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Free Events, Free Things to Do in New York City! Read More
New York attracts world's best minds to its shores: they come here to interact with each other at conferences and seminars, and while they are here they are often invited to give a talk, a lecture, to be a part of a public discussion. We at Club Free Time give you an opportunity to be a part of it: to watch how those best minds in the world work! Don't miss the opportunities that only New York City (NYC) provides!
Join the Club!
The quality and quantity of
free events,
free things to do
that happen in New York City
every day of the year
is truly amazing.
So don't miss the opportunities
that only New York provides:
stop wondering what to do;
start taking advantage of
free events to go to,
free things to do in NYC
today!
The quality and quantity of
free events,
free things to do
that happen in New York City
every day of the year
is truly amazing.
So don't miss the opportunities
that only New York provides:
stop wondering what to do;
start taking advantage of
free events to go to,
free things to do in NYC
today!
62 free talks, lectures, discussions in New York City (NYC) Sun, 05/31/2026 - and on...
In New York City, you can talk with and listen to the best minds in the world without spending a dime! Just take a look at free talks, lectures, discussion, seminars, conferences listed on this page below!
Discussion | How Comics & Graphic Novels Deal with Issues of Illness (with Manga & Graphic Novel Creators)
Moderated by graphic medicine comic artist Kriota Willberg, Japanese manga artist Moka Onmae, her editor Tsubasa Kosaka from AKITAHSHOTEN, and American comic artist Gianna Paniagua discuss graphic medicine and how their personal experiences with illness shaped the stories they tell. How do serious topics like living with a heart transplant or cancer translate into comics? And how are do those reflected experiences compare and contrast when it comes to North American comics and Japanese manga?
New York City, NY; NYC
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Mon, Jun 1
6:30 pm
Free
6:30 pm
Free
Book Discussion | Book Launch Celebrating Abstract Artist Cora Cohen's New Monograph
Enjoy an evening in honor of Cora Cohen, with a book launch and panel discussion to celebrate Cohen’s new monograph. Hosted by Raphael Rubenstein, with contributions from Sharon Butler, Barbara MacAdam, and Rebecca Ness. From the 1970s until her death in 2023, Cora Cohen widened the net of gestural abstraction’s possibilities. A highly regarded painter’s painter known for muscular yet poetic works, Cohen also made drawings, photographs, and altered X-rays. This richly illustrated volume details the span of her practice through newly commissioned critical texts and remembrances by fellow artists, making it the definitive publication on Cohen’s work.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Tue, Jun 2
6:00 pm
Free
6:00 pm
Free
Book Discussion | Historian Shares His New Book, Fire Island Art: 100 Years
Enjoy a conversation with John Dempsey to celebrate Fire Island Art: 100 Years, documenting a century of creativity, community, and cultural impact on the island. He will be in conversation with Michael Bullock, whose essay "Fire Island's Art Renaissance, 2010 to Present" appears in the collection.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Tue, Jun 2
6:00 pm
Free
6:00 pm
Free
Book Discussion | Translators & Editors Share "Heartwarming, Sharp, and Deeply Human" Book, As the Story Goes: Funny, Strange, and Serious Stories of Yiddishland's Jews
Enjoy a special book event for As the Story Goes: Funny, Strange, and Serious Stories of Yiddishland's Jews by Mordekhai Lipson, with Jonathan Boyarin and Jonah Sampson Boyarin, translators and editors. A treasure trove of anecdotes that illuminate the lives, humor, and wisdom of Eastern European Jewish communities from the 18th and 19th centuries. A bestseller nearly a century ago in its original Yiddish and now brought to renewed life in translation by Jonathan Boyarin and Jonah Sampson Boyarin, these stories capture the essence of a world where tradition and ingenuity intertwined. From rabbis and scholars to everyday figures, the tales are alternately heartwarming, sharp, and deeply human, preserving the oral folklore of a vibrant culture at risk of being forgotten. This collection invites readers to laugh, reflect, and connect with the enduring spirit of Yiddishland's Jews. Reception following discussion.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Tue, Jun 2
6:00 pm
Free
6:00 pm
Free
Talk | Historian & Collector Discusses the Visual Language of Posters & Their Importance (+ Q&A)
Esteemed magic historian and poster collector Charles Greene III will speak about the rise and importance of posters in promoting the Golden Age of Magic and the thrill of collecting these historic works of art today. Professional paper conservators Denise Stockman and Juliana Cordero will share their stories about the fascinating process of restoring the posters included in the exhibition. Exhibition curator Annemarie van Roessel will lead a discussion and Q&A from the audience. For more than 100 years, this venue has been building an extraordinary collection of rare color lithograph posters that promote the great magicians and illusions of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Forty-eight of these striking posters are currently on view in this exhibition. These posters illustrate magicians reimagining old tricks and inventing new ones, shaping each performer’s unique identity within a new visual language of magic as audiences became more international.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Tue, Jun 2
6:30 pm
Free
6:30 pm
Free
Discussion | Acclaimed NYC Photographer Baykal, Remembered by Artists & Cultural Experts
In recognition of Pride Month--and the enduring influence of artists in shaping downtown New York--artist and performer Penny Arcade, art historian Marcelo Gabriel Yanez, and Chelsea Spengemann, Executive Director of Soft Network, present an illustrated conversation on the life, work, and lasting significance of Baykal (1944-1997). Baykal inhabited New York's East Village when it was a crucible of experimentation and resilience. From the 1960s through the 1990s, she did not merely document a scene--she recorded the lives and interconnections of a generation in motion. Her portraits reinforced networks, affirmed collective identity, and chronicled communities navigating gentrification and the devastation of the AIDS crisis. Her work continues to testify to a living artistic lineage, sustaining intergenerational dialogue and demonstrating how archives animate and preserve community memory.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Tue, Jun 2
7:00 pm
Free
7:00 pm
Free
Discussion | Mount Sinai Expert on NYC's Air Pollution and Lung Health (In Person AND Online)
Internationally recognized lung specialist Dr. Monica Kraft, Chair of the Department of Medicine at Mount Sinai Health System, leads a timely discussion on how science, medicine, and public awareness are transforming the way we think about breathing, prevention, and long-term respiratory health. From air pollution and vaping to asthma, COPD, marijuana use, and emerging environmental risks, the conversation examines the invisible forces impacting lung health today and how they are reshaping the future of wellness, longevity, and respiratory health. This conversation offers fresh insight into one of the body's most essential systems and the environments that shape it. 6:30 pm: doors open for a pre-reception. 7:30 pm: the talk starts Lung function test will be offered to interested attendees.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Tue, Jun 2
7:30 pm
Free
7:30 pm
Free
Gallery Talk | Learn How a Historic Mansion Turned into a Museum
Join a museum educator for a brief gallery talk tracing how a Gilded Age mansion was transformed into a world-class art museum.
