Public Events and City-Wide Celebrations

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum Day

In recognition of the anniversary, this date has been declared Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum Day in the City of New York by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg.

Pay-What-You-Wish Moves to Saturday Night

Formerly offered on Fridays, Pay-What-You-Wish hours will be hosted by the museum on Saturday evenings from 5:45–7:45 pm.

Spring Family Day

Bring the whole family and join us in celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Guggenheim Museum and the exhibition, Frank Lloyd Wright: From Within Outward. Enjoy everything from art-making activities and conversations to performances and storytelling. For families with children ages 4–10.

Museum Mile Festival

Cultural Affairs Commissioner Kate Levin cuts the ribbon to officially open the 2009 Museum Mile Festival during Opening Ceremonies hosted by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. The Ribbon Cutting event, beginning at 5:55 pm, will be followed by live music by Brooklyn-based blues band Tin Pan, and a variety of art activities relating to the museum’s 50th Anniversary.

The Architecture of Writing: Wright, Women, and Narrative

Honoring Taliesin Fellow Lois Gottlieb, this special evening program features the premiere of "A Girl Is A Fellow Here": 100 Women Architects in the Studio of Frank Lloyd Wright, a new 15-minute documentary film produced by the Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation. A panel discussion follows that seeks to expand definitions of architectural genius in which collaboration, in general, and women, in particular, assume greater stature in the remarkable history of Frank Lloyd Wright and in the rich history of American architecture.

The Guggenheim: Place and Time in a Global Context

Globalization has shifted the notion of space and time, from one of place and history to one that is placeless and a historical, or so it seems. In considering the relevance and significance of Wright’s works in a global landscape, it is not about the erasure of difference, but rather, it is about delving into the local language in order to have a more universal conversation. This lecture expands upon Wright’s “Destruction of the Box” to explore how the grid becomes the tension between individual and collective identity. In this way, the Guggenheim reflects the essence of what makes a work relevant—especially in the international city of New York.

Make Music New York

As part of Make Music New York, a day of free concerts offered across the city to mark the summer solstice, Works & Process at the Guggenheim will present ORBITS (1979) by Henry Brant, an American composer of "acoustical spatial music" (1913–2008). This performance of the piece will be the first ever on the East Coast and will be rendered by 80 trombones, an organ, and soprano voices within the Frank Lloyd Wright rotunda.

Live Music Series: It Came from Brooklyn

It Came from Brooklyn inaugurates a new series of live music concerts in the rotunda. The program will showcase ten bands over the course of five Friday evenings commencing mid-August, with each night featuring a music set by two bands, interspersed with a short reading by a Brooklyn-based writer or actor. The series, taking place within the rotunda, will cast a spotlight on Brooklyn’s musical renaissance by providing a platform for a new crop of musicians. The line-up includes bands such as the Walkmen and High Places.

Rafael Lozano Hemmer—Levels of Nothingness

Inspired by Vasily Kandinsky’s Yellow Sound (1912), Mexican-born Rafael Lozano-Hemmer creates an installation where colors are automatically derived from the human voice, generating an interactive light performance. Actress Isabella Rossellini will read seminal philosophical texts on skepticism, color, and perception while her voice is analyzed by computers that control a full rig of rock-and-roll concert lighting. Audience members will have the opportunity to test the color-generating microphone.

Levels of Nothingness is made possible by Deutsche Bank and Fundación/Colección Jumex.
Additional support is provided by the German Consulate General New York. 

Empire State Building Tribute

On October 21, 2009, the Empire State Building will be lit Guggenheim red in honor of the Guggenheim’s 50th birthday. And throughout October, the Empire State Building will feature the museum in the lobby window displays.

Free Day

On October 21, 2009, exactly fifty years after the opening of the museum’s historic Fifth Avenue home, the public is invited to celebrate the Guggenheim’s golden anniversary with free admission, tours offered in several languages, and a roster of special education programs planned, including many family-friendly activities.

The Guggenheim on Screen at Times Square

30-second announcements that will change throughout the Guggenheim’s anniversary year to show highlights of exhibitions on view at the museum will be screened on the Times Square 2 Thomson Reuters outdoor electronic display in Times Square.

Documentary Film

In honor of its 50th Anniversary, the Guggenheim has produced a documentary film on the history of its building, collections, exhibitions, and the development of its international network. The film combines archival materials—including talks given by Solomon Guggenheim and Frank Lloyd Wright—with contemporary footage featuring artists, art historians, architects, architectural historians, and curators. The 27-minute film will be screened regularly as a public program, offered free with museum admission, and will also be presented at the Guggenheim museums in Bilbao, Berlin, Venice, and as part of a 50th Anniversary special exhibition program in Abu Dhabi.

First Annual Art Awards

This fall, the Guggenheim inaugurates Rob Pruitt Presents: The First Annual Art Awards, a performance-based artwork following the format of a Hollywood awardsceremony at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, produced in association with White Columns. The Art Awards celebrates select individuals, exhibitions, and projects that have made a significant impact on the field of contemporary art during the past year. Winners in eleven categories will be announced during a dinner at the Guggenheim for invited guests followed by an after-party for the award winners, dinner guests, the Guggenheim's Young Collectors Council, and friends.

Global Guggenheim Celebrations

The international network of Guggenheim museums will join in celebrating the anniversary of the New York home through special exhibitions that highlight the strengths of the Guggenheim’s holdings in modern through contemporary works.

• In Berlin, the Deutsche Guggenheim will host frequent screenings of the new documentary Art, Architecture, and Innovation: Celebrating the Guggenheim Museum.
• In Bilbao, the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao will showcase From Private to Public: Collections at the Guggenheim from June 26, 2009 through January 10, 2010, and will also screen the documentary.
• In Venice, the Peggy Guggenheim Collection will present highlightedworks from the collection focusing on the postwar years, and will also screen the documentary.

The Guggenheim Museum in New York will present a three-day symposium this winter at the Peter B. Lewis Theater about the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi Museum, an international contemporary art museum designed by architect Frank Gehry, which is scheduled to open in 2012/2013. Leaders from the Guggenheim will be joined at the symposium by scholars, theorists, curators, critics, and artists to discuss some of the cultural and geopolitical issues related to the development of the museum and the emergence of the region as a new cultural hub. The anniversary year will be marked in Abu Dhabi by a screening of the documentary film and by an exhibition with accompanying educational programs, held at Gallery One of the Emirates Palace Hotel.

Special Programs for Members

In celebration of the 50th anniversary, Guggenheim members are invited to enjoy three Summer Morning Private Views of Frank Lloyd Wright: From Within Outward, on June 13, July 11, and August 8, in addition to the members’ private evening preview on May 15. Members will also be invited to an exclusive party to celebrate the opening of Kandinsky, as well as have the opportunity to buy tickets for an anniversary event at The Four Seasons restaurant on July 15, among other special benefits.