Discover 10 Museums You Can Visit for Free as an NYU Student

The Brooklyn Museum is a massive art museum in the heart of Brooklyn, just a short train ride from NYU’s Downtown Brooklyn campus. Here, more than 140,000 artifacts on display represent cultures across the globe and span 6,000 years of history. What’s more, the museum is located near visit-worthy spots like Prospect Park and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. “I visited the Brooklyn Museum as part of an event through my dorm,” says AJ King, a sophomore at NYU Tisch School of the Arts. “It was amazing, and to this day I still think of the gallery displays.”

El Museo del Barrio specializes in Latin American and Caribbean art, emphasizing works from New York City’s Puerto Rican community. Visitors can explore over 8,500 pieces spanning 800 years of Latino history and culture. Additionally, El Museo hosts regular concerts, parties, and group programs.

The Museum of Modern Art, or MoMA, is one of the world’s most influential contemporary art museums. It contains over 200,000 works of architecture, painting, sculpture, photography, and more from the late 19th century to the present. For NYU Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development first-year Yunseo Nam, MoMA is a special place, particularly its 5th floor. There, Claude Monet’s iconic Water Lilies spans an entire wall. “The soft pastel colors and serene pond scene bring peace when I feel overwhelmed,” Yunseo says. “I like to visit the MoMA every few months to see this painting and the new round of special exhibitions.”

The Museum of the City of New York showcases the history, art, and people of New York City. Its permanent exhibition illustrates the city’s 400-year-long history through interactive, multimedia installations. Special exhibitions, like “100 Years of the City in Art and Pop Culture,” offer unique ways to immerse yourself in the city’s fascinating history.

The Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, Queens, is the ideal place for movie buffs. Its exhibits focus on the art, history, technique, and technology of film and television. In addition to its interactive exhibits and collection of moving image-related artifacts, the museum hosts frequent panel discussions about new movies and events exploring the history of cinema. “The Museum of the Moving Image was great,” says AJ, who visited during another dorm outing. “We spent a lot of time in the Jim Henson exhibit and got to create our own Muppet show. We also got to see behind the scenes of famous horror movies like The Exorcist, which was really cool.”

Visitors to the New Museum for Contemporary Art take in new works by emerging artists worldwide. The evolving collection includes traditional mediums like painting and sculpture as well as film, television, photography, and performance. Along with five floors of gallery space and a theatre, the New Museum features a Sky Room with panoramic views of Lower Manhattan. Bring your camera!

New York’s first-ever museum is the New York Historical Society, where you can explore over 400 years of American history through art, documents, and artifacts. “I encourage anyone interested in the history of New York art, architecture, and design to visit this museum!” says NYU Gallatin School of Individualized Study student Ava Noland. “When I went, they had an incredible show on vintage jewelry. What’s more, they had another on the history of the Tiffany lamp, which I highly recommend.”

The Frick Collection is home to numerous masterpieces from the Renaissance to the late 19th century. It’s located in industrialist Henry Clay Frick’s stunning Gilded Age mansion, recently reopened after a multiyear renovation. “I can say for sure that the Frick Collection is my favorite in the city,” says College of Arts and Science sophomore Riley Schmidt. “They have the most amazing pieces, including my favorite work of all time, Bellini’s St. Francis in the Desert.”

The Jewish Museum houses nearly 30,000 works of art, artifacts, and media reflecting the global Jewish experience over more than 4,000 years. Exhibits and programs feature the works of diverse artists and scholars, designed to highlight the vibrancy of Jewish culture for visitors from around the world.

The Whitney Museum of American Art, also known as the Whitney, is a contemporary American art museum in New York City’s Meatpacking District. In addition to its art, the Whitney features stunning views of the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building from terraces on each floor. “I went to the Whitney twice to see the exhibit on choreographer and artist Alvin Ailey,” says AJ. “It was amazing to experience the unique display and floor. Plus, both times I noticed new things, like videos playing and different materials in the rooms.”

NYU students need not travel far from Washington Square to experience extraordinary art! The Grey Art Museum is the University’s dedicated fine arts museum, free for all NYU community members. It offers students opportunities to engage deeply with exhibitions and learn how museums operate through internships and student clubs like the Student Friends Committee.