{"id":364982,"date":"2026-10-05T17:54:15","date_gmt":"2026-10-05T17:54:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/364982\/"},"modified":"2026-10-05T17:54:15","modified_gmt":"2026-10-05T17:54:15","slug":"museum-of-the-city-of-new-york-opens-new-centre-for-social-activism-the-art-newspaper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/364982\/","title":{"rendered":"Museum of the City of New York opens new centre for social activism – The Art Newspaper"},"content":{"rendered":"

If New Yorkers do not like something, they are not shy about saying so. Therefore, it is only fitting that the city\u2019s long history of protest and political organising now has a dedicated wing at the Museum of the City of New York (MCNY), which opened its new Puffin Foundation Center for Social Activism on 25 September.<\/p>\n

At the core of the centre is a new permanent show, Raise Your Voice: New York Activism<\/a>, exploring the different tactics activist New Yorkers have used throughout the city\u2019s history to effect change.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe great thing about this exhibition is that it is not static, and we will be rotating objects in and out,\u201d Elizabeth Sherman, MCNY\u2019s deputy director and chief curator, tells The Art Newspaper. \u201cI have a long list of artists I hope we can include as time goes on.\u201d<\/p>\n

The wide range of events currently covered includes labour organising, women\u2019s suffrage, LGBTQ+ rights and environmentalism. And there are complex, multifaceted narratives\u2014like the relatively obscure Hard Hat Riot of 1970, in which construction and office workers attacked students protesting the Vietnam War and the Kent State shootings.<\/p>\n

The $8m project is funded by the Puffin Foundation, a nonprofit that provides grants to artists and art organisations to amplify under-represented voices. Founded by the late Perry Rosenstein, the foundation has been supporting MCNY since 2009, when it announced the creation of the Puffin Gallery for Social Activism.<\/p>\n

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Installation view of Raise Your Voice: New York Activism at the new Puffin Foundation Center for Social Activism, Museum of the City of New York Photo: Brad Farwell for MCNY<\/p>\n

That gallery opened in 2012 with Activist New York<\/a>, a rotating exhibition that was the spiritual predecessor of Raise Your Voice. The long-running show closed in July, leaving some big shoes to fill\u2014it was the institution\u2019s most visited exhibition by students on school trips.<\/p>\n

The new centre opens its doors at a time when the federal government is cracking down on how the Smithsonian Institution<\/a> is presenting US history. President Donald Trump<\/a> is planning to spend $84,000 to install signs outside the National Museum of American History<\/a> in Washington, DC, decrying what he claims is the institution\u2019s inaccurate, overly negative view of the nation\u2019s history.<\/p>\n

\u201cErasing or repressing our shared culture seems to be all the rage these days\u2014across the country, and a little bit down south from us,\u201d Puffin Foundation president Neal Rosenstein said at the press preview for MCNY\u2019s new activist centre. \u201cBut here at the museum and the centre, we\u2019re celebrating our past and future with this expansion. We proudly recognise the untold numbers of New Yorkers who have been at the forefront of change that has helped shape our city, state and beyond.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sarah Seidman, MCNY\u2019s curator of social activism, opted against a chronological approach for Raise Your Voice. Instead, it is loosely broken up into four sections highlighting how activists have used \u201cDemonstrations\u201d, \u201cOrganising\u201d, \u201cArts & Media\u201d and \u201cDirect Action\u201d to achieve their goals. In addition, there is a section that serves as a call to action for visitors titled \u201cYour City, Your Move\u201d, where voter registration forms are available (the deadline for New Yorkers is 24 October), as well as a digital poster-making station where visitors can design and download their own protest art.<\/p>\n

This is a densely packed show, designed by the New York firm Isometric Studio<\/a>, with screen-printed imagery and large-scale photographs installed directly on the walls. Art and artefacts on view include hand-painted protest signs, Molly Crabapple\u2019s sketchbook, a Guerrilla Girls mask and even Gloria Steinem\u2019s handwritten address book.<\/p>\n

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Charities, Citizens Union, 1903 Courtesy MCNY<\/p>\n

Some objects from MCNY\u2019s collection have not been on view for decades\u2014if ever\u2014such as a gorgeous 1903 campaign poster from Citizens Union decrying the corruption of Tammany Hall, specially conserved for the show.<\/p>\n

The new centre will present temporary exhibitions as well, starting with Halumii Ktapihna: Lenape Legacies and Futures<\/a>, curated by Monxo L\u00f3pez and developed in partnership with the \u00c9enda-L\u016dnaapeew\u00e1hkiing (Land of the Lenape) Collective.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not a history exhibition,\u201d said Stephanie Hill Wilchfort, MCNY\u2019s director, at the wing\u2019s press preview. \u201cIt is an exhibition of a living culture and what its artists are making today.\u201d<\/p>\n

The show does not shy away from the dark truths of New York\u2019s history, starting with the so-called purchase of what is now named Manhattan by the New Amsterdam colony 400 years ago. But it is also a celebration of the continuation of Lenape culture, from efforts to revive Indigenous languages to contemporary artists applying traditional techniques to distinctly contemporary subjects, such as Denise Bright Dove Ashton-Dunkley\u2019s \u201cEarthbound Luxe\u201d sneakers, made with fish leather.<\/p>\n

In the end, the new Puffin Foundation Center for Social Activism underscores MCNY\u2019s commitment to telling the stories of all New Yorkers\u2014regardless of race, religion or even politics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If New Yorkers do not like something, they are not shy about saying so. Therefore, it is only…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":364983,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[6746,39393,3139,135288,9,24,55,54,56,8074],"class_list":["post-364982","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-activism","tag-museum-of-the-city-of-new-york","tag-museums-heritage","tag-native-american-art","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-city-headlines","tag-new-york-city-news","tag-ny","tag-openings"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364982","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=364982"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364982\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/364983"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=364982"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=364982"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=364982"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}