Photo Courtesy of MCNY<\/p>\n
The Museum of the City of New York (MCNY) is pleased to announce its 2026 exhibitions, underscoring the Museum\u2019s central role in the nationwide America250 commemoration.\u00a0Together, these exhibitions offer an expansive portrait of New York as a dynamic and driving force in the American story\u2014a story shaped by conflict and creativity, resilience and reinvention, and the experiences of individuals and communities whose contributions helped define the nation.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur 2026 exhibitions focus on New York City as a living, evolving metropolis at the heart of American culture and identity. As the nation celebrates its 250th anniversary, our program illuminates how New York\u2019s communities, layered histories, and acts of transformation helped build and advance the country we know today,\u201d said\u00a0Stephanie Hill Wilchfort, Ronay Menschel Director and President of MCNY<\/strong>.<\/p>\n \u201cHighlighting values that have defined our city and our country\u2014the ongoing pursuit of intellectual and social freedom, the human need for creativity even in times of struggle, and the convergence of people from many different backgrounds\u2014MCNY\u2019s 2026 exhibition program explores the crucial role New York City continues to play in times of national significance,\u201d said\u00a0Elisabeth Sherman, Robert A. and Elizabeth Rohn Jeffe Chief Curator and Deputy Director<\/strong>.<\/p>\n He Built This City: Joe Macken\u2019s Model<\/strong><\/a> The Occupied City: New York and the American Revolution<\/strong><\/a> Another Wonderland: Abram Champanier\u2019s Alice Mural<\/strong><\/a> Halumii Ktapihna: Lenape Legacies and Futures<\/strong><\/a> Gingerbread NYC: The Great Borough Bake-Off<\/strong> New York Now: After Dark<\/strong><\/a> On view now at the Museum<\/strong>, major exhibitions include the critically-acclaimed\u00a0Robert Rauschenberg\u2019s New York: Pictures from the Real World<\/a>\u00a0(through April 19), which explores the artist\u2019s deep engagement with the city as both subject and source;\u00a0Urban Stomp: Dreams & Defiance on the Dance Floor<\/a>\u00a0(through February 22), an immersive look at dance floors as spaces of creativity, resistance, and community;\u00a0Activist New York<\/a>\u00a0(ongoing), an exhibition examining the city\u2019s long history as a center for social movements and civic action;\u00a0New York at Its Core<\/a>\u00a0(ongoing), where New York City\u2019s history and future come alive through the stories and the vision of generations of immigrants, politicians, tycoons, dreamers, master builders, and ordinary New Yorkers;\u00a0Timescapes<\/a>\u00a0(ongoing),\u00a0which\u00a0traces New York City\u2019s evolution\u2014from a small settlement of Native Americans, Europeans, and Africans to the global metropolis it is today; the immensely popular\u00a0Gingerbread NYC<\/a>\u00a0(through January 19),\u00a0The Stettheimer Dollhouse in a New Light<\/a>\u00a0(through January 19), which captures the essence of New York in the vibrant post-World War I era;\u00a0You Are Here<\/a>\u00a0(through January 19), which draws on the rich archive of movies set in New York, combining thousands of cinematic moments across 16 screens; and\u00a0Song of New York<\/a>\u00a0(through August 2), which explores a century of music from and about New York City, from the 1920s to the 2020s.<\/p>\n About the Museum of the City of New York<\/strong>
Press Preview: Monday, February 9, 2026<\/strong>
Public Opening: Thursday, February 12, 2026<\/strong>
He Built This City\u00a0celebrates Queens-born Joe Macken\u2019s remarkable 21-year effort to handcraft a 50-by-30-foot architectural model of New York City\u2014displayed for the first time in the city that inspired it. Composed of 350 sections made from balsa wood, cardboard, and glue, Macken\u2019s sweeping model offers a tactile, artistic interpretation of New York\u2019s built environment\u2014bringing the city\u2019s past and present into a shared space.<\/p>\n
Press Preview: Tuesday, April 28, 2026<\/strong>
Public Opening: Friday, May 1, 2026<\/strong>
As a signature contribution to America250, the Museum of the City of New York\u2014together with the Gotham Center for New York City History\u2014presents\u00a0The Occupied City, a sweeping 7,000-square-foot exhibition spanning the Museum\u2019s entire third floor. Centering New York City in the story of the founding of the United States, the exhibition immerses visitors in the Revolutionary era, when the city became the strategic heart of the conflict and faced the greatest crisis in its history. Through original artifacts, artworks, manuscripts, and interactive experiences,\u00a0The Occupied City\u00a0tells the story of the Revolution through the eyes and stories of the New Yorkers who lived through it.<\/p>\n
Press Preview: Tuesday, June 2<\/strong>
Public Opening: Saturday, June 6<\/strong>
Another Wonderland\u00a0celebrates the rescue and decades-long restoration of\u00a0Alice Of Wonderland Visiting New York, a major New Deal\u2013era mural cycle created by Abram Champanier for the children\u2019s ward at Gouverneur Hospital between 1936 and 1938. Commissioned through the Works Progress Administration\u2019s Federal Art Project, the sixteen-panels series reimagines Lewis Carroll\u2019s beloved characters exploring 1930s New York City\u2014from the subway and Brooklyn Bridge to Coney Island and Central Park\u2014bringing color, fantasy, and joy to a space dedicated to healing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Press Preview: Tuesday, September 22<\/strong>
Public Opening: Friday, September 25<\/strong>
Created in collaboration with the \u00c9enda-L\u016dnaapeew\u00e1hkiing Collective\u2014a group of Lenape\/Lun\u00e1apeew leaders from the U.S. and Canada\u2014Halumii Ktapihna\u00a0explores Lenape\/Lun\u00e1apeew history by bringing together the work of more than 30 contemporary artists with historical objects and archival materials. The exhibition illuminates the living culture of the Lenape\/Lun\u00e1apeew people and their ancestral homeland, Lenapehoking\/Lunaapeew\u00e1hkiing\u2014which includes present-day New York City. Highlights include wampum belts, tools, and textiles; historic documents and maps; and new works by Lenape\/Lun\u00e1apeew artists that speak to identity, sovereignty, and belonging.<\/p>\n
Press Preview: Monday, November 2<\/strong>
Public Opening: Friday, November 6<\/strong>
A beloved MCNY holiday tradition,\u00a0Gingerbread NYC: The Great Borough Bake-Off\u00a0returns in 2026 with an all-new celebration of the city\u2019s boundless creativity. Showcasing gingerbread structures crafted by leading bakers and designers from across all five boroughs, the exhibition highlights New York as the creative capital of the United States.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Press Preview: Tuesday, November 17<\/strong>
Public Opening: Friday, November 20<\/strong>
The Museum\u2019s triennial of contemporary photography returns with a focus on New York City after sunset\u2014where work, leisure, ambition, community, and escape converge in a nighttime landscape that has made New York the cultural engine of the United States. Through the lenses of emerging and established photographers, the exhibition examines how nightfall transforms the city and the people who inhabit it, reflecting the creativity, energy, and dynamism that have long fueled American cultural life.<\/p>\n
The Museum of the City of New York celebrates and interprets the city\u2019s history, art, popular culture, and civic life, highlighting how New York has shaped\u2014and been shaped by\u2014broader currents in American life. Founded in 1923 as a private, nonprofit corporation, the Museum serves hundreds of thousands of visitors annually from around the world through exhibitions, school and public programs, publications, and collections.<\/p>\n