New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Wed, Jun 3
3:00 pm
Free
3:00 pm
Free
Discussion | MoMA, Guggenheim, Whitney, & Tate Modern Artist Discusses His New Exhibition
Artist Kevin Beasley and Pamela Joyner, chair of MoMA's Painting and Sculpture Committee, in conversation. All I thought / I loved, Kevin Beasley's exhibition, recasts his relationship to landscape through a years-long inquiry into the inherited and regenerative resonance of a site. Set in part on his family's century-old property in Valentines, Virginia, the exhibition renders image, material, and memory in oscillating focus. Newly developed techniques trigger a different mode of remembering, grounded in shifting conditions of light and color keyed to the time of day, and as an intuited landscape that is sensed rather than fixed in view. Across a new body of resin paintings, video, cotton-based and cast resin sculptures, landscape is not rendered so much as it is built to surface--an accumulation of atmosphere and lived experience, slipping between physicality and illegibility.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Wed, Jun 3
5:30 pm
Free
5:30 pm
Free
Book Discussion | David Harris Shares His New Book, Antisemitism: What Everyone Needs To Know
David Harris discusses his new book Antisemitism: What Everyone Needs To Know, which explores how, in the 21st century, antisemitism is once again resurgent. In recent years, the FBI reported that well over half of all religiously motivated hate crimes in the United States targeted Jews, even though Jews comprise just over two percent of the population. It is striking how little understood antisemitism, including the term itself, still is. This extends quite widely to political leaders, educational authorities, law enforcement and the judiciary, civic groups, and media outlets. Polls have also shown how knowledge of the Holocaust, which was widely considered to be a firewall against the resurgence of antisemitism, is declining, notwithstanding ongoing attention to the topic in education, museums and memorials, and culture.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Wed, Jun 3
6:00 pm
Free
6:00 pm
Free
Talk | MoMA Professional & Others Discuss New Book on Artist Lilia Carrillo
In conjunction with an exhibition on artist Lilia Carrillo, this event features a panel conversation and book launch celebrating the release of Todo es sugerente, the exhibition monograph on Lilia Carrillo. The program will feature a conversation with Leah Dickerman, director of Research Programs at The Museum of Modern Art, and Daniel Garza Usabiaga, curator of the exhibition at Museo del Palacio de Bellas Artes.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Wed, Jun 3
6:00 pm
Free
6:00 pm
Free
Discussion | MoMA-Featured Artist Discusses Her New Exhibition with Vogue Culture Writer
To celebrate the exhibition Anoushka Mirchandani: Everyone You Love Lives Here, enjoy a discussion with artist Anoushka Mirchandani and arts and culture writer Grace Edquist, moderated by gallery director, Jonathan Rider. Anoushka Mirchandani uses painting as a form of agency--an ongoing process of locating and relocating identity across shifting contexts. Over the past decade, she has cultivated a visual language that mirrors this interplay of concealment and revelation, expressing the layered nature of selfhood. Her paintings center on figures suspended between repose and action--often women posed with quiet confidence, unbothered by expectations of modesty or restraint. Their bodies dissolve into surrounding forms, delineated only by gestures of oil stick or pastel. The tension between bold poses and vanishing contours evokes questions of visibility and vulnerability: what parts of ourselves do we suppress, and what do we allow to emerge in unfamiliar spaces? Her work has been shown at the MoMA, the Asian Art Museum (San Francisco), the Museum of Art and Photography (Bangalore), and Northwestern University (Chicago). Grace Edquist is a New York-based arts and culture writer and the copy director of Vogue magazine. Her writing often focuses on the lives and work of women artists. She has been published in Vogue, Vanity Fair, T, and ARTnews, among other publications.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Wed, Jun 3
6:00 pm
Free
6:00 pm
Free
Lecture | Ruffles & Ribbons: Fashion Plates from the Time of Marie Antoinette
Presented alongside the museum exhibition, this lecture examines the influence of Gallerie des modes et costumes français (1778–87), one of the most significant fashion-illustration series of eighteenth-century France. Curatorial Fellow Yifu Liu will discuss the evolution of fashion prints, the cultural history behind these images, and how publications such as Gallerie des modes helped shape modern fashion media, including Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Wed, Jun 3
6:00 pm
Free
6:00 pm
Free
Book Discussion | Guggenheim Fellow Biographer Shares Her Acclaimed Book, Pride and Pleasure
