June 14

Now celebrating its 33rd year, the annual Museum Mile Festival (www.museummilefestival.org) takes place rain or shine on Tuesday, June 14, 2011, from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm. Over 1.5 million people have taken part in this annual celebration since its inception. Festival attendees can walk the Mile between 82nd Street and 105th Street while visiting nine of New York City's finest cultural institutions open free to the public throughout the evening. In addition, several of the participating museums offer outdoor art activities for children.

The Museum Mile Festival's opening ceremony takes place at 5:45 pm at Neue Galerie New York (Fifth Avenue at 86th Street). Traditionally, the Commissioner of Cultural Affairs and other city and state dignitaries open the Festival.

El Museo del Barrio; The Museum of the City of New York; The Jewish Museum; Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution; National Academy Museum & School; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum; Neue Galerie New York; Goethe-Institut New York/German Cultural Center; and The Metropolitan Museum of Art are the nine institutions participating in this highly successful collaboration. (The Goethe-Institut New York has moved to an interim location.) The Museum for African Art, opening soon on Fifth Avenue at 110th Street, is joining the Museum Mile Festival as its newest member.

Fifth Avenue is closed to traffic and becomes a strollers' haven. Special exhibitions and works from permanent collections are on view inside the museums' galleries and live music from jazz to Broadway tunes to string quartets is featured in front of several of the museums. Additional street entertainers perform along Fifth Avenue all evening. Festival attendees will be among the first to see El Museo's Bienal: The (S) Files 2011, El Museo del Barrio's biennial focusing on cutting edge street art, and The American Style: Colonial Revival and the Modern Metropolis, at The Museum of the City of New York, both opening on June 14. Other exhibitions on view include Joel Grey/A New York Life, a visual retrospective exploring the impact the artist and his adopted city have had on each other through rare artifacts related to his career and objects from his personal collections, at The Museum of the City of New York; Collecting Matisse and Modern Masters: The Cone Sisters of Baltimore, focusing on the vision of two Jewish sisters, their extraordinary art collection, and their personal relationships with artists such as Matisse and Picasso, at The Jewish Museum; Set in Style: The Jewelry of Van Cleef & Arpels, examining VC&A's innovative use of materials, production methods, and interpretations of trends over a century of creativity, at Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution; Vienna 1900: Style and Identity, examining the emergence of the modern concept of individual identity in turn-of-the-century Vienna as expressed in the art of the period, including paintings, drawings, sculpture, jewelry, furniture, music, and fashion, at Neue Galerie New York; and Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty, celebrating the innovative work of the late fashion designer through 100 iconic examples from his prolific 19-year career, at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Established in 1978 to increase public awareness of its member institutions and promote public support of the arts, the Museum Mile Festival serves as a model for similar events across the country. For further information, the public may call 212-606-2296 or visit the festival Web site at www.museummilefestival.org.

MUSICAL ENTERTAINERS will perform in front of these participating institutions:

104th Street El Museo del Barrio - DJs Potencia Latina, Johnny Colón and his orchestra
The Museum for African Art - performances by West African and Capoeira dance residencies at Wadleigh Secondary School for the Performing and Visual Arts
103rd Street Museum of the City of New York - Speaking in Rhythms percussion ensemble
92nd Street The Jewish Museum - Quarteto Rodriguez Cuban Jewish All Stars
89th Street National Academy Museum and School - The Hayes Greenfield
Band
88th Street The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum - People's Champs
86th Street Neue Galerie New York - Australian award-winning Cabaret artist Kim Smith

A wide variety of additional entertainers will be featured along "Museum Mile" that evening, including: Dave Lowe Juggler (82nd Street); The Magic of Neil Alexander (85th Street); Random Richards Ramble (86th Street); Daisy Doodle's Parties, Magic, Facepainting & Balloons (88th Street); Fredo the Magician (89th Street); Silly Billy the Very Funny Clown (90th Street); Sammie & Tudie's Imagination Playhouse (93rd Street); and Paul Labarbera and Rockbeat Music Group (100th Street).

FAMILY ACTIVITIES:

There will also be an array of outdoor activities for Museum Mile Festival attendees: The Goethe-Institut New York will offer face painting and a German food quiz for kids. The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum will have music and other educational activities. A live model drawing class for children ages 8 to 12 will take place in the Stone Room of the National Academy Museum and School of Fine Arts. Visitors to The Jewish Museum can create drawings inspired by illustrator/author Maira Kalman's books and magazine covers. El Museo del Barrio will offer an art-making workshop for families. The Museum for African Art will be teaching African Capoeira dance. Chalk drawing will be offered by Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, National Academy Museum and School of Fine Arts, The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and El Museo del Barrio.

EXHIBITIONS ON VIEW:

El Museo del Barrio: El Museo's Bienal: The (S) Files 2011; Voces y Visiones: Signs, Systems & The City. In addition, artist Rafael Sánchez will recreate Papo Colo's 1977 endurance piece, Superman 51, running the Mile with 51 pieces of wood tied to his body.

Museum of the City of New York: Joel Grey/A New York Life; The American Style: Colonial Revival and the Modern Metropolis

The Jewish Museum: Collecting Matisse and Modern Masters: The Cone Sisters of Baltimore; Maira Kalman: Various Illuminations (of a Crazy World); The Art of Matrimony: Thirty Splendid Marriage Contracts from The Jewish Theological Seminary Library; The Line and the Circle by Sharone Lifschitz; Culture and Continuity: The Jewish Journey; and for children, Archaeology Zone: Discovering Treasures from Playgrounds to Palaces

Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum: Set in Style: The Jewelry of Van Cleef & Arpels; Color Moves: Art and Fashion by Sonia Delaunay

National Academy Museum: The National Academy Museum galleries are closed for renovations and will reopen in September 2011. The Academy will provide information about its newly renovated space, opening exhibitions and public programs.

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum: The Thannhauser Collection, featuring works in the permanent collection by Cézanne, Gauguin, Manet, Monet, Picasso, Pissarro, Renoir, and van Gogh; A Year with Children 2011, showcasing art created by New York City public school students participating in the Guggenheim's Learning Through Art program; and Kandinsky at the Bauhaus, 1922-1933.

Neue Galerie New York: Vienna 1900: Style and Identity

The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Richard Serra Drawing: A Retrospective; Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty; and Anthony Caro on the Roof (weather permitting).

The Goethe-Institut New York is still at its interim location at 72 Spring Street, 11th Floor. Nevertheless, for the Museum Mile Festival the Goethe-Institut will be present at its former building on 1014 Fifth Avenue, providing information about its new venues, programs, activities, and library.

Opened to the public in 1984, the Museum for African Art is dedicated to the arts and cultures of Africa and the African Diaspora. In September 2007, ground was broken for a new building at Fifth Avenue and East 110th Street in Manhattan. While it prepares for the public opening of its new quarters, the Museum continues to develop important exhibitions that travel to major venues internationally. It also presents a wide range of public programs for adults, families, and school children, held at locations throughout New York City.