For one weekend each October, hundreds of architectural sites across the city, many not normally accessible to the public, throw open their doors for Open House New York.
That includes historic homes and buildings—did you know that Lehmann College in the Bronx has not one but two Modernist masterpieces designed by Marcel Breuer—sparkling new skyscrapers, and yes, plenty of art institutions, all open for free.
Since its first edition in 2003, the Open House nonprofit has helped celebrate the forgotten corners of New York City. From architectural treasures like the United Palace in Washington Heights, an ornate 1930 movie theater that hosted this weekend’s opening fundraiser, to M&S Schmalberg Flowers, the last domestic factory making fabric flowers in the Garment District, no slice of the city is too humble or obscure to get its moment in the spotlight.
Many of the locations require tickets, which tend to get snapped up within hours of their release. But the majority are open access, which means that even if you haven’t planned ahead, there are plenty of cool participants, art-related and otherwise, ripe for discovery.
Here are eight places for art and museum lovers to check out among the 276 participating locations this Open House New York.
Powerhouse Arts
Photo by Albert Vecerka/Esto, courtesy of Powerhouse Arts.
In 2022, Herzog and de Meuron and PBDW Architects completed an ambitious project to transform the former Brooklyn Rapid Transit Power Station into an artist fabrication facility. Stop by for tours of workshops for ceramics, large metal sculptures, prints, and textiles, and don’t miss the massive Great Hall, still covered with graffiti from when the building was abandoned.
Powerhouse Arts, 322 3rd Avenue, Gowanus, Brooklyn
Saturday, October 19
12 p.m.–6 p.m.
Sunday, October 20
12 p.m.–6 p.m.
Brooklyn Industrial Arts
Brooklyn Industrial Arts
Brooklyn Industrial Arts. Photo by Gabe Ochoa, courtesy of Brooklyn Industrial Arts.
Artists, makers, designers, and engineers in need of a workshop to bring their projects to life can join Brooklyn Industrial Arts to have access to high-tech tools like a CNC router, laser cutter, and 3-D printer. Tours during Open House New York will take place during regular shop hours, meaning you might catch artists at work.
Brooklyn Industrial Arts, 544 Park Avenue, Suite 332, Brooklyn
Saturday, October 19
10 a.m.–6 p.m.
Brooklyn Seltzer Museum
The Brooklyn Seltzer Museum factory floor. Photo courtesy of the Brooklyn Seltzer Museum.
This little-known institution, housed at the city’s oldest seltzer works—a fourth-generation family business—normally gives tours once a week, on Fridays for $25. You’ll get to visit the factory, enjoy a seltzer and egg cream tasting, and even try using a siphon to make the fizziest seltzer. Who knew there was so much to learn about the science and history of seltzer?
Brooklyn Seltzer Museum 474 Hemlock Street, Cypress Hills, Brooklyn
Sunday, October 20
12 p.m.–3 p.m.
Institute of Classical Architecture and Art
The Cast Hall at the Institute of Classical Architecture and Art. Photo by Brandon Mitchell, courtesy of the Institute of Classical Architecture and Art.
In the 19th century, plaster casts of ancient artworks were an important tool for teaching the public about classical art, and were integral to many museum collections. But with the changing times, the Metropolitan Museum of Art deaccessioned 120 historic plaster casts in 2004. The collection now belongs to the ICAA and is on display in their Cast Hall, normally only viewable by appointment.
Institute of Classical Architecture and Art at the General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen, 20 West 44th Street, 6th Floor, Midtown, New York
Saturday, October 19
10 a.m.–5 p.m.
Noble Signs
Noble Signs. Photo by Lawrence Sumulong, courtesy of Noble Signs..
Believe it or not—based on the vintage look of its storefront—Noble Signs was only founded in 2013, dedicated to preserving historic signage in New York, but also to creating new hand-painted signage that will help maintain the city’s unique character for generations to come. Visitors can check out the nonprofit’s 40-piece museum collection of rescued storefronts, as well as the active sign shop, where artisans work the old-fashioned way.
Noble Signs, 2465 Atlantic Ave, Ocean Hill, Brooklyn
Sunday, October 20
10 a.m.–1 p.m.
Brooklyn Glass
A glass blowing workshop at Brooklyn Glass. Photo courtesy of Brooklyn Glass.
Artists and craftspeople working in all things glass can work by the hour at this 4,000-square-foot artist-owned studio that has two furnaces and five glory holes. During Open House New York, there will be glass blowing, flameworking, and neon demonstrations.
Brooklyn Glass, 142 13th Street, Gowanus, Brooklyn
Sunday, October 20
10 a.m.–6 p.m.
Mmuseumm
The Mmuseumm. Photo courtesy of the Mmuseumm.
Normally glimpsed only through a peephole, the Mmuseumm is almost certainly New York’s smallest institution, housed inside a former elevator shaft down a nondescript alley. Founded by Alex Kalman (son of artist Maira Kalman) and filmmaker brothers Josh and Benny Safdie in 2012, the six-by-six-by-six-foot space is dedicated to our modern world—a natural history display but of obscure artifacts of 21st-century life, like a collection of international potato chip bags.
Mmuseumm, 4 Cortlandt Alley, Tribeca, Manhattan
Saturday, October 19
10 a.m.–6 p.m.
Sunday, October 20
10 a.m.–6 p.m.
Westbeth Artists Housing
The entrance of Westbeth Artist Housing. Bella Muccari, courtesy of Westbeth Artist Housing.
Since 1970, the former Bell Laboratories facility in the West Village has been artist housing, in an early, first-of-its-kind example of adaptive reuse. There will be hourly tours of the building, delving into both periods in its history, as well as open studio time with many of the residents starting at 2 p.m.
Westbeth Artists Housing, 155 Bank Street, West Village, New York
Saturday, October 19
1 p.m.–5 p.m.
Sunday, October 20
1 p.m.–5 p.m.