Art Week NYC Kicks off at Metropolitan Museum of Art with New York Pols and Art Leaders

Dozens of leaders from the New York art and political worlds rubbed shoulders at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Tuesday morning at the launch of Art Week NYC, a citywide gathering celebrating New York’s leading galleries, institutions, and cultural spaces, organized by ARTnews, Art in America, and Artforum. The inaugural event takes place from November 11–14, 2026.

The distinguished roster of speakers included Julie Menin, City Council Speaker; City Council Deputy Speaker Nantasha Williams; Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal; New York State Senator Jose Serrano; and City Council member Virginia Maloney.

In attendance were VIPs like advisor Augusto Arbizo; MoMA PS1 director Connie Butler; Lisson Gallery international director Alex Logsdail; Arts Council England chairman Nicholas Serota; and Simone Subal, senior director at Paula Cooper Gallery, along with ARTnews/Art in America editor Sarah Douglas and publisher Erica Lubow Necarsulmer as well as Artforum co-editor Rachel Wetzler and publisher Danielle McConnell.

The gathering took place in the light-filled Charles Engelhard Court, anchored by the Neoclassical facade of the Second Branch Bank of the United States (1822–24) and featuring sculptures by American artists such as Daniel Chester French, Hiram Powers, and Augustus Saint-Gaudens.

All were there, said David Breslin, the museum’s curator in charge of the modern and contemporary art department, “to launch what we know will become a defining tradition in our city’s cultural landscape—and that’s saying a lot.”

Kicking off the remarks, City Council Speaker Julie Menin looked to history to set the tone, noting that it was 100 years ago when pioneering New York dealer Edith Halpert launched what would become the Downtown Gallery, which was early to show American modern art and folk art. To signal its spirit of inclusivity, Menin said, it was initially called Our Gallery, adding, “As the very first citywide contemporary art festival, that is precisely the same spirit that Art Week NYC has built here.” The City Council was proud to allocate a record $323 million in its latest budget to the Department of Cultural Affairs, she added.

Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal recalled bringing together all the city’s local community boards at the museum recently and finding that some had never before visited. “Art Week is a way to invite New Yorkers—just like we invited those community board members to the Met to experience art—to meet New Yorkers, as they say, where they are,” he said, and called New York’s hundreds of galleries, many of them participating in Art Week, “magnificent little crown jewels.”

Citing Public Theater founder Joseph Papp to the effect that art belongs to everyone, Hoylman-Sigal noted, “I’m very proud to have committed 100 percent of our capital dollars to arts and cultural institutions.” That was $50 million in discretionary funds, he noted, adding that the recipient institutions were called upon to leverage the public dollars to raise money from private donors, and the 83 cultural institutions raised an additional $52 million through what he called the “Manhattan Multiplier.”

Wrapping up the event, City Council member Virginia Maloney noted that her namesake grandmother was an artist before it was common for women to have careers. Her brother-in-law is also an artist, she noted, adding, “They both taught me that art changes the way that you view the world. As chair of the Economic Development Committee, I also know that culture and art is not a luxury in New York. It’s an economic engine for tourism, for visitors, for employers, and for businesses that surround the organizations that we’re supporting today. When we invest in the arts, we know that we recoup the benefits tenfold.”

For a full listing of member galleries and institutions and a calendar of events, head to Art Week NYC.