THE WHITNEY MUSEUM CELEBRATES EDWARD HOPPER’S
BIRTHDAY WITH A ROUND-TRIP BIKE RIDE BETWEEN
MEATPACKING AND NYACK ON JULY 20
The Museum is partnering with Transportation Alternatives and The Edward Hopper
House Museum & Study Center to present the second annual Whitney Hopper Ride
New York, NY, June 21, 2024—The Whitney Museum of American Art is teaming up with
the Edward Hopper House Museum & Study Center and Transportation Alternatives to
celebrate the birthday of iconic artist and avid cyclist Edward Hopper with the second
annual Whitney Hopper Ride.
This approximately 60-mile round trip bike ride from Manhattan’s Meatpacking District to
Hopper’s birthplace of Nyack, New York, and back will take place July 20, 2024, close to what
would have been Edward Hopper’s 142nd birthday on July 22.
The ride was held for the first time last year and was a success, with over 100 riders making the
trip to celebrate the birthday of the iconic artist, whose career and work have been a touchstone
for the Whitney since before the Museum was founded. The Museum is home to over 3,000
artworks by Hopper, more than any other museum in the world.
In addition to the ride, the Whitney and Edward Hopper House Museum will partner with the
Meatpacking Business Improvement District to celebrate the iconic artist’s birthday all weekend.
The Whitney will offer special all-ages art projects and activities throughout the day, and as
always, the Whitney has that Hopper works—including Early Sunday Morning (1930) and other
paintings and sketches—on view on the Museum's 7th Floor as part of the collection display
(advanced tickets that recommended; kids and teens are always free, and other discounted
opportunities here).
The Meatpacking BID will offer large-scale installations steps from the Whitney at Gansevoort
Plaza that allow visitors to “step into” Hopper paintings for photos (before or after seeing the
actual works on view at the Whitney).
The Edward Hopper House Museum will also offer art activities all weekend in its “Hop into Art''
Lab along with artmaking projects with the new exhibition, Matinee: Dike Blair. The weekend will
close with “Edward Hopper Recomposed,” a Sunday concert (5-7 pm) by Night Hawk, a Hopper
inspired indie band. New Yorkers can also visit the Edward Hopper House Museum & Study
Center Wednesday through Sunday for tours, exhibitions, and programs.
Transportation Alternatives is the 2024 Hopper Ride cycling partner. Cyclists will start their
journey early Saturday morning outside the Whitney Museum (99 Gansevoort Street,
Manhattan) for registration between 7–8:30 am before heading north to the Edward Hopper
House (82 North Broadway, Nyack). The Edward Hopper House will offer snacks, Hopper
birthday activities, and tours of the artist’s home, including a look at his 1897 bicycle and the
exhibition Matinee: Dike Blair, curated by Helen Molesworth and prompted by Hopper’s
fascination with the cinematic. At the end of the visit, riders will head back to the Whitney, which
is located near the neighborhood where Hopper lived and worked for much of his life.
Experienced cyclists are encouraged to sign up for the ride at whitney.org. There is a
registration fee. Space is extremely limited.
“We are thrilled to celebrate Edward Hopper’s birthday with a bike ride between the places he
called home,” says Kim Conaty, the Whitney’s Nancy and Steve Crown Family Chief
Curator. “The iconic artist, whose works are a pillar of the Whitney’s collection, was an avid
cyclist in his youth and an enthusiastic spectator of bike racing in New York server City, always
paying close attention to the scenes around him as he rode through village roads and later
explored the life and landscape of the city. For the second year, the Whitney Hopper Ride will
offer a window into the artist’s unique and personal vision of the world, one formed in the very
places we will pass through, and we hope New Yorkers will join us for the ride and for our
birthday celebration at the Museum and in our community.”
“This Whitney Hopper Ride is a fun and energetic way to bring the museum and cycling
communities together to celebrate Edward Hopper on his 142nd birthday,” said Edward Hopper
House Museum executive director Kathleen Motes Bennewitz. “In Hopper's youth, the
aspiring artist pedaled down streets of Nyack and along country roads looking for subjects to
sketch, and enjoyed the sport outright with friends and fellow friends 'wheelwomen' and
'wheelmen.' With the support of the Whitney Museum, Transportation Alternatives, and the
Meatpacking District, this second annual ride continues to offer metro area cyclists a day to
discover connections between Hopper's experiences in Nyack and New York City, and in
between.”
