Loading map...
CollectionDowntown NYC
The Museums
Three contemporary art icons. Two refurbished synagogues. A university gallery. A photography museum. The kind of places you return to.
Last updated Jul 14, 2026
Big shows. Long runs. No rush.
For the afternoons when you’re in the mood to see a show built around big ideas, defining movements, or an artist’s life work. Some introduce younger artists you'll soon be seeing everywhere. Others return to artists who changed the direction of contemporary art. And, when you're ready to step outside, downtown is there. Waiting.
MuseumEast Village
Swiss Institute
Our go-to when we want contemporary art that's deeply thoughtful, beautifully installed, and quietly ahead of the curve. Part intellectual laboratory, part downtown sanctuary, it's one of the best places to spend an afternoon in the city.
MuseumNoHo
Grey Art Museum
Come for thoughtful, richly researched exhibitions that transport you across cities, histories, and art movements. Stay for quiet galleries and work that makes you smarter. This is exactly what a university museum should feel like.
MuseumEast Village
The Brant Foundation
Downtown legends, ambitious shows, and giant industrial architecture combine in one of the East Village's most unexpectedly great art spaces. Warhol, Haring, Basquiat, Kelley — the Brant Foundation feels like walking through the last forty years of contemporary art history.
MuseumLower East Side
New Museum
The most contemporary of New York’s contemporary museums. It’s where we go to get to know the artists, ideas, and conversations shaping what’s new, what's now, and what's coming next, and feel slightly ahead of it.
MuseumLower East Side
International Center of Photography (ICP)
A gorgeous (and relatively) new space for this historic institution. Visit for the best of NY’s socially and politically-minded photography, past and present.
MuseumChinatown
Museum at Eldridge Street
Be immersed in the Jewish history of the Lower East Side in this tenderly restored synagogue, where downtown artists weave the neighborhood’s past into shows and the building itself.
