Culture lovers, it’s time to go the distance because the Museum Mile Festival returns tonight. Now in its 37th year, this spirited Upper East Side extravaganza shuts down Fifth avenue to traffic between 82nd and 105th street and finds nine of New York’s premier art institutions staying open late and offering free admission.

Installation view of Immersion Room.
Photo: Matt Flynn
© 2014 Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum.

The festivities kick off with an opening ceremony at 5:45pm at the recently re-opened Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. If you haven’t been yet, this spot should definitely be on your Museum Mile agenda. Devoted to historic and contemporary design, the museum is housed in the Carnegie Mansion. The renovation, which took 3 years, transformed the early 20th-century residence into a 21st-century museum. Currently on view is How Posters Work. The exhibit features 125 posters from the Cooper Hewitt’s collection that illustrate the power of design.

Other stops we recommend on this art crawl include Neue Galerie, the Guggenheim and The Jewish Museum. In addition to housing the exquisite work of Gustav Klimt, Neue Galerie is hosting a cabaret band led by Kim David Smith that will be performing Weimar-era fare and re-imagined songs by Kylie Minogue, Kurt Weill and Madonna. The Guggenheim is a must hit for its amazing new Storylines exhibit, which explores the various ways contemporary artists are embracing narrative in their work. As for the Jewish Museum, you can check out Revolution of the Eye: Modern Art and the Birth of American Television as well as enjoy a performance by composer and turntablist Paul Miller aka DJ Spooky That Subliminal Kid.

Little Crazy Legs strikes an
impromptu pose during Wild Style shoot,
Riverside Park, Manhattan 1983:
Photography by Martha Cooper

If you still have time for more, hike over to the Museum of the City of New York for Hip-Hop Revolution: Photographs by Janette Beckman, Joe Conzo and Martha Cooper or visit El Museo del Barrio for the soon-to-be-closing Under the Mexican Sky: Gabriel Figuera – Art and Film. Other participating institutions include the Metropolitan Museum of Art, National Academy Museum and the Africa Center. Also, those with kids should definitely bring them along, as there will be clowns, magic, face painting and much more.

(The Museum Mile Festival happens June 9, 2015 from 6pm-9pm on Fifth Avenue between 82nd Street and 105th Street. For more information visit the event’s website.)