New York’s smaller museums get appreciation on TikTok
Museums throughout New York City were just reopening in the wake of the COVID pandemic when Jane August launched what seemed like a straightforward plan—to visit every single museum in the city and produce a short video log of each one.
August figured it would take three years at most.
But with 136 museums documented since 2021, she still had about 64 to go
And with new museums opening and some old ones changing so dramatically that they deserve a revisit, the 26-year-old now says she’s realistically aiming to complete the project before she turns 30.
‘Cool way’
August, who grew up in Arizona and has lived in New York for nine years, said she wasn’t a big museum person before starting the project—and had only been to around seven at the time.
“At first, I started the project for myself to safely get out of my house and experience culture in the city again,” she said.
But as she began, the plan quickly evolved.
“I decided TikTok would be a cool way to document this so my friends could keep up with my journey and maybe discover something new,” August said.
Her audience has since far expanded with about 40,000 followers across social platforms.
What’s on offer
For August, visiting New York’s museums has sparked a new appreciation for the city and for the sheer breadth of what’s on offer—particularly for those willing to explore smaller museums including those in the boroughs beyond Manhattan.
At peak times and seasons like summer, when bigger museums get crowded, it’s nice to know there are plenty of smaller museums to visit.
And yes, she has favorites.
“I love Poster House. It’s the first poster museum in the country, has great programming and is free on Fridays,” she said of the largely unsung museum at 23rd Street and Sixth Avenue, which features graphic design and advertising posters ranging from Art Nouveau to political propaganda.
Others on her list of favorites include the Tenement Museum in lower Manhattan and the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens, as well as three Brooklyn museums: the Brooklyn Seltzer Museum, the New York Sign Museum and the Red Hook Pinball Museum.
She also has a soft spot for The Paley Center for Media NYC in midtown Manhattan.
“They have archives with every TV show you could possibly think of. It’s amazing,” she said of The Paley Center.
LGBTQ+ history
As for the city’s smallest borough, the ferry ride to Staten Island—free, with views of the Statue of Liberty along the way—is well worth the trip, August said.
The borough features the Newhouse Center of Contemporary Art as well as the Alice Austen House—a Victorian Gothic house important to LGBTQ+ history. It was the home of one of the country’s earliest and most prolific female photographers, famous for documenting the city’s immigrant communities.
“You wouldn’t imagine that Staten Island had one of the gayest museums in New York, dedicated to a queer photographer, but it does,” August said.
Staten Island is also home to the Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art and the Chinese Scholar’s Garden, which claims to be one of only two authentic classical outdoor Chinese gardens in the United States.
August said traveling to Staten Island is “so peaceful and quiet, and I love riding the ferry.”
‘Third spaces’
While museums can be expensive, she said she makes good use of museum passes at her local library, adding that many museums have days or times when they are free.
And because her “day jobs” tend to be at night—she works at different venues in ticketing and production and also bartends—August is able to visit museums in the middle of weekdays, when they tend to be less crowded.
She recently became a licensed New York City tour guide and said it’s given her a renewed appreciation of the city and its visitors.
“So many of us are desperate for third spaces,” August said, referring to a place distinct from both home and work where people can relax or socialize. “For a lot of us, we have a hunger to come back and visit again, especially when it’s free.”