Author Amanda Vaill explores how placing Angelica and Elizabeth Schuyler front and center transforms the way we see our own history as we approach our nation's 250th birthday. In her acclaimed new book, Pride and Pleasure, a finalist for three major biography awards, best-selling author Amanda Vaill illuminates the lives of Angelica and Elizabeth Schuyler, daughters of colonial aristocracy who got caught up in the turmoil of America's insurrection against Great Britain. Although the sisters have recently become meme-worthy as supporting characters in Lin-Manuel Miranda's hit musical Hamilton -- Eliza married Alexander Hamilton, and Angelica became his muse -- Vaill's deep archival and contextual research reveals that they were revolutionary figures in their own right, politically, socially, and personally.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Wed, Jun 3
6:30 pm
Free
6:30 pm
Free
Discussion | Forever Chemicals and the Future of Clean Water
Join environmental researchers Xindi Hu and Jahred Liddie for a discussion on PFAS, also known as "forever chemicals," and their growing impact on drinking water systems. The conversation will explore how these persistent chemicals spread through the environment, the challenges of regulating them, and the social inequities tied to water contamination. This evening program examines the intersection of chemistry, public policy, and environmental justice while considering what it will take to ensure access to clean, affordable water for all. For ages 21+ only.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Wed, Jun 3
7:00 pm
Free
7:00 pm
Free
Wed, Jun 3
7:30 pm
Regular: $35
Member: $0
7:30 pm
Regular: $35
Member: $0
Join the Club!
Book Discussion | EU Prize for Literature Winner Shares Her New Novel, The Summer My Mother Had Green Eyes (+ Signing)
Attend a conversation with Tatiana Tibuleac to celebrate her book, The Summer My Mother Had Green Eyes, a complex coming-of-age story that thoughtfully examines the redemptive relationship between a mother and son. The conversation will be followed by a signing.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Thu, Jun 4
6:00 pm
Free
6:00 pm
Free
Discussion | Discover Jewish Influence on the American Revolution (In Person AND Online!)
Dr. Jonathan Sarna (Brandeis University) and Dr. Laura Leibman (Princeton University), two of the foremost experts on early American Jewish history, explore how Jews experienced, debated and helped shape the American Revolution - and how their choices during this pivotal moment reshaped both Jewish life and American history.As the American colonies moved toward independence, how did Jewish immigrants' European experiences shape their political loyalties and moral choices? Why did some support the Revolution while others opposed it, and what tensions did these decisions create within the emerging Jewish communities? While Jews made up less than 0.04 percent of the American population in 1776, they left an indelible mark on the nation's founding.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Thu, Jun 4
6:30 pm
Free
6:30 pm
Free
Talk | Historians Explore the Origins & Legacy of the Society of American Magicians
Richard Cohn, magician, historian, author, consultant, and Associate of the Inner Magic Circle, will speak of the origins of The Society of American Magicians. He will also talk of the role of Dr. Saram Ellison in the founding and establishment of the S.A.M. The Society of American Magicians today is an outgrowth of what had initially been a Saturday night social tradition inaugurated in New York City in the 1890’s. Thomas Ewing, S.A.M. National Historian will focus on Harry Houdini and his efforts to transform what was originally a New York group into an international organization. This metamorphosis not only brought clubs located in other cities into the fold but hobbyists and amateurs, as well as professionals in other regions, into the fabric of what is today an international organization.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Thu, Jun 4
6:30 pm
Free
6:30 pm
Free
Book Discussion | Book Launch: Night Train with Translator Jeremy Tiang
Novelist, playwright, and International Booker Prize–longlisted literary translator Jeremy Tiang introduces his English translation of Night Train by Xu Zechen. This book is a new novel from a major Chinese author. Follows characters who live on the precipice, where the foolish mistakes of young men can have devastating consequences.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Thu, Jun 4
7:00 pm
Free
7:00 pm
Free
Lecture | NY Botanic Garden Ecologist Gives Nature Talk on Local Wildlife
Guest speaker Eric Sanderson (Vice President of the New York Botanic Garden and author of Mannahatta and the upcoming Before New York: The Natural Geography of the City) provides a new perspective on the surprisingly abundant living things all around you. New York City is wilder than you might think. Thousands of species of birds, mammals, insects, plants, fungi, and more are surviving, and thriving, in every part of our city.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Fri, Jun 5
12:00 pm
Free
12:00 pm
Free
Book Discussion | New York Times-Featured Journalist Shares His New Book, The Elements of Power: A Story of War, Technology, and the Dirtiest Supply Chain on Earth (In Person AND Online!)
