An Afternoon at the Whitney Museum

Today might be one of the crazies travel days of my life – I am flying from Los Angeles to Iceland – but it’s not directly.  I am back to New York City for only six hours today.  Yes, you read that correctly, but that is a story for another time. When my parents were in town, the same weekend we went apple picking the four of us went to the Whitney Museum on the West Side in New York City on Saturday afternoon.  Believe it or not, I had not been to the new Gansevoort Street location of the museum since it opened of May of 2015 so it was about time to rectify that.  Take a look at our afternoon:  

The two original locations – 8th Street and 5th Avenue as well as the Upper East Side – were both very different to this indoor / outdoor space in the Meatpacking District. As none of us had been to the new Whitney Museum we were all a bit surprised that for a eight floor museum there were only three floors, six through eight, open to the public.  We made our way through six and seven reading the plaques of the pieces that caught our eye and enjoying spending time on many of the roof decks as the temperature was unseasonably warm.  Take a look at some of the most famous pieces including works by Edward Hooper, Joseph Stella, and Dread Scott a few few of which I have included below! 

The 8th floor, which was a partial floor because of the roof, featured a limited time exhibit called Calder: Hypermobility Motion and Sound. The whole exhibit featured works a variety of mobiles made by Alexander Calder in the 1930’s and we timed it correctly so that an expert museum handler moved a handful of them so we could see them move with his hands or a leg stick depending on the size.  This limited time exhibit at the Whitney Museum took up the entire space on the eighth floor! 

Now let me tell you about this guy in the photo below – he was positioned in such a way at the top of a stair case between the seventh and eight floors that you could not miss him. And when he asked unprompted if I wanted to take a picture with him I am never one to turn down a good photo opp. Before I left he clarified that he was the “Mayor of Meatpacking” and told me to Google him. Which I did. An interesting man, I am sure.

Then after seeing the Calder mobiles in motion it was time for drinks. There were a handful of free tables inside but we waiting five minutes to grab a coveted outside seat and soak up the sun on what I am sure was one of the last outdoor drinking days in 2017.  I went for my tried and true Aperol Spritz and split a delicious Shop for charcuterie board with the family. 

Have you ever been to the Whitney?