The Lower East Side Arts & Culture Open House

Free!
Saturday October 18, 2025

ABOUT
Organized by Fourth Arts Block (FABnyc) the Lower East Side Arts & Culture Open House is now in its third year, welcoming folks into cultural spaces without a ticket to a show or the cost of admission. All organizations will have staff available to greet you & answer questions about their programs!

On East 4th Street, you can grab maps & plan your route — and meet folks from 16 different organizations tabling on the block! Check out live music, poetry and theater performances on our stage, plus hands-on arts activities good for all ages.

Then, with a map in hand, you can venture out into the historic Lower East Side to visit 13 more organizations who are opening their doors for you to explore exhibits, artist studios, theaters, a zine library, and more!

Join us to choose-your-own-adventure around the neighborhood and learn more about Lower East Side Arts & Culture organizations straight from the people behind the scenes!

ABC No Rio
156 Rivington St & 107 Suffolk St #305 | 1-hour tours at 10am, 11:30am & 1pm; Zine library: 1-5pm
Tour ABC No Rio’s new environmentally friendly building (under construction), and visit their Zine Library – one of NYC’s largest public Zine libraries!

Abrons Arts Center
466 Grand Street | 12-3pm
Presenting Destiny Mata: Lower East Side Yearbook–A Living Archive art exhibition! RSVP for hands-on art activities here.

Art Loisaida Foundation
Theater for the New City, 155 1st Ave | 1pm-5pm
Visit Art Loisaida’s table at Theater for the New City to learn about their mission and work, as well as upcoming exhibit opportunities.

Artists Alliance Inc
Cuchifritos Gallery + Project Space, 88 Essex Street no 21 (inside Essex Market) | 12-6pm
Join Cuchifritos Gallery’s Director for a guided tour of Labor Market, Jenny Polak’s exhibition revealing the hidden labor that sustains daily life and the urgent stories of work, migration, and care at its core.

Bond Street Theatre
E 4th Street Open Street (btwn 2nd Ave & Bowery) | 12-5pm
Free Stilt Walking lessons, and Fabulous Photo opportunities with a giant, red tricycle, “Le Velo Rouge”! Also, a pop-tent gallery of photos from BST’s International theatre projects.

The Clemente Soto Velez Cultural & Educational Center
Room 406, 107 Suffolk Street, 4th Floor | 3-4:30pm
Join Djali Brown-Cepeda for a hands-on workshop on family archiving and storytelling—bring photo albums, a notebook or laptop, and an external drive.

Cooper Square Committee
East 4th Street Open Street & #3W 59-61 E 4th St (Harriet Putterman Center) |1:30-3:30pm
Visit Cooper Square Committee’s table for information on affordable housing development & anti-displacement campaigns, and join an open studio by The Actors Playground community (21+ only).

CultureHub
E 4th Street Open Street (btwn 2nd Ave & Bowery) | 12-5pm
Meet some of the team and artists from CultureHub, founded by La MaMa and SeoulArts in 2009 to explore the critical role emerging technologies play in the future of artmaking.

Fourth Arts Block (FABnyc)
E 4th Street Open Street (btwn 2nd Ave & Bowery) & 70 East 4th Street | 12-5pm
Presenting live music & hands-on art activities good for all ages! Plus, learn about year-round programs and opportunities for artists & LES residents, & pick up a map of all the LES Open House sites & activities!

Green Map System
Tour starts at 156 Rivington St | 2-4pm RSVP
A walking tour where nature, culture, and climate action come together on the vibrant Lower East Side.

IATI Theater
64 East 4th Street | 2-4pm
Discover IATI Theater—an East Village cultural landmark since 1968—where innovative Latinx and international voices create boundary-pushing theater for today.

International Center of Photography
79 Essex St | 10:30am-6:30pm; East 4th Street Open Street | 12-5pm
Free admission to new exhibitions & Community Day programs with ICP’s education team and local organizations.

La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club
66 & 74A East 4th Street | 12-5:30pm
Activities throughout the day in La MaMa’s spaces, including tours of their buildings and Archives as well as short performances.

Loisaida, Inc.
710 East 9th Street | 12pm-3pm
An open house showcasing the work of resident artist Josue Guarionex, the documentaries of MUJER Program participants & an exhibition of research related to air quality in the LES.

Lower East Side Preservation Initiative
E 4th Street Open Street (btwn 2nd Ave & Bowery) | 12-4pm, tour at 3pm
Get to know LESPI and their mission to preserve the historic LES. Explore East Village historical landmarks with free walking tour “A Neighborhood Transformed”! RSVP here

Magnum Foundation
59 E 4th Street 7W | 12-5pm
Last chance to see their show “A Tapestry of Aliveness” — including works from the last thirteen years of our New York City Fellowship!

Movement Research
E 4th Street Open Street (btwn 2nd Ave & Bowery) | 12-5pm
Visit their table to learn about a leading laboratory for the investigation of dance & a community hub for dialogue and artist-driven initiatives.

New Museum of Contemporary Art
E 4th Street Open Street (btwn 2nd Ave & Bowery) | 12-5pm
Join for art-making inspired by New Humans: Memories of the Future, the inaugural exhibition for their new building set to reopen soon.

New York Theatre Workshop
72 East 4th Street | 12-5pm
Tour NYTW’s spaces, explore an interactive timeline of landmark moments, and contribute their own reflections which will shape the theatre’s collective story and future.

Nuyorican Poets Cafe
E 4th Street Open Street (btwn 2nd Ave & Bowery) | 1-5pm
Learn about the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, write poetry, hear spoken word and get ready for the grand reopening in 2026.

The Performance Project @ University Settlement
184 Eldridge Street | 10am-12pm
Visit the historic building of the first settlement house in the U.S. & see the Speyer Hall performance space.

Relative Arts
367 E 10th Street | 12-6pm
Join the Indigenous-owned community space to explore contemporary Indigenous fashion and art while taking part in their community quilting activity.

Rod Rodgers Dance Company & Studios
62 E 4th Street | 12-5pm
Learn about this organization’s long history, view their historic building, and get to know their class offerings – an open Samba class is happening at 2pm!

Swiss Institute
38 St Marks Place | 12-8pm, workshop 12:30-3pm
A closer look at Costanza Candeloro and Licit Illicit Bookshop’s exhibition No Plot, Just Street & an all ages drop-in bookmaking activity.

Tenement Museum
103 Orchard Street | 3:30-5:30pm
Free tours of TM’s recreated family apartments! Hear the stories of real immigrant & migrant families in our neighborhood. Add your story to the collection.

Think!Chinatown
1 Pike Street | 1pm-3pm
See an exhibition by Vietnamese Boat People & pick up a “How to Chinatown” zine to embark on your tofu-themed self-guided walking tour. Taste single origin Vietnamese tea provided by Anna Ye Tea & local tofu snacks.

The Ukrainian Museum
222 East 6th Street | 12-3pm
Come take in amazing Ukrainian art & culture and discover why The Museum is considered a “gem” in the East Village.

WOW Café Theatre
59-61 East 4th Street, 4th Floor | 2pm-5pm
A collective of women and/or trans and/or non-binary artists, welcomes you to their black box theater space in the Lower East Side to meet the artists, catch pop-up performances, and browse their archival collections.