Poster House, the first museum in the United States dedicated to the global history of posters, will host its monthly “First Friday” event February 2, 2024 from 10:00 AM to 9:00 PM at Poster House, 119 West 23rd Street in Manhattan. On the first Friday of every month, Poster House offers free admission and extended hours for guests to come explore the museum’s latest exhibitions. The two main exhibitions currently on display for the fall season are Art Deco: Commercializing the Avant-Garde and We Tried to Warn You! Environmental Crisis Posters, 1970-2020. Both exhibits will be open through February 25, 2024.
Every First Friday is different, offering unique opportunities such as tours, workshops, performances, and activities, to further engage visitors with the exhibitions. First Friday Activities for February 2nd include:
• 1:00-7:00 PM: Live Letterpress Printing
Make your own poster with The Arm! Stop by the museum anytime between 1 and 7pm to crank out a custom poster on a traditional letterpress printer! Participants will have the opportunity to set a line of type on a pre-printed gradient by filling in the blank “A Museum for _______ Posters”. Tickets are $10 and advanced registration is encouraged but not required.
• 2:00-3:30 PM: Recycled Bookbinding workshop
Join this hands-on workshop to learn the basics of bookbinding using recycled materials inspired by Poster House’s acclaimed exhibition We Tried to Warn You! Environmental Crisis Posters, 1970–2020. Participants will try their hands at simple bookbinding techniques using leftover promotional materials from the museum’s public programs. Guests will leave with their own hand-bound. No previous experience necessary; all materials provided. Tickets are $20.
• 4:00 PM: Art Deco curatorial tour
Join Poster House Chief Curator Angelina Lippert for a guided tour of the acclaimed exhibition Art Deco: Commercializing the Avant-Garde. This show chronicles the rise and fall of what would come to be known as Art Deco, starting with the 1925 Paris Exhibition where various factions of the European avant-garde were distilled through commercial endeavors to become the visual language of capitalism, and ending as Deco graphics became more nationalistic in the lead up to World War II. Questions encouraged!
• 6:30 PM: Gettin’ Fishy with Miss Toto: Drag & Tag Presentation and Performance
Poster House is pleased to welcome the iconic Miss Toto for a performance and marine science presentation inspired by the hit exhibition We Tried to Warn You! Environmental Crisis Posters, 1970–2020. Learn about Miss Toto’s contributions to monitoring shark populations off the coast of Florida, recently featured in Scientific American.
• 7:15 PM: Songs From If This Be Sin, a Musical by Kirya Traber & Sissi Liu
If This Be Sin is a new musical based on the life of the fat, Black, and butch Harlem Renaissance entertainer, Gladys Bentley. The show is a raucous ride from her infamous performances in Harlem’s most notable clubs in the 1930s to her eventual path to conformity as a “good christian wife” in Los Angeles in the 1950s. This 30-minute presentation will feature three songs from the musical in development, performed by Shari Gill and Denise Manning. It will be followed by a short discussion of the work with co-creators, Kirya Traber and Sissi Liu.
Free tickets can be reserved online in advance of February 2nd . During normal hours, tickets are $12 for adults and $8 for students, veterans, and seniors. Poster House offers free museum admission through New York City’s public library Culture Pass system.