"We're looking forward to celebrating Edward Hopper's 142nd birthday with a 60-mile ride
between Manhattan and Nyack, giving more than 100 riders a glimpse into the iconic artist's
life," said Megan Eiss, Interim Co-Executive Director of Transportation Alternatives. "Much
like Hopper, we know that going by bike is a fun, relaxing, and enjoyable way to get around and
we're thrilled to partner with the Whitney Museum and the Edward Hopper House Museum to
make this ride a success."
PRESS CONTACT
For press materials and image requests, please visit our press site at whitney.org/press or
contact:
Angela Montefinise, Chief Communications and Content Officer
Whitney Museum of American Art
angela_montefinise@whitney.org
Whitney Press Office
whitney.org/press
(212) 570-3633
pressoffice@whitney.org
ABOUT THE WHITNEY
The Whitney Museum of American Art, founded in 1930 by the artist and philanthropist Gertrude
Vanderbilt Whitney (1875–1942), houses the foremost collection of American art from the
twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Mrs. Whitney, an early and ardent supporter of modern
American art, nurtured groundbreaking artists when audiences were still largely preoccupied
with the Old Masters. From her vision arose the Whitney Museum of American Art, which has
been championing the most innovative art of the United States for ninety years. The core of the
Whitney’s mission is to collect, preserve, interpret, and exhibit American art of our time and
serve a wide variety of audiences in celebration of the complexity and diversity of art and culture
in the United States. Through this mission and a steadfast commitment to artists, the Whitney
has long been a powerful force in support of modern and contemporary art and continues to
help define what is innovative and influential in American art today.
Whitney Museum Land Acknowledgement
The Whitney is located in Lenapehoking, the ancestral homeland of the Lenape. The name
Manhattan comes from their word Mannahatta, meaning “island of many hills.” The Museum’s
current site is close to land that was a Lenape fishing and planting site called Sapponckanikan
(“tobacco field”). The Whitney acknowledges the displacement of this region’s original
inhabitants and the Lenape diaspora that exists today.
As a museum of American art in a city with vital and diverse communities of Indigenous people,
the Whitney recognizes the historical exclusion of Indigenous artists from its collection and
program. The Museum is committed to addressing these erasures and honoring the
perspectives of Indigenous artists and communities as we work for a more equitable future. To
read more about the Museum’s Land Acknowledgement, visit the Museum’s website.
ABOUT THE EDWARD HOPPER HOUSE MUSEUM & STUDY
CENTER
Edward Hopper House gives new understanding and depth to an iconic American artist by
preserving his birthplace and family home and boyhood memorabilia and illuminating his
sources of inspiration in Nyack through our collections, exhibitions, and programs.
82 North Broadway, Nyack, NY 10960
845.358.0774 [email protected] edwardhopperhouse.org @edwardhopperhouse
ABOUT THE MEATPACKING DISTRICT
The Meatpacking District is a neighborhood like no other: a fusion of grit and glam, where old
New York meets the frenetic pace of the 21st Century. It has a magnetic appeal. The
Meatpacking District Management Association is a business improvement District (BID). It
serves the businesses, residents, and visitors of the area with a common goal: to program,
promote, and take care of the Meatpacking District. There is a broad community that makes the
District distinct. The BID organizes community events and entertainment. It is the partner with
the City to maintain and keep clean over 30,000 square feet of plazas and four Open Streets.
The teams are on the ground seven days a week sweeping the sidewalks and engaging with
visitors. The work, at its core, is to ensure that businesses succeed and the characters who
work, live, and play here enjoy it and are happy to return.
ABOUT TRANSPORTATION ALTERNATIVES
For over 50 years, Transportation Alternatives has led the movement for safe, equitable streets
in New York City. TA uses a combination of neighborhood-level grassroots organizing and
citywide advocacy to push for changes in public policy, street design, enforcement, and
resource allocation that transform our city’s streets for the better. TA works to reclaim New York
City from cars, so we can transform our streets into safe, sustainable, and equitable places to
walk, bike, take transit, gather, and thrive.
https://www.instagram.com/transportationalternatives / https://x.com/TransAlt
Image credit:
Edward Hopper, Cyclist, 1895-99. Graphite pencil on paper, 5 × 8 in. (12.7 × 20.3 cm). Whitney Museum of American
Art, New York; Josephine N. Hopper Bequest 70.1563.64. © 2023 Heirs of Josephine N. Hopper/Licensed by Artists
Rights Society (ARS), New York
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