Did you know that Village Preservation members receive advance notice of many of our public programs? Our tours and other programs sometimes offer limited capacity, and often fill up quickly. By becoming a member, you can take advantage of that advanced notice and register before the general public. Find out how to become a member here.

For information about our past programs, including lecture recordings, click here.

Strolling the Village with Fitz-Greene Halleck

Though a statue of Fitz-Greene Halleck graces the Poet’s Walk in Central Park, the nearly 40 years he lived in New York City, between 1808 and 1848, were spent mostly in Greenwich Village. Halleck got his start in newspapers, earning his reputation with versified, “talk of the town”–style poems that reported on some of the hottest cultural events of his day. A confirmed bachelor, Halleck also came into contact with some of the earliest forms of New York’s night life, theater, and sex work. This lecture will introduce audiences to this once-famous but now forgotten poet, and along the way it will trace some of the paths he walked during one of New York City’s fastest and most consequential periods of urban development.

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Mondrian, the Man Who Loved New York

Join Nicholas Fox Weber for a discussion on his new biography, Mondrian: His Life, His Art, His Quest for the Absolute.

In the early 1920s, surrounded by the roaring streets of avant-garde Paris, Piet Mondrian began creating what would become some of the most recognizable abstract paintings of the 20th century. With rectangles of primary colors against a dazzling white background, this was geometric abstraction in its purest form. These revolutionary compositions exhilarated, intoxicated, confused, and enraged the international public — and changed the course of modern art forever.

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Ask A Cemeterian — Explore the Afterlife Underground Around Us

Co-sponsored by Merchant’s House Museum

Join thanatologist Matilda Garrido and Gabrielle Gotto, Director of Public Programs at Green-Wood Cemetery, for a deep dive into the day to day life of a cemeterian. Gotto will share how working around the dead shapes her philosophies and life practices, as well as how she aims to bring the beauty of Green-Wood to the public. She may even reveal some secrets!

About the “Ask A …” Series: From Mark Twain’s ghost haunting the “House of Death” on West 10th Street to the multiple cemeteries underneath Washington Square Park, Greenwich Village has a long association with death and the afterlife. In keeping with its neighborhood’s theme, it is time to lift the veil around death and dying as we move into the 21st century. In the “Ask A …” series, Garrido interviews those working in the fields of end of life and beyond. Join us for historical perspective, emerging ideas, and open discussion around topics usually hidden.

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Irish House Tour of Merchant’s House Museum

Co-sponsored by Merchant’s House Museum

A Tribute to the Tredwells’ Irish Servants: In-Person House Tour

The 1855 New York State Census gives us the names of the Irish women who worked in the Tredwell home: Mary James, Mary Smith, and Bridget Murphy, who was just 19 years old. To celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, join a special “back-stairs” tour of the Merchant’s House to experience what daily life was really like for Bridget, and for the thousands of women like her who worked in domestic service in 19th-century New York City. You’ll visit four floors of period rooms, from the ground floor kitchen to the fourth-floor servants’ quarters, “arguably the oldest intact site of Irish habitation in New York City” (Time Out New York).

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The Unseen Revelers: A Brief History of Female Nightlife Activists in the Village

Join us for a virtual lecture as we delve into the vibrant history of female nightlife activists in the iconic Greenwich Village and East Village neighborhoods. This program will explore the remarkable contributions of women who took up space in taverns, bars, lounges, speakeasies and clubs to advance political ideas; highlight emerging subcultures and art forms; gathered people of classes/races/ethnicities; and shifted the zeitgeist.

The Unseen Revelers features iconic dames and pivotal moments, like Billie Holiday singing “Strange Fruit,” Norma Miller doing the Lindy, Sylvia Robinson introducing hip-hop to new audiences at Webster Hall, and Patti Astor gathering New Wave artists and graffiti writers in one space.

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Women’s History Month Daytime Walking Tour

Join Village Preservation as we take a walk through history in our backyard and examine how our neighborhoods have impacted women’s history in New York City. We’ll end at Café Society, celebrating Billie Holiday and her courageous performance of “Strange Fruit” at that location.

We’ll learn about women like Lorraine Hansberry who impacted the arts, literature, and culture, as well as those who fought for justice, such as Edie S. Windsor and Thea Clara Spyer.

Meeting location will be shared upon registration

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Celebrating 150 Years of Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney: A Tour of the New York Studio School

Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney was born on January 9, 1875. The life she chose for herself was nothing short of revolutionary, having a huge impact upon the art world and the Village. Join Village Preservation to help mark the 150th anniversary of Whitney’s birth with a tour of the very place where she created many of her incredible artworks and where she founded the Whitney Museum.

The tour will discuss the storied art career and patronage of Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, the founder of the Whitney Museum of American Art, who was also a prominent sculptor in her time. Participants will walk through the historic spaces that have played a significant role in the history of American art for over a century, including the Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney Studio, decorated by Robert Winthrop Chanler.

Please note: If you attended this tour in January, you are not eligible to attend. Thank you!

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Tour of Hunter College’s Acts of Art in Greenwich Village Exhibition

Join Village Preservation for this special tour of Hunter College Art Galleries’ new exhibition Acts of Art in Greenwich Village, the first comprehensive account of the six-year history of Acts of Art, a gallery dedicated to showcasing the work of Black artists in downtown Manhattan.

Acts of Art in Greenwich Village centers Acts of Art and its director’s curatorial vision, tracing the gallery’s exhibition history as it intersects with other histories of Black art and artists in New York —and with formations like the BECC, Where We At, and the Weusi Artists. Installed in Hunter College’s Leubsdorf Gallery, the exhibition features artworks from the late 1960s and 1970s by 14 artists with close ties to the gallery, a number of which were first shown at Acts of Art.

Please note: If you attended this tour in January, you are not eligible to attend. Thank you!