(New York, May 11, 2026)—Teens Take The Met! will return to The Metropolitan Museum of Art on Friday, May 15. This year marks the 12th anniversary of the event, which began in 2014. The annual event welcomes teens from New York City's five boroughs to the Museum for a night filled with a range of dynamic programs. This year, over 60 local community partners will offer programs, including performances, hands-on activities, and dancing. Teens Take The Met! is free for all teens (ages 13 or older) with a middle school or high school ID. Advance registration is recommended but not required.
This event is made possible by the Gray Foundation.
“Teens Take The Met! is the most dynamic, fun and energetic Met evening of the year, with thousands of students from around the city celebrating art and creative expression throughout the Museum,” said Max Hollein, The Met’s Marina Kellen French Director and CEO. “The Met is here for everyone, and this much anticipated annual gathering signals to our young audience that The Met is their place throughout the year—and the place to be that night! I am grateful to the many teens and community partners from across the five boroughs who we work with to dream up all of the engaging activities that will be offered—it's going to be a great, lively and loud event!”
“The Met is a place for teens. Throughout the year, we strengthen this relationship through internships and various programs where teens have conversations, make, move and more,” said Heidi Holder, Frederick P. and Sandra P. Rose Chair of Education at The Met. “Teens Take The Met! celebrates our commitment to nurture connection and community with our city’s young people and support them as they chart their futures and make sense of our complex world. This year, there is so much, including jazz, photography, writing and our fantastic silent dance party. Some activities are made for teens by teens, deepening our connection. To the city’s teens, we’re excited to welcome you again at The Met!”
To participate, teens will need a special-event wristband, which they can pick up upon arrival at either of the Museum’s two Fifth Avenue entrances (at 81st and 80th Streets). The wristbands will provide access to activities throughout the building starting at 4 p.m. The event will kick off at 5 p.m. with a performance by the Bard High School Early College Panthers Step Team outside the Museum.
The event will offer more than 75 programs and activations throughout the galleries, ranging from art making and writing to activities and demonstrations led by The Met and partner institutions. This year, there will be a new series of performance showcases in the Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, featuring teen dancers, singers, actors, DJs, and more from across New York City. Additional highlights include a new 360-degree photo booth in The Charles Engelhard Court; a silent dance party at the Temple of Dendur; a series of jazz performances featuring Belongó and Jazz House Kids; sustainable seed tape making with the New York Botanical Garden; a chance to create your own personalized set of tarot cards with the Morgan Library & Museum; a pop-up podcast with the New York Public Library; activities created and led by Met Teen Interns inspired by theGothic by Design: The Dawn of Architectural Draftsmanship and Household Gods: Hindu Devotional Prints, 1860–1930; and many ongoing activations and giveaways from multiple organizations.
A full schedule of events can be found in both English and Spanish on the Teens Take The Met! online hub.
Large-print and Braille activity schedules, American Sign Language interpretation, sighted guides, and assistive-listening devices will be available at the welcome table in the Ruth and Harold D. Uris Center for Education. For information about accessibility, programs, and services for visitors with disabilities at The Met Fifth Avenue, visit metmuseum.org/access, email access@metmuseum.org, or call 212-650-2010.
The event will be featured on The Met’s website as well as on social media using the hashtag #metteens.
Community Partners
92NY; Aalokam; ALT Alliance, Inc.; The Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards; Art in the Park Inc.; Art Start; The Art Students League; Artists For Humanity; ArtsConnection; Bard High School Early College (Manhattan); Belongó; Brooklyn Museum; Brooklyn Public Library; The Bronx Museum; Building Beats; Casita Maria Center for Arts & Education; The Center for Anti-Violence Education; Center for Architecture; Center for Book Arts; Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum; Dedalus Foundation; Everyday Democracy; The Diller-Quaile School of Music; The Door; Girls for Gender Equity; Guggenheim Teen Circle; High Line; Hill Art Foundation; Impact Repertory Theatre; Intrepid Museum; JAZZ HOUSE NYC; The Jewish Museum; LaGuardia Community College; Listening is Fundamental; Manhattan Theatre Club; Martha Graham Young Artists Program; The Morgan Library & Museum; Museum at Eldridge Street; Museum of Chinese in America; New Victory Theater; New York Botanical Garden; New York Hall Of Science; The New York Historical; The New York Public Library; The Noguchi Museum; NYC All City High School Chorus; NYC Department of Youth & Community Development; NYC Salt; Planned Parenthood of Greater New York; Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture; Snug Harbor; STEM From Dance; Studio Museum in Harlem; Susan E. Wagner High School Marching Band; Swiss Institute; TADA! Youth Theater; Titan Theatre Company; University Settlement; UrbanGlass; Wave Hill; Whitney Museum of American Art; Writopia Lab; YWCA NYC Girls Initiatives
About The Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Met presents art from around the world and across time for everyone to experience and enjoy. The Museum lives in two iconic sites in New York City—The Met Fifth Avenue and The Met Cloisters. Millions of people also take part in The Met experience online. Since it was founded in 1870, The Met has always aspired to be more than a treasury of rare and beautiful objects. Every day, art comes alive in the Museum's galleries and through its exhibitions and events, revealing both new ideas and unexpected connections across time and across cultures.
About The Met’s Education Department
Dedicated to making art accessible to everyone, regardless of background, disability, age, or experience, the work of The Met’s Education Department is central to the Museum’s mission to engage local and global audiences, making our collection accessible to all. The Education Department currently presents over 29,000 educational events and programs throughout the year. These programs include workshops, art-making experiences, specialized tours, fellowships supporting leading scholarship and research, high school and college internships that promote career accessibility and diversity, access programs for visitors with disabilities, K–12 educator programs that train teachers to integrate art into core curricula across disciplines, and school tours and programs that spark deep learning and lifelong relationships with and through art.
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May 11, 2026
Photo by Paula Lobo