Looking for a fun new cultural activity but not sure what to check out next? We’ve rounded up some of the highlights that you can experience for free this month with Culture Pass, from new exhibition openings to limited-run live performances. Check back each month for a new set of recommendations!
You can learn more about individual exhibitions and events by clicking the links in the blurbs below, but if you want to book a Culture Pass, click here to return to the homepage and log in with your library card to make a reservation.
September 2026
All offers listed below are subject to availability.
EXHIBITION: China Institute Gallery Turns 60
Date: Opening 9/10
Head to China Institute this month for China Institute Gallery at 60: 1966 - 2026, a new exhibition marking six decades of the gallery's history. Bringing together approximately 85 exceptional works borrowed from more than 30 museums and private collections, the exhibition spans three millennia and traces the breadth, continuity, and enduring vitality of China’s artistic traditions. Stop by Friday - Wednesday 10am - 5pm, or Thursday until 8pm for extended evening hours (free admission after 5pm)!
PERFORMANCE: Celebrate Lewis Latimer's 178th Birthday
Date: 9/19
Mark inventor Lewis Latimer's 178th birthday with a free afternoon celebration at the Lewis Latimer House on September 19th from 1 - 4pm, honoring the legacy of the trailblazing engineer, draftsman, and civil rights advocate. Participate in interactive performances and games, and explore hands-on activities inspired by the advocacy of Winifred Latimer Norman, Lewis Latimer's granddaughter who saved the house from demolition in the 1980s. Let's come together to honor the remarkable life of Lewis Latimer and his passion for science, technology, engineering, art, and math.
EXHIBITION: Poster House Reopens With Two New Shows
Date: Opening 9/25
Poster House kicks off Free Friday, September 25th, with two new exhibitions. Designed to Be Red: Native American & Indigenous Poster Works, curated by Brian Johnson (Monacan Indian Nation), draws on nearly two centuries of graphic design representing more than sixty tribes and nations to reclaim how Native and Indigenous stories have been told through posters. Cuteness, Conservatism, & Consumption: Lefor-Openo and Postwar France spotlights Marie-Claire Lefort and Marie-Francine Oppeneau, the female design duo behind some of postwar France's most cheerful advertising, using their twelve-year career as a window into the country's rebuilding, politics, and culture.
PERFORMANCE: Party All Month Long at Flushing Town Hall
Dates: 9/9, 9/19, 9/24
Flushing Town Hall brings the party all September. On September 9th, a Monthly Jazz Jam celebrates Latin Jazz for Hispanic Heritage Month. On the 19th, Galapagos Puppet Theater performs The Blazing Fire Mountain and Its Princess, a Monkey King tale from the centuries-old epic Journey to the West, told through traditional Taiwanese hand puppetry with live erhu and flute. It all builds to Pahua Live in Concert on the 24th: the Mexico City artist blends cumbia, Afrobeat, folktronica, and global bass into an electrifying, border-busting dance party, with a pre-show talk and Mexican eats on offer.
PERFORMANCE: Catch The Brass Tree's Evolving Soundscapes
Date: 9/27
Head to Queens Botanical Garden on September 27th from 11am - 1pm for a free concert by The Brass Tree, a Queens Arts Fund–supported collaboration between Rossen Nedelchev and composer Greg Hammontree that blends brass, percussion, and electronics into a living soundscape inspired by the organic growth of a tree.
EXHIBITION: New at MCNY, Halumii Ktapihna
Date: 9/25
Visit the Museum of the City of New York this month for the opening of Halumii Ktapihna: Lenape Legacies and Futures, bringing together more than 30 artists alongside archival materials, video, and interactive listening stations. Developed with Lenape/Lunáapeew community advisors, the exhibition centers the enduring presence of the Lenape/Lunáapeew across three sections: The Lunáapeew Today, Homelands, and Creating the Future.
EXHIBITION: Chasing Clouds as Summer Ends
Date: Opening 9/14
Look up this month at The Met’s Chasing Clouds, on view September 14th through February 28th, 2027 in Gallery 852, free with Museum admission. The exhibition traces how artists and scientists have depicted the sky since the early 1800s, from plein-air oil sketches to early photographic experiments, culminating in Alfred Stieglitz's iconic 1920s Equivalents series.