Author Nicolas Niarchos discusses his new book, The Elements of Power, which tells the story of the war for the global supply of battery metals—essential for the decarbonization of our economies—and the terrible, bloody human cost of this badly misunderstood industry. Book synopsis: With unparalleled, original reporting, Nicolas Niarchos reveals how the scramble to control these metals and their production is overturning the world order, just as the global race to drill for oil shaped the twentieth century. Exploring the advent of the lithium-ion battery and tracing the supply chain for its production, Niarchos tells the story both of the people driving these tectonic changes and those whose lives are being upended. He reveals the true, devastating consequences of our best intentions and helps us prepare for an uncertain future. If you have ever used a smartphone or driven an electric vehicle, you are implicated.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Fri, Jun 5
6:00 pm
Free
6:00 pm
Free
Discussion | Dialogue on Accessibility in Arts & Culture (+ Live Rap Concert)
This event features a panel discussion on “Arts and Accessibility: Cultural Participation and Inclusion in the Arts,” followed by a concert of the Berlin-based rapper and inclusion ambassador, Graf Fidi. It will facilitate dialogue on accessibility in the cultural sector and share experiences by bringing together policymakers, cultural institutions, artists, and representatives of the disability community to discuss practical approaches to improving accessibility in arts and performance venues. Cultural participation is both a fundamental human right and a key driver of social inclusion, and artists with disabilities are vital in shaping cultural discourse, strengthening accessibility, and representation. However, persistent barriers remain across the arts sector, including physical, digital, and structural challenges in access, employment, and representation.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Fri, Jun 5
6:00 pm
Free
6:00 pm
Free
Gallery Talk | Art in Focus: Slow Observance and Conversation
Take a moment to slow down and connect with a single work of art through guided observation and group discussion. No background in art is needed--just curiosity and openness. This relaxed, welcoming program invites all adult learners to engage deeply with one piece at a time. Note: Space is limited; first-come, first-served. Stickers are distributed 15 minutes before the program starts.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Fri, Jun 5
6:30 pm
Free
6:30 pm
Free
Book Discussion | National Book Critics Award–Nominated Cultural Critics Share Their New Book, Love in the Afternoon…and Evening
In their newest book, cultural critics Charlotte Druckman and Mayukh Sen give tribute to the stories and talent that have fostered the genre in interviews with soap icons, analyses of the genre’s infamous tropes, and its archetypes, which you can hear about at this talk. Love in the Afternoon…and Evening will make you want to bust out your shoulder pads and binge your favorite show all over again. Charlotte Druckman is a journalist, cultural critic, and author of Skirt Steak, as well as editor of the James Beard Award–nominated Women on Food. Biographer and essayist Mayukh Sen is the author of Love, Queenie: Merle Oberon, Hollywood's First South Asian Star, a finalist for the 2025 National Book Critics Circle Award for Biography.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Fri, Jun 5
7:30 pm
Free
7:30 pm
Free
Book Club | Sapphic Book Club: Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
Come ready to discuss, rant, and rave with other sapphic book lovers! At this meeting, the group will be discussing Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir. Synopsis: The Emperor needs necromancers.The Ninth Necromancer needs a swordswoman. Gideon has a sword, some dirty magazines, and no more time for undead nonsense. Tamsyn Muir's Gideon the Ninth unveils a solar system of swordplay, cut-throat politics, and lesbian necromancers. Her characters leap off the page, as skillfully animated as arcane revenants. The result is a heart-pounding epic science fantasy.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Sat, Jun 6
2:30 pm
Free
2:30 pm
Free
Book Discussion | Historian Shares His New Book, A Monument of Charity: St. Vincent's Hospital and Catholic Health Care in New York City
Author Thomas F. Rzeznik tells the history of St. Vincent's Hospital -- which served the Greenwich Village community for over 160 years -- and reflects on the transformative impact of Catholic health care in New York City. Through the cholera epidemic of the mid-19th century, to the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire, the sinking of the Titanic, the AIDS crisis, and the attacks of 9/11, the hospital was a testament to the vision and labor of the Sisters of Charity, who founded, staffed, and administered the hospital with remarkable skill and devotion.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Sun, Jun 7
2:00 pm
Free
2:00 pm
Free
Book Discussion | NY State Senator Shares His New Book, The Fourth Branch: How State Government Can Save Our Union (In Person AND Online!)
In conversation with a very special guest moderator, author Daniel Squadron discusses the power of state government and how to participate meaningfully in American democracy today. Reconsider where power really lies in American democracy--and how to use it. In his new book, The Fourth Branch, Daniel Squadron--co-founder of The States Project, an initiative that organizes support for state legislatures, and former New York State Senator--argues that the real site of change, and the greatest opportunity for impact, lies closer to home. The Fourth Branch explores the role that state legislatures play in shaping everyday life, and the roles that we can play in impacting our state legislatures. For nearly every major issue--from climate change and minimum wage to reproductive rights--there are crucial actions that citizens can take to make lasting, concrete change.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Mon, Jun 8
7:00 pm
Free
7:00 pm
Free
Book Discussion | Late Night with Seth Meyers & New Yorker Writers Diusucss Crafting Comedic Works
Enjoy a panel of comedy writers with Jenny Hagel (Advice No One Asked For: Essays) and Maeve Dunigan (Read This to Look Cool: Essays and Overthinkings). Hosted by Ilana Levine, actress and podcaster at Little Known Facts with Ilana Levine. Maeve Dunigan is a regular contributor to The New Yorker. Her work has also appeared in McSweeney's Internet Tendency, Reductress, Mountain Gazette, Mic, and on NPR’s Selected Shorts podcast. Jenny Hagel is an Emmy-nominated TV writer and comedy performer in New York City. She is a writer/performer on Late Night with Seth Meyers, where she created the recurring segment "Jokes Seth Can't Tell." She was also head writer and executive producer of The Amber Ruffin Show. Other writing credits include The Golden Globe Awards, Impractical Jokers, and The Big Gay Sketch Show.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Wed, Jun 10
12:30 pm
Free
12:30 pm
Free
Gallery Talk | Learn How a Historic Mansion Turned into a Museum
Join a museum educator for a brief gallery talk tracing how a Gilded Age mansion was transformed into a world-class art museum.
