Yesterday we unveiled our 26th plaque, honoring artist, philanthropist, and patron of the arts Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, in what would have been her 150th year. The plaque at 8 West 8th Street, now the New York Studio School, marks where Whitney had her art studio, and founded the first museum devoted to American art and artists, the Whitney Museum of American Art. We were honored to be joined by the Executive Director of the New York Studio School, Matthew Ritchie, and its dean, Kaitlin McDonough, as well as Scott Rothkopf, the Alice Pratt Brown Director of the Whitney Museum, and to hear from them about Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney’s legacy and her significance today. 

Our plaque program has honored and marked the homes of local figures from Jane Jacobs to James Baldwin; Allen Ginsberg to Charles Mingus; Frances Perkins to Frank Stella; and Martha Graham to Lorraine Hansberry, as well as historically significant sites such as the former NAACP headquarters, the Fillmore East, and Julius’ Bar.

You can learn more about our plaque program and explore the other plaques here and here.