The Whitney Museum has one of the best collections of 20th- and 21st-century American art in the world. It includes over 15,000 works: paintings, sculptures, prints, photographs, drawings, and more. The permanent collection includes works by Edward Hopper, Alexander Calder, Reginald Marsh, Stuart Davis, Louise Nevelson, Agnes Martin, Claes Oldenburg, Alex Katz, Ad Reinhardt, Georgia O’Keeffe, Jackson Pollock, and Mark Rothko. Though the museum is not able to display its entire collection at once, the objects on view at any given time represent an overview of 20th century and contemporary American art.

So if you are studying art movements or 20th century American art, visit this museum!

The lower-floor galleries are arranged by period, with text panels and object la bels on the walls providing historical context. The 3rd and 4th floors feature rotating exhibitions. There are free daily tours of the exhibitions.

The Whitney offers several programs [www.youth2youth.org] for students including school group visits, and Artists and Youth: A Dialogue, an opportunity for high school students to discuss works of art with the artists who made them. For a full list of current programs available to the public in general, visit the website. [http://www.whitney.org]

The museum’s Francis Mulhall Achilles Library contains the world’s most comprehensive research collection in 20th- and 21st-century American art. In addition to the special collections and archives, this is an invaluable resource. Although the librarians usually only work with scholars, they can answer questions and send lists of resources. You can call the library at (212) 570-3648 or e-mail at 4library@whitney.org. Be sure to leave plenty of time to receive an answer (i.e., several days). You can do research by searching the library [ http://www.whitney.org/research/index.shtml] and museum holdings through “WhitneyCat” [http://library.whitney.org]