New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Wed, Jun 10
3:00 pm
Free
3:00 pm
Free
Book Discussion | Read & Analyze Nobel Prize Winner's Poetry, Seventeen Poems by Tomas Tranströmer
Read and discuss Tomas Tranströmer's Seventeen Poems (translated by Robin Fulton, from The Great Enigma: New Collected Poems). Tomas Tranströmer (1931-2015) was a Swedish lyrical poet noted for his spare but resonant language, particularly his unusual metaphors—more transformative than substitutive—which have been associated with a literary surrealism. His verse was at once revelatory and mysterious. Tranströmer was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2011. Tranströmer’s first collection of poetry, 17 dikter (1954; Seventeen Poems), showed the influence of Modernism in its spare language and startling imagery, and it met with critical acclaim.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Wed, Jun 10
4:30 pm
Free
4:30 pm
Free
Book Discussion | Book Launch: The Jellyfish Problem by Tessa Yang
Author Tessa Yang shares her new novel, The Jellyfish Novel, in conversation with Yume Kitasei. A marine biologist makes the discovery of a lifetime when called to rescue the inhabitants of a small Maine island being menaced by a giant, glowing jellyfish in this richly imagined, wholly original debut.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Thu, Jun 11
7:00 pm
Free
7:00 pm
Free
Book Discussion | Award Winning Authors Discuss Contemporary Art Book, Mothers of Invention
Enjoy a panel discussion with the authors of Mothers of Invention, followed by a reception celebrating the opening of the exhibition. In this landmark book, Eleanor Heartney, Helaine Posner, Nancy Princenthal, and Sue Scott offer a radical rethinking of contemporary art through a feminist lens. Tracing the lineages of performance, abstraction, craft, and ecofeminism, they reveal the profound influence of pioneering women artists on practices that define the field today. Together, the authors will reflect on the ideas at the heart of the book and exhibition, exploring how feminist artists challenged dominant narratives and helped shape a more expansive, inclusive, and socially engaged art world.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Fri, Jun 12
6:00 pm
Free
6:00 pm
Free
Talk | Curator-Led Journey through the Diverse Treasures and Unique Heritage of Nubian Art
This lecture will present an overview of 6,000 years of objects from Nubia’s diverse cultures and empires. It will attempt to define the characteristics of Nubian art, emphasizing how it differs from Egyptian art to which it is often — but incorrectly — unfavorably compared. Dr. Rita Freed, curator emerita at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts, explores Nubia’s artistic richness. Nubia, the land of the Nile Cataracts, produced art that speaks to the creativity of its artists, architects, crafts people, and thinkers. Yet until recently, its material culture has not received the attention it deserves. Presented in collaboration with the American Research Center in Egypt’s National and New York Chapter, Dr. Freed focuses upon the diverse treasures and unique heritage of this land encompassing southern Egypt and northern Sudan.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Fri, Jun 12
6:30 pm
Free
6:30 pm
Free
Discussion | Death Cafe Discussion Group
An informal, group-directed discussion of death with no agenda, objectives or themes. The purpose of Death Cafe is "to increase awareness of death with a view to helping people make the most of their (finite) lives." This is a discussion group rather than a grief support or counseling session.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Sat, Jun 13
3:30 pm
Free
3:30 pm
Free
Discussion | Vanity Fair Contributor Discusses Dracula on Film
Enjoy a conversation on Dracula films with Olivia Rutigliano, hosted by film connoisseur Scott Adlerberg. Olivia Rutigliano is an editor at the arts and culture publication Literary Hub as well as editor of its sister publication CrimeReads. Her essays have been published online in Vanity Fair, Vulture, Lapham's Quarterly, Public Books, The Baffler, The Los Angeles Review of Books, and elsewhere. She is the creator and host of the podcast Culture Schlock. Scott Adlerberg is the author of five novels, including Graveyard Love, Jack Waters, and The Screaming Child. He has written many short stories and contributes pieces regularly to sites such as CrimeReads and Mystery Tribune.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Mon, Jun 15
12:30 pm
Free
12:30 pm
Free
Book Discussion | Architecture Experts Launch Their New Book, Out There: New Architecture Across America (+ Signing)
Enjoy a conversation with authors Cathleen McGuigan and Peter MacKeith to celebrate the launch of their new book, Out There: New Architecture Across America, a stunning, yet critical survey of 50 major architectural firms across America's regional cities and small towns. They will be in conversation with Ian Volner, followed by a signing.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Mon, Jun 15
6:00 pm
Free
6:00 pm
Free
Book Discussion | Former Hockey Pro Launches His New Novel, The Swan and the Sentinel
The Swan and the Sentinel by Bill Keenan is a story that reminds us that sometimes the best comebacks require learning an entirely new discipline, even if it’s performed in fifth position. What happens when the one thing that defines you is ripped away, and you’re forced to rebuild from the ground up? When NHL forward Liam LeClerc’s career-threatening injury refuses to heal, desperation drives him to an unlikely solution: ballet lessons from Petra Montgomery, a talented soloist overlooked due to her company’s politics. In secret, after-hours studio sessions, Petra teaches Liam that strength comes in unexpected forms while he reminds her why she fell in love with dance, before ambition complicated everything. But when their unconventional partnership threatens both their careers, they must decide if the connection they’ve found is worth risking everything they’ve worked for.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Mon, Jun 15
6:00 pm
Free
6:00 pm
Free
Book Discussion | Youngest Ever Eisner Award-Winning Graphic Novelist Shares Her New Book, Charity & Sylvia (In Person AND Online!)
