Upcoming Exhibitions at The Research Libraries

Be sure to check exhibition hours and library hours and holidays for important information.

View Upcoming Exhibitions at:

New York Choral Society: The First 50 Years
The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Plaza Lobby
From Tuesday, August 4, 2009 to Saturday, September 26, 2009

The New York Choral Society and The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts are celebrating the first 50 years of Choral Society history and the acquisition of the Choral Society's archive. One of the City’s most distinguished volunteer choruses, and proud of “New York” in its name, the Choral Society has performed in remarkable spaces here at home and abroad in a long list of cities that include Paris, Athens, Prague, Venice, Beijing and Shanghai. The Choral Society is celebrated for expanding the repertory through its commissions and premieres. Known for its Summer Sings and Mini-Maestro program for Public School students, the New York Choral Society is committed to expanding the audience and contributing to the City’s cultural vitality.

Mapping New York's Shoreline, 1609-2009
Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, D. Samuel and Jeane H. Gottesman Exhibition Hall (First Floor)
From Friday, September 25, 2009 to Saturday, June 26, 2010

September 2009 marks 400 years since Henry Hudson sailed into New York Harbor and up the Hudson River, almost to what is now Albany, performing detailed reconnaissance of the Hudson Valley region. Other explorers passed by the outwardly hidden harbor, but did not linger long enough to fully realize the commercial, nautical, strategic, or colonial value of the region. Once the explorers returned to Europe, their strategic information was passed on to authorities. Some data was kept secret, but much was handed over to map makers, engraved on copper, printed on handmade paper, distributed to individuals and coffee-houses (the news centers of the day), and pored over by dreamers, investors, and potential settlers in the “new land.”

Mapping New York's Shoreline celebrates the Dutch accomplishments in the New York City region, especially along the waterways forming its urban watershed, from the Connecticut River and Long Island Sound to the North (or Hudson) River and the South (or Delaware) River. Inspired by The New York Public Library's collection of Dutch, English, and early American mapping of the Atlantic Coastal regions, this exhibition exemplifies the best early and growing knowledge of the unknown shores along our neighboring rivers, bays, sounds, and harbors. From the earliest mapping reflecting Verazzano's brief visit to gloriously decorative Dutch charting of the Atlantic and New Netherland, illustrating their knowledge of the trading opportunity Hudson's exploration revealed, the antiquarian maps tell the story from a centuries-old perspective. We are brought up to date with maps and text exploring growing environmental concern for this harbor, and the river that continuously enriches it. From paper maps to vapor maps, those created with computer technology, the story of New York Harbor in its 400th year is told. Mapping New York's Shoreline will feature maps, atlases, books, journals, broadsides, manuscripts, prints, and photographs, drawn primarily from the Library’s Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal Map Division, augmented by items from other New York Public Library collections. A half-dozen objects, including globes and navigational instruments, will be on loan from the National Maritime Museum in Amsterdam. Support for The New York Public Library’s Exhibitions Program has been provided by Celeste Bartos, Mahnaz Ispahani and Adam Bartos, Jonathan Altman, and Sue and Edgar Wachenheim III.

Lincoln Center: Celebrating 50 Years
The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Donald and Mary Oenslager Gallery
From Thursday, October 15, 2009 to Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Lincoln Center: Celebrating 50 Years, the first exhibition to focus exclusively on the evolution and influence of America’s first performing arts center, will feature an extensive collection of historic and contemporary objects including photographs, ephemera, correspondence, costumes, set pieces, props and video recordings. Curated by Thomas Mellins, co-author of the book New York 1960, the free exhibition will be presented at the Donald and Mary Oenslager Gallery of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center in collaboration with Lincoln Center, October 15, 2009-January 16, 2010. Mr. Mellins will discuss key exhibition themes in a free lecture on opening day, October 15 at 6:00pm in the Library’s Bruno Walter Auditorium. From its inception in the mid 1950s, Lincoln Center has been a powerful symbol of New York’s core substance and style. Its scale, its architecture and urbanism, its concentration of talent culled from the realms of government, philanthropy, academia, architecture, art, and a broad spectrum of the performing arts, all powerfully embody main currents that run throughout New York City’s history and collective character. Lincoln Center: Celebrating 50 Years will show the complex and symbiotic relationship between Lincoln Center and New York City over the course of a half century and the key role Lincoln Center has played in New York’s development as an international cultural capital.