Compare All-Art Experience in New York City: Met, MoMA and More by Road Scholar

Day 1
Check-in, Registration, Orientation, Welcome Dinner
Location: New York Meal: D Hotel: New Yorker Hotel

Activity note: Walking up to 1 mile; city sidewalks.

Afternoon: Program Registration: 4:00-5:00 p.m. After you have your room assignment, come to the designated Road Scholar meeting room (location will be posted) to register with the program staff and get your welcome packet containing the up-to-date schedule that reflects any changes, other important information, and to confirm the time and location of the Orientation session. If you arrive late, please ask for your envelope when you check in. Orientation: 5:00 p.m. The Group Leader will greet everyone and lead introductions. We will review the up-to-date program schedule, discuss roles and responsibilities, logistics, safety guidelines, emergency procedures, and answer questions. Walking as indicated for each day. We will also use public transportation (New York City subway system) that involves going up and down flights of stairs, long corridors, and often crowded conditions. It’s what New Yorkers do every day! Periods in the schedule designated as “Free time” and “At leisure” offer opportunities to do what you like and make your experience even more meaningful and memorable according to your personal preferences. The Group Leader will be happy to offer suggestions. Program activities, schedules, personnel, and indicated distances or times may change due to local circumstances/conditions. In the event of changes, we will alert you as quickly as possible. Thank you for your understanding.

Dinner: 6:00 p.m. We will walk to a nearby restaurant and have plated meals with coffee, tea, water included; other beverages available for purchase.

Day 2
The Frick Collection, Greenwich Village
Location: New York Meal: B,L,D Hotel: New Yorker Hotel

Activity note: Taking New York City subway that involves going up and down flights of stairs, long corridors, often crowded conditions. Walking up to 3 miles; city sidewalks and in Central Park; at museums, walking according to personal preference.

Breakfast: In the hotel breakfast area, have what you like from the breakfast buffet with hot and cold choices plus milk, juice, coffee, tea, water. During breakfast, we will register with the MTA for a senior citizen MetroCard (if you are 65 or over). A representative from the MTA will take your picture and a copy of your driver’s license to process your permanent MetroCard application. They will give you a temporary card to use for the week, enabling you to ride for half price. A few weeks after you return home you will receive a permanent card in the mail — your official invitation to come back to New York and ride around for half price. If you have a permanent NYC senior citizen MetroCard, please bring it with you.

Morning: We’ll be joined by an art historian who will provide an overview of the Frick Collection and its holdings.

Lunch: In the hotel, we'll have boxed lunches with a choice of sandwich, chips, sweet treat, fruit, water.

Afternoon: We’ll ride the subway up the West Side of Manhattan, then (weather permitting) stroll across Central Park to the Frick Collection, one of the world’s most impressive private galleries, housed in the grand Fifth Avenue mansion of Henry Clay Frick (1849-1919), who became one of the wealthiest men in America thanks to his manufacturing and railroad interests. Frick was an enthusiastic patron and collector of the arts. His personal collection was opened to the public in 1935. We will see not only extraordinary works of art — including masterpieces of Western painting, sculpture and decorative arts — but also get a sense of how Mr. Frick viewed and enjoyed his collection in his home. Highlights include works by Bellini, Constable, El Greco, Fragonard, Gainsborough, Holbein, Titian, Turner, and much more. The paintings in many of the 16 galleries are still arranged according to Frick's design, with additional works purchased by the Frick Collection over the years in a manner deemed to correspond with the aesthetic of the collection. The house, furnishings, and works of art are an oasis in this sometimes chaotic city.

Dinner: In a restaurant near the hotel.

Evening: With a local expert, we'll stroll through Greenwich Village and discuss how the NYC art scene was influenced heavily by the famous artists and patrons who called this historic neighborhood home.

Day 3
The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Location: New York Meal: B Hotel: New Yorker Hotel

Activity note: Taking New York City subway that involves going up and down flights of stairs, long corridors, often crowded conditions. Walking up to 3 miles; city sidewalks; slight inclines in parklike setting.

Breakfast: Hotel buffet.