Author Tillie Walden sits down to discuss her book, Charity & Sylvia, a graphic novel depicting the true love story and lives of an openly lesbian couple surviving and thriving in 19th century Vermont, with writer and filmmaker Alexis Clements. Book synopsis: The true, exceptional story of these remarkable women is brought to life with humor and passion by the unparalleled and award-winning Tillie Walden (Spinning, On A Sunbeam). We see America grow alongside these women over a period that brings about the railroad, many novels, 14 Presidents, riots, rebellion, plagues, and poetry. Based on extensive archives of their writing, Charity and Sylvia is a groundbreaking biography that is also the story of 19th-century America.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Mon, Jun 15
6:30 pm
Free
6:30 pm
Free
Discussion | Group Discussion: Ken Burns' The American Revolution
In recognition of the 250th anniversary of 1776, the group will be exploring Ken Burns’ expansive, evenhanded documentary, The American Revolution. Watch on your own and come to discuss! Series available on pbs.org. At this session, the group will be discussing The American Revolution, Episodes 3 and 4.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Tue, Jun 16
1:00 pm
Free
1:00 pm
Free
Book Discussion | Discuss LGBTQIA+ Poetry from All Over the World
Spend time with fellow poetry enthusiasts in unpacking the layered meanings of poetry through an informal group discussion. This Pride month, celebrate ancestors with poems that honor the legacy of queer poetry around the world. Please note that contemporary poetry deals frankly with contemporary issues and all works discussed are artistic expressions selected for an adult audience.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Tue, Jun 16
2:30 pm
Free
2:30 pm
Free
Book Discussion | Celebrate Marilyn Monroe's Life through Photographs (+ Signing)
Enjoy a conversation with Melissa Stevens to celebrate the book, Marilyn Monroe 100: The Official Centenary Book, the only authorized centenary book which brings together 17 photographers who worked most closely with Monroe herself. The conversation will be followed by a signing.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Tue, Jun 16
6:00 pm
Free
6:00 pm
Free
Book Discussion | New Yorker Contributor Shares His New Book, Town & Country (In Person AND Online!)
Author Brian Schaefer discusses his debut novel, Town & Country. Book synopsis: Spanning six months from Memorial Day to Election Day, Town & Country paints a kaleidoscopic portrait of a community in flux. For readers of Fredrick Backman and Jen Beagin, this "powerful and extremely well-written book" (Colum McCann, National Book Award winner) asks the essential and timeless questions: What makes a home, and what do we owe our neighbors?
New York City, NY; NYC
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Tue, Jun 16
6:30 pm
Free
6:30 pm
Free
Book Discussion | New York Times & USA Today Bestselling Authors Discuss the Art of Suspense Writing
A panel for suspense lovers with authors Alison Gaylin (Robert B. Parker’s Booked), Ed Lin (The Dead Can’t Make a Living), and Kimberly McCreight (Someone Else’s Husband). Hosted by Ilana Levine, actress and podcaster at Little Known Facts with Ilana Levine. Alison Gaylin is an international and USA Today bestselling author who has won the Edgar and Shamus awards. She has been nominated for numerous awards, including the Macavity, Anthony, ITW Thriller, and Strand Book Award. Ed Lin is the first author to win three Asian American Literary Awards. Kimberly McCreight is the New York Times bestselling author of eight novels, including Reconstructing Amelia, which was called Entertainment Weekly’s Favorite Book of the Year and has been optioned for TV by HBO, Nicole Kidman’s Blossom Films, and David E. Kelley. A Good Marriage was named a Best Book of the Summer by The New York Times, People, and Publishers Weekly.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Wed, Jun 17
12:30 pm
Free
12:30 pm
Free
Gallery Talk | Learn How a Historic Mansion Turned into a Museum
Join a museum educator for a brief gallery talk tracing how a Gilded Age mansion was transformed into a world-class art museum.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Wed, Jun 17
3:00 pm
Free
3:00 pm
Free
Discussion | Photographer, Dancer, & Writer Discuss the Intersection of Ballet & Image-Making
Attend an intimate and thought-provoking discussion bringing together renowned dance photographer Gene Schiavone, dancer and actor Kylie Edwards, and acclaimed dance writer Gavin Larsen for a nuanced exploration of movement and imagery. The relationship between a dancer and a photographer is a symbiotic one; a melding of art and movement, rhythm and emotion. Through the lens of ballet and image-making, the conversation will examine how collaboration, trust and technique shape both the final body of work and the dancer's sense of identity. Drawing from Schiavone and Larsen's recent photography book, Infinite Steps: Thirty-Three Dancers and Their Lives in Ballet, the discussion offers a compelling look at how photography can influence a dancer's understanding of their own artistry.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Wed, Jun 17
3:00 pm
Free
3:00 pm
Free
Book Discussion | NYT Journalist Shares His New Book, Treasured Island: The Story of St. Barth (+ Signing)
Attend a conversation with Michael Gross to celebrate his new book, Treasured Island: The Story of St. Barth . . . and Its Barbarians, Billionaires, and Beauties, an entertaining chronicle of the social history behind the island St. Barthelemy. He will be in conversation with Nina Burleigh, followed by a signing.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Wed, Jun 17
6:00 pm
Free
6:00 pm
Free
Book Discussion | LGBTQ+ Literary Evening with New Books (Free Books & Giveaways) (In Person AND Online!)
