Centennial Exhibition 1923-2023
The exhibition celebrates the Museum of the City of New York’s 100th year. Founded in 1923, the institution provides high-quality exhibitions and programs. Encompassing the museum’s entire third floor, “This is New York” tells the city’s story during a time that embraces the spectrum of humanity from personal suffering to heroic achievement for a growing population that speaks almost 200 languages.
Each gallery is dedicated to a specific theme and housed in a unique environment devoted to New York lifestyle activities as reflected in arts and culture. The central gallery stretches a 200-foot-long city block. Over 400 works of art, music, literature, film, and multisensory experiences tell a powerful history. “This is New York” is the New York of our imagination—its spirit and iconic character.
Central Gallery
A continuous undulating armature is the framework for emotional themes such as joy, fear, loneliness, menace, and struggle. Based on these ideas, the gallery is densely populated with art and punctuated at the southern end by a physio-digital interactive Songs of New York. We invite visitors to step on spotlights illuminating the five boroughs on the floor to trigger music specific to each location and culture of the city. Over 100 songs from across the century, from Wu-Tang Clan to Joni Mitchell to Duke Ellington, are activated as visitors traverse the interactive spotlights. A digitally printed fabric supports subtle shifts in color along the over 200-foot length of curving walls. The interpretation hangs on translucent sheets of cloth, giving an impression of softness that supports the more ethereal narratives of imagination and feeling.
Library Gallery
The gallery is dedicated to living in NYC as portrayed in books and media. As the basis of being at home in the city, the room’s historical mahogany cases and window trim set up a warm palette and residential feeling. Visitors may sit at an undulating linear table to explore or read, but they also can take one of dozens of books and videos to an “interactive bookcase.” An RFID-enabled dock unlocks video scenes or images from the books. Visitors watch scenes from the interior life of “Friends” or “Seinfeld” or listen to “Eloise at the Plaza” or “Bright Lights, Big City.”
South Gallery
New York is where people gather, whether for entertainment on Broadway, playing at the beaches, BBQ on a rooftop (tar beach!), or nightclubs. They are all iconic parts of NYC’s energy, and the display reflects that density, brightness, and exuberance. The design echoes the dynamism of the art with a dramatic palette. A dark perimeter sets off shimmering silver, curved walls. They focus views from one area to the next, driving visitor circulation while creating pockets for signature objects such as John Travolta’s white suit from “Saturday Night Fever.” The labels are colorful and flowing, printed on translucent scrims hanging in vertical formats.