Met Holiday Mondays at Metropolitan Museum Reach 10-Year Mark This Columbus Day, October 8

Galleries to be Open in Main Building and The Cloisters

Columbus Day, October 8, marks the beginning of the tenth year of Met Holiday Mondays, extra public viewing days at The Metropolitan Museum of Art that take place on the Mondays of major holiday weeks and weekends, when historically the Museum has been closed. Both of the Museum’s locations—the main building at Fifth Avenue and 82nd Street, and The Cloisters museum and gardens in northern Manhattan—will open their galleries to the public, offering visitors access to its world-renowned collections, as well as exhibitions, programs, and amenities including cafés and shops. 

Emily K. Rafferty, President of the Metropolitan Museum, commented: “Every year since the first Met Holiday Monday on Columbus Day 2003, these added opportunities to come to the Museum and enjoy some of the world’s best art masterpieces—whether in our superb permanent collection or on loan to us in temporary exhibitions— have been increasingly popular. As the program moves into its tenth year, we look forward to continued growth in visitorship on these special Mondays in both of the Museum’s locations.” 

What to See on Columbus Day, October 8 

In the galleries of the Metropolitan’s main building, the recently opened exhibition Bernini: Sculpting with Clay features 40 of the small clay models created by the great Baroque sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598–1680) to help him visualize life-size or colossal marbles (on view through January 6). In addition, The Coe Collection of American Indian Art includes 40 Native American works given or bequeathed to the Museum by the collector Ralph T. Coe that were made from a range of materials—from stone to animal hide—and come from different times, different places, and numerous distinct peoples (through October 14). And atop the building, in the Iris and B. Gerald Roof Garden, Tomás Saraceno on the Roof: Cloud City combines art and architecture in a 28-feet-high constellation of interconnected, room-sized modules suggesting a floating or flying city (weather permitting, through November 4). 

The Cloisters museum and gardens displays masterpieces of the Metropolitan’s renowned collection of medieval art, including the famed Unicorn Tapestries and hundreds of examples of exquisite stained glass, metalwork, enamels, ivories, and paintings, all in a magnificent setting that evokes the Middle Ages. The Cloisters museum and gardens is located in Fort Tryon Park in northern Manhattan. 

In the Metropolitan’s main building, Charles H. Tally Holiday Monday Family Programs specially organized for Columbus Day include discussion and sketching activities that will be available for families with children ages 5 through 12 at 11 a.m., noon, 1:15, and 2:30 p.m. These programs are free with Museum admission. A complete listing of programs and activities to be held at both the Metropolitan Museum’s main building and The Cloisters can be found on the Metropolitan Museum’s website at www.metmuseum.org. Museum cafés and shops will be open, and parking is available at both locations. 

The next Met Holiday Monday will be on Veterans Day (November 12). 

Credits: 

Bernini: Sculpting in Clay: Made possible by the Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Foundation. Organized by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and the Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth. The Coe Collection of American Indian Art: Made possible by the Friends of the Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas. Tomás Saraceno on the Roof: Cloud City: Made possible by Bloomberg. Additional support provided by Cynthia Hazen Polsky and Leon B. Polsky, The Daniel and Estrellita Brodsky Foundation, William S. Lieberman Fund, and Eugenio Lopez. Cloud City is lent by Christian Keesee.