Hear the "buzz" directly from authors and publishing industry professionals about new and upcoming titles for Pride Month. Free and advance copies available while supplies last! Enjoy a delightful evening filled with literature, engaging discussions, and opportunities to meet authors and fellow passionate book lovers. Here's what to expect:
Attend panels featuring LGBTQ+ writers and LGBTQ+-focused titles
Learn about new and upcoming titles from Penguin Random House staff
Browse free and advanced reader copies of titles by a range of authors reflecting the theme
Giveaways while supplies last
Featured speakers: Davey Davis, Katie Siegel, Michael Bronski, Kate Bornstein
New York City, NY; NYC
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Wed, Jun 17
6:00 pm
Free
6:00 pm
Free
Book Discussion | Prize-Winning Irish Writer Shares His Latest Novel, Dooneen (+ Signing)
Enjoy a conversation with Keith Ridgway, to celebrate his new novel, Dooneen, a brilliant and inventive story about dreams and love, the political and the personal, and what occurs when one world ends and the next begins. The conversation will be followed by a signing.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Thu, Jun 18
6:00 pm
Free
6:00 pm
Free
Book Club | Luddite Book Club: The Machine Stops
This offline book club is a space for in-person conversation about the role technology plays in the world, where the group will be discussing The Machine Stops by E.M. Forster. Synopsis: First published in 1909, this dystopian sci-fi novella imagines a world where humans live underground and are dependent on an oppressive and omnipresent Machine for survival.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Thu, Jun 18
6:30 pm
Free
6:30 pm
Free
Lecture | Mycology Expert Explores NYC Wildlife
Guest speaker Wilton Rao (a naturalist and mycology expert with the New York Mycological Society), provides a new perspective on the surprisingly abundant living things all around you. New York City is wilder than you might think. Thousands of species of birds, mammals, insects, plants, fungi, and more are surviving, and thriving, in every part of our city.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Fri, Jun 19
12:00 pm
Free
12:00 pm
Free
Discussion | Film Scholar Discusses Sunset Boulevard for Its 75th Birthday
Enjoy a discussion on the making of Sunset Boulevard with author David M. Lubin and host Scott Adlerberg, film connoisseur. By exploring the history of Sunset Boulevard in time for the movie’s 75th anniversary, from its inception to its making its present-day legacy, David M. Lubin's Ready for My Close-Up breathes life into a beloved masterpiece of American cinema, not only marking its influential place in film history, but also proving how prescient it really was in terms of the human costs of relentless technological change and our obsessive quest for fame, youth, and immortality. David M. Lubin has written seven books, including an in-depth study of the blockbuster film Titanic. His Shooting Kennedy: JFK and the Culture of Images won the Smithsonian Institution’s Charles C. Eldredge Prize for “distinguished scholarship in American art.” Scott Adlerberg is the author of five novels, including Graveyard Love, Jack Waters, and The Screaming Child. He has written many short stories and contributes pieces regularly to sites such as CrimeReads and Mystery Tribune.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Mon, Jun 22
12:30 pm
Free
12:30 pm
Free
Book Discussion | Book Launch: Award-Winning Author Tiffany Tsao's But Won't I Miss Me
Author Tiffany Tsao shares her new book, But Won't I Miss Me, in conversation with author YZ Chin. Book synopsis: Set in an alternate reality where pregnancy endows women with exceptional powers, one new mother uncovers terrifying truths about herself and life in this philosophical and propulsive tale of a woman and mother in crisis.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Mon, Jun 22
7:00 pm
Free
7:00 pm
Free
Book Club | Discuss Pulitzer Prize-Winning Novel: Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
Atend a book club to analyze and discuss Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver. Set in the mountains of southern Appalachia, Demon Copperhead is the story of a boy born to a teenaged single mother in a single-wide trailer, with no assets beyond his dead father’s good looks and copper-colored hair, a caustic wit, and a fierce talent for survival. Relayed in his own unsparing voice, Demon braves the modern perils of foster care, child labor, derelict schools, athletic success, addiction, disastrous loves, and crushing losses. Through all of it, he reckons with his own invisibility in a popular culture where even the superheroes have abandoned rural people in favor of cities.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Tue, Jun 23
4:00 pm
Free
4:00 pm
Free
Book Discussion | NYT Bestelling Authors Explore Cultural Heritage & Community Ties through Queer Storytelling (In Person AND Online!)
This Pride month, enjoy an evening of conversation about queer storytelling, featuring authors Jade Song, Zee Carlstrom, and Julián Delgado Lopera in dialogue with Jacob Aplaca. Rather than treating queerness only as an identity category or secondary theme, these writers take queerness as a starting point for exploring cultural heritage and community ties. Centering novels like Song's Chlorine, Lopera's Fiebre Tropical, and Carlstrom's Make sure you die screaming, this conversation will consider how themes of political struggle, regional identity, and generational trauma take on new meaning when subject to the queer gaze of storytellers and readers alike. The panel will be followed by a live performance by Krystofer Maison, exploring queer stories in song!
