The Noguchi Museum

"From now until September 5th, the Noguchi Museum in Astoria is showing by Christian Boltanski’s outdoor sound exhibit made of 180 bronze bells. The museum is open every Wednesday through Sunday until 6pm, but they also run a Free First Friday night every month. If you do that math, that’s this Friday, August 4th. You can book your timed ticket here." - hannah albertine

"This little-known gem is a showcase for the work of Isamu Noguchi, an acclaimed twentieth century sculptor. Housed within a 1920’s industrial building, Noguchi created the museum to culminate his career in 1985. There is a great sense of serenity within the building, making it the perfect setting to study Noguchi’s art. From stone slabs and organic marble forms, to furniture and landscape design, the range of work is astounding. Noguchi was a visionary, who cannot be defined by any singular style or discipline." - MSLK

"Crossing my fingers for a gift card to the Noguchi Museum so I can put it toward one of my own (like a ceiling orb). Maybe I’ll go in person to the Long Island City, NY museum shop and make a day of it."

"This intimate, meditative museum in Long Island City was conceived and built by Isamu Noguchi himself. Here, his mostly abstract sculptures and often-copied paper lamps are displayed across two levels of exhibition space and throughout a quiet, ivy-covered walled garden. Even if you're not familiar with Noguchi's work, you've probably come across one of his Akari light sculptures—geometric or globular lamps made of washi paper and bamboo that glow softly from within—which have become something of a modern design trope since he started designing them in the early 1950s." - Andrea Whittle, Charlie Hobbs

"The Noguchi Museum is one of New York's most surprising museums, a serene, contemplative space in a once-industrial section of Queens. It's a fitting tribute to one of 20th-century art's most unusual figures. Isamu Noguchi was born in Los Angeles in 1904, though he would spend most of his childhood in Japan. For much of his life he was regularly on the move, to Indiana, New York, and Europe; later, he maintained studios in both Japan and the United States. The result of his itinerant life was an aesthetic that reflected an array of influences, from Constantin Brancusi (who was a mentor of sorts) to Japanese craftsmen. His sculptures are characterized by their understated simplicity, air of mystery, and the elegant beauty of their materials. Noguchi established the museum in 1985, three years before he died, in a 1920s industrial building. The museum's sculpture garden includes a number of his works, while other displays include sketches, photographs, and artifacts that shed light on the artist's life."