Metropolitan Museum’s Main Building and Cloisters Observe Memorial Day—May 27—Final “Met Holiday Monday” New 7-Day Schedule To Begin July 1

After ten years of opening to the public on the Mondays of holiday weekends, The Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Cloisters museum and gardens will observe the final "Met Holiday Monday" on Memorial Day (May 27). The Museum’s main building and The Cloisters, which is located in Fort Tryon Park in northern Manhattan, have traditionally been closed on Mondays. Beginning July 1, both locations will be open to the public seven days a week. 

The Met will have two exhibitions on view on Holiday Monday devoted to the American Civil War—the event that inspired the creation of the Memorial Day holiday. 

Thomas P. Campbell, Director and CEO of the Metropolitan Museum, stated: "The public’s enthusiastic response to Met Holiday Mondays over the last decade has shown that there is an interest as well as a need for additional hours for the public at both of the Museum’s locations. So as we conclude the current series of Met Holiday Mondays, we are initiating on July 1 our new seven-day schedule to provide even more access to the Metropolitan’s collections and programs.”

Emily K. Rafferty, President of the Metropolitan Museum added: “Among the exhibitions and galleries on view on May 27 will be two major exhibitions about the American Civil War—one focusing on photographs and the other on paintings—that are particularly appropriate for Memorial Day, which originated as a day to remember fallen Union and Confederate soldiers.” 

What to See on May 27

In the Metropolitan Museum’s main building, at 82nd Street and Fifth Avenue, several exhibitions will be available. Photography and the American Civil War considers the evolving role of the camera during the nation’s bloodiest war through more than 200 works;The Civil War and American Art proposes new readings of many familiar masterworks created between 1852 and 1877, in which American artists respond to the Civil War and its aftermath (both exhibitions on view through September 2). 

The newly opened PUNK: Chaos to Couture examines punk’s impact on high fashion from the movement’s birth in the 1970s through the present day (through August 14). And Memorial Day is the final opportunity to see Impressionism, Fashion, and Modernity, a revealing look at the role of fashion in the works of the Impressionists and their contemporaries (through May 27). 

Selected galleries featuring the Museum’s permanent collection will also be open. Family greeters will be present in the Museum's Great Hall to direct visitors to areas of particular interest.

At The Cloisters museum and gardens, Search for the Unicorn: An Exhibition in Honor of The Cloisters’ 75th Anniversary brings together more than 40 noteworthy examples of unicorn imagery in medieval and Renaissance art, including the famed Unicorn Tapestries. Also on view are masterpieces of the Museum’s renowned collection of medieval art and hundreds of examples of exquisite stained glass, metalwork, enamels, ivories, and paintings, all in a magnificent architectural setting along the Hudson River that evokes the Middle Ages. The Cloisters is located in Fort Tryon Park, in northern Manhattan. 

Related Programs and Amenities

In the Metropolitan’s main building, Charles H. Tally Holiday Monday Family Programs specially organized for May 27 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. 

Museum cafés and restaurants and several of the Museum gift shops in the Main Building will be open. The Trie Café and the gift shop at The Cloisters will also be open. 

Credits: Photography and the American Civil War: Made possible by The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation. The Civil War and American Art: Made possible by an anonymous foundation. Additional support provided by the Gail and Parker Gilbert Fund and the Enterprise Holdings Endowment. Supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities. Organized by the Smithsonian American Art Museum with generous support from the Anschutz Foundation; Ludmila and Conrad Cafritz; Christie’s; Sheila Duignan and Mike Wilkins; Tania and Tom Evans; Norma Lee and Morton Funger; Dorothy Tapper Goldman; Raymond J. and Margaret Horowitz Endowment; Mr. and Mrs. Raymond J. Horowitz Foundation for the Arts; Wolf Kahn and Emily Mason Foundation; Joffa and Bill Kerr; Thelma and Melvin Lenkin; Henry Luce Foundation; Paula and Peter Lunder; Margery and Edgar Masinter; Barbro and Bernard Osher; Walter and Lucille Rubin Foundation; Patricia Rubin and Ted Slavin; and Holly and Nick Ruffin. The C.F. Foundation in Atlanta supports the museum’s traveling exhibition program, “Treasures to Go.” PUNK: Chaos to Couture: Made possible by Moda Operandi. Additional support provided by Condé Nast. Impressionism, Fashion, and Modernity: Made possible in part by The Philip and Janice Levin Foundation, the Janice H. Levin Fund, and the William Randolph Hearst Foundation. Additional support provided by Renée Belfer. Supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities. Organized by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Musée d’Orsay, Paris.Search for the Unicorn: An Exhibition in Honor of The Cloisters’ 75th Anniversary: Made possible by the Michel David-Weill Fund and the Quinque Foundation.