Arts and Letters

Galleries open 12–6pm

A large red textile artwork hangs in in the center of a gallery.

A dark screening room with a still from a film of a person in a blue dress with orange flowers beside her.

A skylit gallery with eight grey wedges placed across the floor.

An open doorway leading to a gallery with drawings.

A painting of Edith Wharton hanging on a wall beside plants and two windows.

Teresa Baker's exhibition, Twenty Minutes to Sunset, is on view now.

Elle Pérez, The World Is Always Again Beginning, is on view through July 3, 3025.

Raven Chacon's Aviary transforms our skylit North Gallery into a sonic environment

Wadada Leo Smith's Kosmic Music includes over fifty years of the composer-performer's

The bronze doors of our South Building, designed by member Herbert Adams

The Arts and Letters auditorium opened in 1930 and was designed by member Cass Gilbert

Pictured here is the bronze entrance to our North Gallery.

Since its founding in 1898, Arts and Letters has been a place where artists support artists

Teresa Baker's exhibition, Twenty Minutes to Sunset, is on view now. Arts and Letters is free and open to the public Thursday through Sunday from 12–6pm.

Raven Chacon's Aviary transforms our skylit North Gallery into a sonic environment of bird calls. Arts and Letters is free and open to the public Thursday through Sunday from 12-6pm.

Wadada Leo Smith's Kosmic Music includes over fifty years of the composer-performer's Ankhrasmation language scores. Now on view in our Hassam Gallery.

The bronze doors of our South Building, designed by member Herbert Adams, lead onto Audubon Terrace, one of the first cultural complexes in the United States. Read more about our site history.

The Arts and Letters auditorium opened in 1930 and was designed by member Cass Gilbert, well-known for the Woolworth Building in lower Manhattan and the United States Supreme Court in Washington, DC. Since 1942, Arts and Letters has held its annual Ceremonial event in the auditorium.

Pictured here is the bronze entrance to our North Gallery. Inscribed above the doors is the phrase, “By the gates of art we enter the temple of happiness.” Join our mailing list to receive announcements about our exhibitions and public events.

Since its founding in 1898, Arts and Letters has been a place where artists support artists—across generations and disciplines. This painting by Edward H. May is a portrait of Literature member Edith Wharton from 1881, when Wharton was eighteen.

Elle Pérez's exhibition, The World Is Always Again Beginning, is on view through July 3, 2025.

An architectural detail featuring a gold pegasus in a wooden arch.

We are excited to announce the 2025 New Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Our institutional archives include member correspondence, photographs, press clippings, board minutes, and administrative records from 1898 to the present.

A picture of the neoclassical façade of Arts and Letters.

Arts and Letters is an honor society of artists, architects, composers, and writers who foster and sustain interest in the arts. Learn more about our history.

American Academy of Arts and Letters

Audubon Terrace New York, NY 10032

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