Museum of Modern Art

MoMA is home to 6 floors of incredible modern and contemporary art! The 5th floor features painting and sculpture from the 1880s to the 1940s, including masterpieces by Matisse, Mondrian, Monet, Picasso, and van Gogh. The 4th floor carries on from the 1940s to 1980, with works by Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, and Andy Warhol, and the 2nd floor continues the story with works from 1980 to the present day. Other galleries include architecture and design, drawings, photography, and prints and illustrated books. Special exhibition spaces house temporary exhibits, and two theaters show movies daily. There’s also a sculpture garden where you can enjoy art in the open air. In terms of eating and drinking, MoMA also has two cafés, Cafe 2 and Terrace 5, and a fine-dining restaurant, The Modern.

MoMA PS1 was originally a separate institution, founded in 1971 with the mission of turning abandoned buildings in New York into artists studios or exhibition spaces. Based in an old public school building, the museum is home to innovative and experimental contemporary art from artists around the world. The museum is also home to Warm Up, a summer program of music, architecture, and art running every Saturday from July to September. If you’re looking for cutting edge art, then a trip to MoMA PS1 should be on your list.

That really depends on whether you want to see specific galleries or exhibits, or whether you want to make your way around the whole collection. An average visit takes 2.5 hours, but you can breeze through quickly if you’re only interested in certain galleries, or spend the whole day if you want to take a deep dive. The gallery recommends a shorter visit if you’re traveling with younger children, to make sure that they enjoy everything without getting overwhelmed or bored.

You can sketch at MoMA, but only using pencils. Other materials aren’t allowed except as part of a special authorized tour, and if you’re visiting with children then the museum requests that adults hold on to pencils when moving from room to room. Photography for personal use is permitted in most galleries of MoMA but flash photography, the use of tripods, and filming is prohibited.

Yes! There are special tours for children of all ages, plus daily art workshops in the Art Lab and Activity Stations, just make sure you check to see what’s running on the day you plan to visit. MoMA also offers a free child-friendly audio guide (suitable for ages 5+) in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Korean, Japanese, and Mandarin.