Morning: We will take the subway to the Metropolitan Museum of Art for an introductory session with our art historian and get tips on navigating the galleries. The remainder of the morning is yours to see what interests you most. The Met, founded in 1870, is one of the world’s greatest museums with a collection spanning more than 5,000 years of creativity. Its artistic treasury from every corner of the world includes paintings, arms and armor, costume, decorative arts, musical instruments, photography, works on paper, and much more. There are 26,000 objects from ancient Egypt, the largest collection outside Cairo; 2,500 European paintings, one of the most extensive collections anywhere; and the most comprehensive collection of American decorative arts, paintings, and sculpture in the American Wing. The Beaux-Arts façade and Great Hall of the iconic flagship building — designed by architect and founding museum trustee Richard Morris Hunt — opened in 1902. Today, tens of thousands of objects are on view at any given time.

Lunch: On your own at The Met. The museum features several options including a formal, sit-down restaurant, a cafeteria and an informal cafe. Don't forget the delicious food carts out on 5th Avenue!

Afternoon: Continue exploring The Met at your leisure. Return to the hotel at your own pace.

Dinner: This meal has been excluded from the program cost and is on your own to enjoy what you like. The Group Leader will be happy to offer suggestions. This might be your big splurge or a quick bite before taking in a show.

Evening: At leisure. It’s New York, the possibilities are virtually endless.

Day 4
The Cloisters; Free Time

Location: New York Meal: B,L Hotel: New Yorker Hotel

Activity note: Taking New York City subway that involves going up and down flights of stairs, long corridors, often crowded conditions. Walking up to 3 miles; city sidewalks; at museums, walking according to personal preference.

Breakfast: Hotel buffet.

Morning: We’ll take the subway uptown for a field trip to The Cloisters, the closest we in America can get to experiencing the Medieval era in Europe. A museum docent will lead our exploration. This extension of the Metropolitan Museum of Art is beautifully situated on four acres of Fort Tryon Park overlooking the Hudson River in northern Manhattan. The building incorporates elements from several medieval French cloisters and other European sites. There are more than 2,000 works of art, dating largely from the 12th through the 15th centuries, including statuary, tapestries, exquisite illuminated manuscripts, stained glass, metalwork, enamels, ivories, and more. Several gardens are planted according to horticultural information found in medieval treatises, poetry, garden documents, and works of art.

Lunch: In Fort Tryon Park, we’ll have box lunches with a choice of sandwich, chips, sweet treat, fruit, water.

Afternoon: The Group Leader will head to Chelsea for those who would like to see a few of the hundreds of art galleries in that neighborhood. You are also welcome to stay on at the Cloisters, explore independently, and return on your own. The afternoon is yours to do with as you like.

Dinner: This evening's meal is on your own.

Evening: The evening is at leisure. Maybe take in a Broadway show. Our hotel is right in the heart of the theater district.

Day 5
Museum of Modern Art, Rockefeller Center, The High Line

Location: New York Meal: B,D Hotel: New Yorker Hotel

Activity note: Taking New York City subway that involves going up and down flights of stairs, long corridors, often crowded conditions. Walking up to 3 miles; city sidewalks; at museums, walking according to personal preference.

Breakfast: Hotel buffet.

Morning: Our art historian will give us an overview and helpful hints about our visit to MoMA — the Museum of Modern Art. On our way to the Museum we'll stroll through Rockefeller Center, known for its public art.

Lunch: On your own at the extensive Rockefeller Center food concourse.

Afternoon: Arriving at the museum, a docent will introduce the works on display. We’ll then have the afternoon for a self-directed exploration of MoMA. Founded in 1929, the Museum of Modern Art has been devoted to presenting the most thought-provoking modern and contemporary art as well as promoting the understanding and appreciation of modern art. MoMA will help you consider the question, “But is it art?” The collection numbers nearly 200,000 works including paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints, photographs, media and performance art works, architectural models and drawings, design objects, and films.

Dinner: We'll gather at a restaurant near the hotel for a farewell dinner.

Evening: One last opportunity to see how NYC embraces art: We’ll set out on a walking field trip with a local expert on the High Line to see its current art exhibition and works permanently on display. This may be New York's most acclaimed new park. Written about in Smithsonian, National Geographic, and AARP Magazines, the High Line Park is built on an historic freight rail line elevated above the streets. High Line Art is the public art program that commissions and produces art projects and installations on and around the High Line.

Day 6
Wrap-up Session, Program Concludes
Location: New York Meal: B