The Whitney Hopper Ride
A Birthday Bike Ride From Meatpacking to Nyack and Back
The Whitney Museum of American Art is teaming up with Edward Hopper House Museum & Study Center, OutCycling, and the Meatpacking Business Improvement District to celebrate iconic artist Edward Hopper’s birthday with the first-ever Whitney Hopper Ride.
The 60-mile trip from the Meatpacking District of Manhattan to Nyack will take place on what would have been Hopper’s 141st birthday on July 22, 2023. Cyclists will start early Saturday morning outside the Whitney Museum — an institution with deep historical ties to Hopper and nearly 3,000 of his works in its permanent collection — for light refreshments before heading north to the Edward Hopper House in the Hudson River village of Nyack, the artist’s birthplace and primary residence from the late 1800s until 1908, when he relocated to New York City.
Along the route cyclists will enjoy stunning views of the Hudson River as they travel up one of America’s most beloved greenways to the “Hopper House,'' which will offer healthy snacks, Hopper birthday activities, and tours of Hopper’s home (including a look at Hopper’s 1897 bicycle and the exhibition Ellsworth Kelly: The States of The River) before riders head back to the Whitney and the neighborhood where Hopper lived and worked for much of his life. Each participant will receive a voucher for a pizza and non-alcoholic beverage from SIMÒ PIZZA, as well as an exclusive Whitney Hopper Ride water bottle and two tickets to both Edward Hopper House and the Whitney, which always has a series of Hopper works on exhibit as part of its 7th floor permanent collection display. See the Meatpacking Business Improvements District’s website for other things to enjoy while in the neighborhood.
The ride is a perfect way to celebrate Edward Hopper (1882-1967), a keen observer of the everyday who transformed typical city scenes into almost fantastical depictions. The views one explores on a bike are similar to how he took in the world, at humanscale, underscoring New York’s vibrant cultural history and present.