Heckscher Museum of Art

About this museum

The North Shore of Long Island has no shortage of historic estates and cultural institutions, but the Heckscher Museum of Art in Huntington holds a particular distinction: a permanent collection of 2, 500 works housed in a grand Beaux - Arts building, and free admission to every visitor who walks through its doors. Built in a tradition that prizes symmetry, stone, and civic ambition, the museum's architecture sets the tone for what awaits inside - a serious, thoughtfully organized collection with special strengths in American landscape painting and twentieth - century modernism. The landscaping tradition continues through the galleries themselves, where works drawn from different periods of American art illuminate how painters responded to the natural world, from Hudson River grandeur to the fractured geometries of mid - century abstraction. Rotating exhibitions keep the experience fresh for returning visitors, drawing on both the permanent holdings and loans from major collections. With a rating of 4.6 stars from more than 260 visitor reviews, the Heckscher has cultivated genuine loyalty from its community - visitors frequently note the quality of the programming alongside the caliber of the art. The museum is open Tuesday through Sunday with hours of noon to 5 PM on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, and Thursdays; Monday is closed. Admission is free. The Heckscher Museum of Art is located at 2 Prime Avenue in Huntington, New York. Visit heckscher.org for information on current exhibitions and events. For anyone on Long Island who has not yet made the trip to Huntington, this is a museum that would be celebrated far more widely if it were anywhere near a major metropolitan center. The fact that it charges nothing to enter makes it all the more remarkable.