Programs Calendar and Events in New York City - City Limits Magazine

Mon May
21

11 a.m. till 5:45 p.m.

Archaeology Zone: Discovering Treasures From Playgrounds to Palaces

Presented by Jewish Museum, The

Children are invited to discover the world of archaeology through a fascinating in-depth study of art and artifacts from ancient times to the present day. They will explore the methods employed by archaeologists after an excavation occurs, specifically, how they analyze the objects that have been unearthed. Assuming the role of the archaeologist, children will embark on an exciting adventure where they will encounter unusual objects and determine how and why they were made. This exhibition will also include an introductory video, original artifacts, and colorful illustrations.
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Categories: Arts , Museums , Programs

Mon May
21

11 a.m. till 5:45 p.m.

Culture and Continuity: The Jewish Journey

Presented by Jewish Museum, The

At the heart of The Jewish Museum is its permanent exhibition, 'Culture and Continuity: The Jewish Journey', representing one of the world's great opportunities to explore Jewish culture and history through art. This vibrant two-floor exhibition features 800 works from the Museum's remarkably diverse collection of art, archaeology, ceremonial objects, video, photographs, interactive media and television excerpts. It examines the Jewish experience as it has evolved from antiquity to the present, over 4,000 years, and asks two vital questions: How has Judaism been able to thrive for thousands of years across the globe, often in difficult and even tragic circumstances? And what constitutes the essence of Jewish identity?
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Categories: Museums , Programs

Mon May
21

11 a.m. till 5:45 p.m.

Edouard Vuillard: A Painter and His Muses, 1890-1940

Presented by Jewish Museum, The

The art of Edouard Vuillard (1868-1940) - a painter who began his career as a member of the Nabi group of avant-garde artists in Paris in the 1890s - will be celebrated at The Jewish Museum in the first major one-person, New York exhibition of the French artist's work in over twenty years. 'Edouard Vuillard: A Painter and His Muses, 1890-1940,' will include more than 50 paintings as well as a selection of prints, photographs and documents exploring the crucial role played by the patrons, dealers and muses who comprised Vuillard's circle.
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Categories: Arts , Museums , Programs

Mon May
21

10 a.m. till 5:45 p.m.

Hall of Advanced Mammals

Presented by American Museum of Natural History

The Museum's tradition of excavating, studying and exhibiting fossil mammals has an even longer and more illustrious history than its work with dinosaurs. The Museum's first expedition to search for such fossils was launched in 1891, and in 1895, before its scientists had found a single dinosaur, the Museum opened a full-scale hall of fossil mammals. This original hall, which has displayed such specimens continuously since then, now features advanced mammals with such traits as hoofs and eye sockets near the snout, in addition to those traits featured in the Hall of Primitive Mammals. A wide range of animals is represented along these evolutionary branches, including cats, seals, bears, primates, horses, whales and elephants, along with their extinct relatives. Up until about 10,000 years ago, mammoths, mastodons, saber-toothed cats, camels and giant ground sloths roamed across North America. Then, an episode of extinction wiped all those animals out. The cause of this wave of extinction is unclear, but possible explanations include dramatic climate changes at the end of the last ice age, hunting by humans and infectious disease.
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Mon May
21

10 a.m. till 5:45 p.m.

Hall of Ornithischian Dinosaurs

Presented by American Museum of Natural History

The Hall of Ornithischian Dinosaurs examines the branches of dinosaurs that possess a backward pointing pubis bone. Additional features found within the Ornithischians include inset tooth rows forming cheeks and the uneven covering of enamel on the teeth. It is believed that both these traits allowed for increased efficiency in holding and chewing food. This hall includes such favorites as Stegosaurus, a 140-million-year-old dinosaur with distinctive rows of plates down the center of its back and large spikes in the end of its tail (along with a cast of the only juvenile Stegosaurus ever found) and the 65-million-year-old horned and shield-headed dinosaur Triceratops. This specimen has a partly healed injury on its three-horned skull, possibly caused by another Triceratops. On view nearby are the "mummy" specimens of Edmontosaurus and Corythosaurus, whose fossils have preserved large areas of skin impressions, allowing us a rare glimpse of what these creatures might have looked like alive.
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Categories: Museums , Programs

Mon May
21

10 a.m. till 5:45 p.m.