New York City, NY; NYC
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Tue, Jun 23
6:00 pm
Free
6:00 pm
Free
Book Discussion | Bestselling Authors Disucuss Their Craft & Careers
Get ready for beach reading at this author panel with Hilary Davidson (Every Lie I Told); Connor Martin (The Silver Fish); and Camille Perri (Social Animals). Hosted by Ilana Levine, actress and podcaster at Little Known Facts with Ilana Levine. Hilary Davidson's novels include the award-winning Lily Moore series, the bestselling Shadows of New York series, and the standalone novels Blood Always Tells and Her Last Breath. She is also the author of some fifty short stories. Camille Perri is the author of The Assistants and When Katie Met Cassidy. She has worked as a book editor for Cosmopolitan and Esquire.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Wed, Jun 24
12:30 pm
Free
12:30 pm
Free
Gallery Talk | Learn How a Historic Mansion Turned into a Museum
Join a museum educator for a brief gallery talk tracing how a Gilded Age mansion was transformed into a world-class art museum.
New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Wed, Jun 24
3:00 pm
Free
3:00 pm
Free
Book Club | New York Times Writer Shares His New Book, Dining Out: First Dates, Defiant Nights, and Last Call Disco Fries at America's Gay Restaurants (In Person AND Online!)
In this conversation about Dining Out: First Dates, Defiant Nights, and Last Call Disco Fries at America's Gay Restaurants, author Erik Piepenburg takes attendees on a culinary tour of spaces filled with joy, sex, sorrow, activism, and nostalgia, joined by colleagues from the food world: Telly Justice, Camille Lindsley, and Florent Morellet. Dining Out explores how gay people came of age, came out, and fought for their rights not just in gay bars or the streets, but in restaurants. From cruisy urban cafeterias of the 1920s to mom-and-pop diners that fed the Stonewall generation to the intersectional hotspots of the early 21st century. Using archival material, original reporting, interviews, and first-person accounts, Erik Piepenburg explores how LGBTQ restaurants shaped and continue to shape generations of gay Americans.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Wed, Jun 24
6:30 pm
Free
6:30 pm
Free
Gallery Talk | Inside the Declaration of Independence and the Transatlantic Circulation of News
Join museum experts, including curators, conservators, scientists, and scholars, for an in-depth look at selected exhibition objects in the galleries. Gain new insights and hear untold stories from insiders, and examine the artworks more closely. A Q&A will follow the talk.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Thu, Jun 25
3:00 pm
Free
3:00 pm
Free
Discussion | Jonathan Ezra Goldman Shares His New Book, Jazz Age New York: From the Suppressed to the Strange
Enjoy a book talk with author Jonathan Ezra Goldman (Professor in Humanities Department at New York Institute of Technology) as he discusses his new book, Hidden Histories of Jazz Age New York: From the Suppressed to the Strange. Hidden Histories of Jazz Age New York offers a fresh look at 1920s New York City, unearthing stories of everyday life and marginalized communities. In sections that intertwine entertainment, politics, art, technology, crime, shopping, eating, and recreation, the book portrays sweeping events such as the Harlem Renaissance, Prohibition, and immigration reform through anecdotes of individual experiences that counter the era’s popular conceptions of ballooning wealth and uproarious celebration. This whirlwind tour of early 1920s New York City visits an all-female police platoon, a Black amusement park shut down before it opened, socialist Puerto Rican cigar factories, Chinatown funerals, overcrowded jails, toxic dumps, and Ku Klux Klan recruitment offices. Along the way you’ll meet Greenwich Village denizens such as Khalil Gibran, and his Arabic literary salon, and Eve Adams, and the lesbian cafe she ran in the neighborhood. This is the backdrop to the everyday challenges and triumphs of a city beset by crowds, automobile traffic, and rapidly changing technology and urban infrastructure, as well as erased stories of injustices like Jim Crow practices, immigration anxieties, and the violent treatment of political dissent.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Thu, Jun 25
6:00 pm
Free
6:00 pm
Free
Talk | Literary Scholar Explores Walt Whitman's Sexuality: Was He a Gay Icon? (In Person AND Online!)
In celebration of Pride Month, esteemed scholar Karen Karbiener hosts a presentation on Walt Whitman's status as a gay icon. Was our celebrated "Bard of Democracy" queer? Despite nearly two centuries of efforts by censors, scholars, and others to heterosexualize Walt Whitman— create progeny, convert female friends to lovers, manipulate his pronouns—the truth remains that America’s poet was also its first gay spokesperson and activist. Karbiener explores the many ways Whitman asserted that he was gay, and the many ways that others have denied it.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Thu, Jun 25
6:30 pm
Free
6:30 pm
Free
Gallery Talk | Curator Discussion on Photography, Transit, and Puerto Rican Cultural History (Online!)
Join Susanna Temkin, Interim Chief Curator, for a discussion on Sophie Rivera: Double Exposures, the first museum survey dedicated to pioneering Nuyorican photographer Sophie Rivera. The exhibition and accompanying monograph explore Rivera’s striking photographs of New York City’s transit system from the 1970s through the 1990s, capturing trains, commuters, transit workers, and everyday urban life. The talk will examine Rivera’s lasting impact on photography and Puerto Rican cultural history.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Tue, Jun 30
2:00 pm
Free
2:00 pm
Free
Join the Club!
Complimentary Tickets
to shows, concerts ... (CFT Deals!)
Play | Broadway Actors in a Play by a Legendary Playwright
Regular Price: $66CFT Member Price: $0.00
Classical Music | Faure's Masterpiece and More at a Landmark Venue
Regular Price: $65CFT Member Price: $0.00
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