Chelsea Contemporary Art Tour with NYC Professional Art Critic
Description
Your accredited tour guide is a local professional art critic, writer and college instructor. She has created and led tours for over fifteen years in New York's galleries and museums and will take you to the most talked-about exhibitions of the moment. In our small group, you can ask questions and share observations while your guide fills in background info on the on the best shows in New York City!
Tour Options
Itinerary
On this 2-hour tour, you’ll visit approximately seven of the most important contemporary art gallery shows of the moment, seeing and discussing artwork in variety of media. Exhibitions change every five to six weeks, so there is always something new to see. Your itinerary will include a range of mega-galleries and smaller space showing artwork by nationally and internationally acclaimed artists.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Wheelchair accessible
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Service animals allowed
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- All areas and surfaces are wheelchair accessible
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- Tours take place rain or shine and meet in a different gallery for each tour. A message with the meeting location will be sent prior to the tour.
- Your tour guide is licensed by New York City's Department of Consumer Affairs as a tour guide and is a member of the International Association of Art Critics (AICA USA).
- Some galleries have stairs. Please let us know in advance if you need to avoid stairs so we can make sure the itinerary is accessible.
- Travelers should be able to stand and walk for two hours. Seating is usually not available.
Reviews(66)
This is the second year I have taken Merrily's Chelsea art gallery tour. At each gallery she provides the background of the artist being shown and what they were trying to achieve with their art. She is so knowledgeable. She knows all the staff at the galleries and moves with ease from on location to the next. I would be totally intimidated to go into any of these galleries and I would not know what I was looking at.
Merrily was a wonderful gallery guide who was clearly knowledgeable about the galleries in addition to having a genuine love for modern to contemporary art. She was very open to interaction and questions, gave her considered thoughts on artists and their work. She nicely encouraged respectful behavior in the galleries while maintaining a welcoming feeling.
Such an incredible tour! Merrily is incredibly passionate and knowledgeable about all things art and it showed as she energetically showed me around the galleries. Although I’ve lived in NYC for 18 years, I’ve never gone through the Chelsea art galleries and having Merrily as an expert guide was a great way to get introduced to these spaces and the artists’ works inside. She selected a nice variety of galleries and exhibitions so that we saw a diverse set of media and artists ranging from photography, paintings, sculptures and even performance art. Lastly, when I arrived, Merrily told me I was her only tour guest for the day! I’m so impressed she didn’t reschedule or cancel and I had the best day getting to explore with her and ask questions. Since what’s on at the galleries is always rotating, I will definitely take this tour with her again, as well as her architecture tour!
Merrily our guide was exceptional , very knowledgeable and friendly for the tour Highly recommend the tour for everyone and you will learn a lot
New York City has so much to offer when it comes to art — you could easily spend a week (or more) exploring its many facets. What made this experience truly special, though, was how it took us off the beaten path and offered a fresh glimpse into Chelsea’s vibrant art scene. We absolutely loved our tour with Merrily, whose genuine passion for art shone through every step of the way. We explored an incredible selection of contemporary works across different mediums, starting with the Pace Gallery and Robert Longo’s stunning collection. The fact that someone can create such strikingly realistic images using only charcoal will never cease to amaze me. We couldn’t recommend this experience enough — two hours was the perfect amount of time to get a taste of New York’s dynamic art world without feeling rushed.
Merrily picked an excellent set of galleries and gave us exactly the right amount of information about each of the artists whose work we viewed. She’s knowledgeable, articulate, friendly, and exactly the kind of guide you want to NYC galleries. We’ll definitely be booking more tours with her in the future.
Highly recommend. Merrily was an awesome guide. She chose interesting exhibits and great galleries. We got a lot out of our 2 hours.
Merrily Kerr was a delightful guide. It was like going to the galleries with a friend who knew A LOT. I live in California and will seek her out again when I visit.
Brilliant tour, so interesting, Merrily very engaging, great company and of course very informative. A real highlight of our trip ! 5 stars, 10/10, heartily recommend.
Merrily knows her stuff. People must love her tours because we were the only non repeat customers! She had it efficiently laid out with good variety of types of art and endeavored to keep us dry on a rainy day. She is knowledgeable and professional but open to ideas and questions.