Press Release: The Puffin Foundation Center for Social Activism

The Museum of the City of New York Announces Major Gift to Establish The Puffin Foundation Center for Social Activism at the Museum of the City of New York  

Media Contact: Chris Gorman, pressoffice@mcny.org | 917.492.3482 

NEW YORK, NY (May 18, 2026) — The Museum of the City of New York (MCNY) today announced a transformative multi-million dollar gift—the second largest in the Museum’s history—from the Puffin Foundation to establish The Puffin Foundation Center for Social Activism. The Center will be housed in a newly renovated wing, dedicated to examining the history, tactics, and enduring impact of social activism in New York City and beyond.

“We are proud to deepen our longstanding partnership with the Museum of the City of New York through the establishment of The Puffin Foundation Center for Social Activism,” said Neal Rosenstein, President of The Puffin Foundation. “The Puffin Foundation has long supported the Museum’s efforts to elevate underrepresented voices and examine the social movements that have shaped our city and nation. This new Center expands that shared commitment and ensures that the study of activism remains central to understanding both our history and our future.”

Opening in Fall 2026, the new Puffin Foundation Center for Social Activism builds upon a partnership between the Museum and The Puffin Foundation dating back to 2009, when Perry Rosenstein, Puffin’s founder, worked with the Museum to launch the Puffin Gallery for Social Activism, an endowed curatorial position, and the inaugural exhibit, Activist New York.

The new Center will deepen the Museum’s work in this key area and expand its initiatives, serving as a hub for exhibitions, public programs, fellowships, collections, and scholarship exploring how individuals and communities have shaped the city’s social, political, and cultural life.

“This extraordinary gift from the Puffin Foundation enables the Museum of the City of New York to advance more than fifteen years of collaboration while reaffirming our enduring focus on New York’s civic life,” said Stephanie Hill Wilchfort, Ronay Menschel Director and President of MCNY. “The Puffin Foundation Center for Social Activism will serve as a dynamic hub for examining how New Yorkers have shaped, and continue to shape, the civic, social, and political fabric of our city, connecting the movements of the past to the conversations of today.”

Permanent and Rotating Exhibitions

Anchoring the new Center will be the reimagined permanent exhibition opening in Fall 2026, focused on the tactics of activism. Building upon an exhibition that has long been a favorite of visitors and one of the most popular field trips for New York City public schools, the new permanent display will draw from the Museum’s collections as well as new acquisitions. The exhibition will explore strategies such as grassroots organizing, protest, artistic expression, media campaigns, legal advocacy, and digital mobilization, illuminating how New Yorkers have driven change across generations.

The Center will also feature a series of rotating temporary exhibitions that complement both the Center’s work and the permanent New York exhibition. These exhibitions build on MCNY’s longstanding commitment to exploring the history of social change in New York City. In recent years, with the support of the Puffin Foundation, the Museum has produced major exhibitions on civic engagement and activism, including Changing the Face of Democracy: Shirley Chisholm at 100; City of Workers, City of Struggle: How Labor Movements Changed New York; and Beyond Suffrage: A Century of New York Women in Politics.

The new series of temporary exhibitions will extend and deepen this work, highlighting the individuals, movements, and ideas that have shaped New York’s ongoing struggles for equity, rights, and democratic participation.

Robust Public Programming

Through a robust public program series that includes lectures, film screenings, book talks, and family engagement, the Center will present at least six public-facing events annually. These programs will foster wide ranging conversations about activism’s history, contemporary practice, and future directions, engaging scholars, practitioners, artists, and community leaders.

Annual Fellowship

Beginning in 2027, the Center will operate a 12-year annual fellowship program. In addition to supporting the Puffin Foundation Curator of Social Activism and contributing to work on the permanent and rotating exhibitions, the fellow will create and present one of the six annual public programs. The Fellowship will ensure that original research and creative practice are central to the Center’s public engagement.

Research, Publications, and Advisory Leadership

Emerging from the Center’s exhibitions and research initiatives, the Center will contribute to the broader scholarship on social activism through a new series of publications. As it has since 2009, an Advisory Board of distinguished scholars and practitioners will guide the Center’s development.

“New Yorkers have been at the forefront of movements for social change that have helped make the country a more just place for immigrants, workers, and all the public. Time and again, New York City's populace has been a shining example of the power of the people to enact change,” said Gladys Rosenstein, the Executive Director of Puffin. “Perry’s vision for our partnership with the Museum was to put that history on vivid display and connect it to the present; with this gift we reaffirm and enlarge that commitment.”

“The support of the Puffin Foundation ensures that this work remains deeply researched, community informed, and responsive to history and to the present moment,” said Sarah Seidman, Puffin Foundation Curator of Social Activism. “Through exhibitions, programs, and publications, the Center will examine not only what activists have achieved, but how activism has been practiced, offering visitors tools to better understand the strategies that have shaped change in New York and beyond.”

“With the inauguration of The Puffin Foundation Center for Social Activism, the Museum of the City of New York reaffirms its mission to explore the city’s past, present, and future, highlighting the essential role activism has played, and continues to play, in shaping New York’s story,” said Elisabeth Sherman, Robert A. and Elizabeth Rohn Jeffe Chief Curator and Deputy Director.

About the Museum of the City of New York

The Museum of the City of New York fosters understanding of the distinctive nature of urban life in the world’s most influential metropolis. Through exhibitions, public programs, and educational initiatives, the Museum explores what gives New York City its singular character and global impact.

Visitor Information
The Museum is located at 1220 Fifth Avenue. Public hours are Monday - Friday, 10:00 am–5:00 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, 10:00 am–6:00 p.m. Learn more at mcny.org.  

About the Puffin Foundation 

The Puffin Foundation Ltd. seeks to open the doors of artistic expression by providing grants to artists and art organizations who are often excluded from mainstream opportunities due to their identities or social philosophies. 

Image: Men protesting, Alexander Alland, ca. 1940, Museum of the City of New York, 94.104.808