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The 5 Best Art Walks In New York

If you are looking for something new and exciting to do over the weekend, need to impress a new love interest with a unique date, or just want to learn more about New York's art and history, look no further. New York is home to over 400 galleries and museums and boasts some of the most beautiful works of art and architecture in the country. Join one of the many art walks that take place throughout the year and learn more than you ever thought you could about this fabulous city. Here is just a sampling of the events offered in New York City.

Related: NYC's 6 Best Walking Tours | NYC's 8 Best Art Galleries

International Print Center New York
International Print Center New York (credit: ipcny.org)

Chelsea Art Walk

www.artwalkchelsea.com
Price: Free
Hours: 5 to 8 p.m.

Chelsea Art Walk has been a great success since its inception in 2010. The walks take place every summer and involve over 125 galleries, making the Chelsea Art Walk is a fantastic way to spend a summer night. The event includes live performances, artist and curator talks, screenings and special activities such as ping pong, raffles and photo booths. The Chelsea Art Walk is completely free and open to the public, and usually takes place after hours during a single summer night, from 5-8pm.

Even if you can't make it to the event, you can certainly peruse the galleries on your own – with literally hundreds of art galleries in the Chelsea area, there's no lack of things to see.  Download the map provided on the website to find out where art spaces can be found.

US Customs House
Inside the US Customs House (credit: Jennifer Eberhart)

Art Walk New York

www.artwalknewyork.com
Prices: Vary
Hours: Vary
Tour Leaders: Laurence and Carmen
For tour details email: info@artwalknewyork.com

Related: The 10 Best Spots For Family Fun In Brooklyn 

Founded by two docents and art-lovers, Laurence and Carmen, Art Walk New York takes visitors on tours of almost every neighborhood in New York. Discover Brooklyn as you've never seen it before, wander through the halls of the Whitney Museum and hear stories of artists and art. Also stop by the Armory Show and get lost in the maze of contemporary art for sale, or even travel internationally with your guides to discover a completely new world of art.  Tours and trips are ongoing throughout the year.


Subway Station Art
(credit: Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Municipal Art Society of New York

Municipal Art Society (MAS)
111 W. 57th Street
New York, NY 10019
(212) 935-3960
mas.org/tours
Price: $15; $10 for MAS members – Pay at the tour, but RSVP online
Hours: Vary
Tour Leader: Tony Robins
Required: Metro Card with at least 3 rides on it

Every New Yorker and visitor rides the subway, but how often do we actually stop to look at the art that graces the walls of the stations? This art walk, entitled "Subway Art and Architecture, Historically Speaking," takes visitors from Battery Park to Midtown on a tour of New York's train stations. Tour guides will explain the phases of subway construction, its history and the people who helped to beautify it. Tickets cost $15 and tours are offered at various times throughout the year.

Gargoyle In NYC Building
(credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

NYC Walk

New York City Cultural Walking Tours
(212) 979-2388
www.nycwalk.com
Price: Private Tour: $60 per hour, with a minimum charge of $120 (2 hours). RSVP required.
Public Tour: $15 per person; meets Sundays at 2pm, varying locations
Tour Leader: Alfred Pommer
Hours: Vary

One of the more eclectic tours of New York is the Gargoyle art walk, one of many art walks run by New York native Alfred Pommer. This particular tour takes visitors through the Flatiron District and Gramercy Park. Highlights of the tour include snippets of New York history, the importance of the art and architecture of downtown New York, and of course, gargoyles. Learn how gargoyles come into existence, what their function is, what stories are associated with them and why adorn so many buildings in New York City. To learn about New York's gargoyles, make sure to take the tour, offered any time of year and available for private groups. The tour is $60 per hour.  Public tours of other areas of New York are also offered on Sunday afternoons, at a price of $15.

The Ukranian Institute
The Ukranian Institute (credit: Jennifer Eberhart)

92Y Tribeca

200 Hudson Street, Ground Floor
New York, NY 10013
(212) 601-1000
www.92y.org
Price: $25 per person
Tour Leader: Gail Cornell
Hours: Book a ticket

The 92Y offers exercise classes, theater shows, writer talks and live performances – but many aren't aware it offers walking tours as well. One of 92Y Tribeca's art walks, Historic City Hall and Noteworthy Architectural Neighbors, leads visitors both inside and out of City Hall with guide Gail Cornell lecturing on the art and architecture of this historic and important building.  Afterwards, a tour of the park and the surrounding buildings will enthrall and enlighten even a native New Yorker. Offered at various times throughout the year, tickets cost $25 per person.

Join these or any of the other multiple art walks offered throughout the city, taking you on tours of the best neighborhoods, where you'll discover more history and art than you could ever imagine possible.

Jennifer Eberhart is currently an art history/museum studies graduate student at The City College in New York. She is an avid art enthusiast, and visits as many museums and galleries as she can in her free time. Her work can be found at Examiner.com.


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