Hall of Primitive Mammals

Presented by American Museum of Natural History

The Lila Acheson Wallace Wing of Mammals and Their Extinct Relatives -- which includes the Hall of Primitive Mammals and the Paul and Irma Milstein Hall of Advanced Mammals -- tells a fascinating tale of great diversification, sudden extinctions and the forces that determine the success and obliteration of life. Mammals evolved at nearly the same time as the first dinosaurs, and the roots of the mammalian line reach back almost 300 million years. Some of the very early relatives of mammals, creatures resembling enormous lizards with giant fins along their backs, actually lived millions of years before the dinosaurs and dominated the land. Most of them then became extinct and during the age of dinosaurs none of the mammals got much larger than small rodents. After the extinction of the large dinosaurs, the great diversity of mammals arose that we see today, including both primitive and advanced species.
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Categories: Museums , Programs

Mon May
21

10 a.m. till 5:45 p.m.

Hall of Saurischian Dinosaurs

Presented by American Museum of Natural History

The earliest-known dinosaurs appeared about 228 million years ago; their fossils have been found on every continent. They dominated the land until about 65 million years ago, when an episode of extinction eliminated the non-avian dinosaurs (but not the birds) as well as many other animals and plants, both on the land and in the seas. Possible causes for these extinctions include the impact of an extraterrestrial object or a major, global peak in volcanic activity.
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Categories: Museums , Programs

Mon May
21

10 a.m. till 5:45 p.m.

Hall of Vertebrate Origins

Presented by American Museum of Natural History

The Hall of Vertebrate Origins tells the story of the burgeoning of vertebrates through the oceans and onto land, an evolutionary sequence stretching back more than 500 million years. The development of some of the most basic, yet revolutionary, physical characteristics -- the backbone, jaws, limbs and the ability to reproduce without returning to the water -- was key to the evolution of life on Earth and is examined in the Hall of Vertebrate Origins. The Hall traces the evolution of such stunningly varied creatures as the first vertebrates to walk on land, the first vertebrates to live entirely on land and the first flying vertebrates. Highlights include Buettneria, one of the earliest four-limbed animals; the massive armored early fish Dunkleosteus; the gigantic aquatic turtle known as Stupendemys; and Pteranodon, a flying reptile, or pterosaur, with a wingspan of 23 feet.
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Mon May
21

10 a.m. till 5:45 p.m.

Hall of African Peoples

Presented by American Museum of Natural History

Africa, a continent of nearly 12 million square miles and more than 700 million inhabitants, boasts a rich array of cultures. The Hall of African Peoples explores this great diversity, highlighting the traditional lifestyles and customs of people living in Africa's grasslands, deserts, forests and river regions. The religious, political, economic and domestic aspects of life are highlighted through artifacts and dioramas. On display are masks, musical instruments, farming tools, religious idols, ceremonial costumes and more. Dioramas depict a variety of scenes, from the Berbers of the desert in North Africa to the Mbuti pygmies in the Congo. Also featured are the Yoruba, Pokot, and Bira peoples, among others.
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Categories: Museums , Programs

Mon May
21

10 a.m. till 5:45 p.m.

Hall of Asian Peoples

Presented by American Museum of Natural History

The Museum's holdings in Asian ethnology constitute one of the finest such collections in the Western Hemisphere. This extensive collection provides the foundation for the Hall of Asian Peoples, the Museum's largest cultural hall. The hall explores such topics as prehistoric Eurasia and the rise of civilization, early Asian cultures and Asian trade, and includes such vastly different and diverse regions as Korea, China, India, Armenia and Siberia. The hall also documents the rise of the great world religions of Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Confucianism. Highlights include the shaman diorama, which faithfully re-creates a late 19th-century healing ceremony of the Yakut of Eastern Siberia. The scene depicts a shaman who has come to heal a woman whose soul has been captured by evil spirits. Also featured in the hall is an ornate wedding chair, which would have carried a traditional Chinese bride to her new life with her husband's family. The chair is covered with auspicious symbols to invite good fortune.
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