| Sunday | Closed | |
| Monday | Closed | |
| Tuesday | Closed | |
| Wednesday | Closed | |
| Thursday | Closed | |
| Friday | Closed | |
| Saturday | Closed | |
New York University has been at the heart of the academic and cultural life of the city since its founding in 1831. The center of the universities celebration of Fine Arts is the Grey Art Gallery, located on the former site of the school's original University Building. The museum hosts three exhibitions each year, roughly following the academic calendar of the University.
I have no wish to be remembered as a painter, for I never was a painter; my idea of that profession was perhaps too exalted; I may say, is too exalted. I leave it to others more worthy to fill the niches of art. - Samuel F.B. Morse, Art Instructor at NYU
The gallery puts few limits on what kind of art it hosts in its space. Exhibitions have included painting, sculpture, architecture, installations, performance art, film, photography, and printmaking. While it does maintain the charge of NYU's own permanent art collection, most exhibitions feature borrowed works sharing a theme or by a given artist. The gallery's mission is "to collect, preserve, study, document, interpret, and exhibit evidence of human culture", so exhibitions tend towards the academic, but remain enjoyable.
NYU has a long history of discovering and promoting visual arts. The university's original museum, the Museum of Living Art was "the first institution in this country to exhibit work by Picasso, Léger, Mirò, Mondrian, Arp, and members of the American Abstract Artists group." While the Grey Gallery does not make promises that you will discover the next Miro or Picasso here, you will find something interesting, inspiring and new.
