The highly anticipated Teens Take The Met! will take place on Friday, May 31, from 5 to 8 p.m. The Museum-wide program brings together teens from New York's five boroughs for a night of teen-centric activities. Since the program’s inception in 2014, the event has brought together over 26,000 youth for what has become one of the most compelling teen events in New York City. The event encourages teens—many of whom are visiting The Met for the first time—to immerse themselves in hands-on experiences while exploring the Museum. A range of innovative activities will be available, including workshops, performances, art making, demonstrations, and more, offered by over 40 youth and cultural organizations that are partnering in the evening. Teens Take The Met! is free for all teens (age 13 or older) with a middle school or high school ID.
The event is made possible by the Gray Foundation.
“It is important to create environments for young people to gather and enjoy themselves in new and creative ways,” commented Sandra Jackson-Dumont, The Met’s Frederick P. and Sandra P. Rose Chairman of Education. “Now in its fifth year, Teens Take The Met! has shown continued success and demonstrates our efforts to foster spaces where young people can express themselves creatively. We are thrilled to work with enthusiastic community partners to realize a night where young people can have voice and choice.”
Designed in collaboration with over 40 community partners, an array of interactive stations, performances, and activities have been created for the event. There will be activities inspired by The Met collection and its current exhibitions. Taking a cue from Camp: Notes on Fashion, there will be a tote design station as well as Vogueing Dance Workshops led by ballroom icons Omari Mizrahi and Sinia Alaia and emceed by Jack Mizrahi and Precious Ebony. Taking inspiration from Play It Loud: Instruments of Rock & Roll, School of Rock NYC and Harvestworks—two new partner organizations for this year’s event—will offer instrument petting zoos during the event with traditional instruments such as drums and guitars and synthesizers. School of Rock NYC will also invite teens to enjoy music performances by their peers in The Grace Rainey Rodgers Auditorium with teen bands playing throughout the evening.
Hands-on stations will be offered across the Museum, including a collage-making activity with Wave Hill in which participants respond to the Tiffany glass in The Charles Engelhard Court, and a button-making activity centered on activism that is a collaboration between the New-York Historical Society and the Poster House Museum. Lexington School for the Deaf and New York Deaf Theatre will invite attendees to participate in improvisational theater inspired by the Museum’s arms and armor collection. And in response to the exhibition Epic Abstraction: Pollock to Herrera, The Met’s own teen interns will challenge fellow teens to create art based on their identity.
Sign Language interpretation, assistive listening devices, sighted guides, large print, and a designated quiet space will be available, along with free snacks and photo opportunities.
To participate, teens will need a special-event wristband, which they can pick up at either of the Museum's two Fifth Avenue entrances (at 81st and 83rd Streets), where pop-up performances by Bard High School Early College Panther Team Steppers and the Original Clovers McKinley Step Team will entertain the crowds during check-in. The wristbands will provide access to teen-only activities throughout the building.
The event will be featured on The Met's website, as well as on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter via the hashtag #metteens.
Teens Take The Met! is a twice-yearly event hosted by the Museum. Since its launch in fall 2014, it has reached over 26,000 teens.
Community Partners
92Y Center for Arts Learning & Leadership; ARAS (Archive for Research in Archetypal Symbolism); The Art Students League of New York; ArtsConnection; Bard High School Early College Manhattan; The Bronx Museum of the Arts; Brooklyn Museum; Building Beats; Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum; Developing Artists; El Museo del Barrio; Epic Theatre Ensemble; Global Action Project; Groundswell; Harvestworks; International Center of Photography; Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum; Lewis Latimer House Museum; Lexington School for the Deaf; The LGBT Community Center; Manhattan Theatre Club; Museum of Chinese in America; New Victory Usher Corps; New York City Writing Project; New York Deaf Theatre; New York Film Academy; New York Public Library; New-York Historical Society; No Longer Empty; The Noguchi Museum; NYC Department of Youth & Community Development; NYU Tisch School of the Arts Department of Photography & Imaging; Poster House; Queens Council on the Arts; Roundabout Theatre Company; The Rubin Museum of Art; School of Rock New York; Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden; STEM From Dance; The Studio Museum in Harlem; Titan Theatre Company; Urban Word NYC; UrbanGlass; Wave Hill; Writopia Lab; YWCA NYC
About the Gray Foundation
The Gray Foundation is committed to improving the lives of low income children in New York City. The Foundation partners with leading nonprofits to provide access to education, healthcare, and opportunity for children across all five boroughs. In addition, the Foundation is focused on accelerating research, improving treatment, and raising awareness for individuals who have inherited BRCA mutations. Jon and Mindy Gray founded the Gray Foundation in 2014. They have given over $150 million in support of these missions.
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May 21, 2019
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