NYC Exhibitions API

Introduction

The NYC Exhibitions API provides real-time data about contemporary art exhibitions across New York City. Data is automatically crawled from 100+ galleries and museums and updated weekly.

No authentication required - Free and open access
RESTful JSON API - Simple HTTP GET requests
Updated weekly - Fresh exhibition data every Saturday
100+ venues - Comprehensive NYC coverage

Base URL

https://nyc-exhibitions-api.fly.dev

All API requests should be made to this base URL.

Authentication

No authentication is required. All endpoints are publicly accessible.

Rate Limiting

To ensure fair usage and prevent abuse, the API implements IP-based rate limiting. Since exhibition data only updates weekly (every Saturday), these limits are sufficient for typical use cases:

Endpoint Type	Rate Limit
Public endpoints (exhibitions, venues, boroughs, stats)	30 requests/minute
QR code generation	20 requests/minute
Health check	60 requests/minute

When rate limits are exceeded, the API returns a 429 Too Many Requests response. Wait a minute before retrying.

Note: Exhibition data is refreshed weekly. There's no need to poll frequently—checking once per day or less is recommended.

List Exhibitions

GET /api/v1/exhibitions

Returns a list of exhibitions with optional filtering and sorting.

Query Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
`limit`	integer	Number of results (1-500). Default: 50
`include_upcoming`	boolean	Include exhibitions that haven't opened. Default: false
`include_qr`	boolean	Include QR codes as base64 data URLs. Default: false
`sort_by`	string	Sort order: title, venue, closing_date, opening_date. Default: closing_date
`venue`	string	Filter by venue name (partial match)
`borough`	string	Filter by borough: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx, Staten Island
`closing_within_days`	integer	Only shows closing within N days
`show_type`	string	Filter by type: solo, group, two_person, unknown
`search`	string	Search in title, artist names, and description

Example Request

GET /api/v1/exhibitions?limit=10&sort_by=closing_date

Example Response

[
  {
    "id": "abc123",
    "title": "New Paintings",
    "venue_name": "Pace Gallery",
    "opening_date": "2026-01-15",
    "closing_date": "2026-03-20",
    "show_type": "solo",
    "artists": ["Artist Name"],
    "url": "https://pacegallery.com/exhibitions/...",
    "borough": "Manhattan",
    "status": "current",
    "days_until_closing": 68
  }
]

Get Exhibition

GET /api/v1/exhibitions/{id}

Returns a single exhibition by ID.

Path Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
`id`	string	Exhibition ID (required)

Example Request

GET /api/v1/exhibitions/abc123

Get QR Code

GET /api/v1/exhibitions/{id}/qr.png

Returns a QR code for the exhibition URL as a PNG image.

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
`id`	string	Exhibition ID (required, in path)
`size`	integer	QR code size in pixels (100-1000). Default: 200

Example Request

GET /api/v1/exhibitions/abc123/qr.png?size=400

List Venues

GET /api/v1/venues

Returns a list of all unique venue names.

Example Response

["47 Canal", "Artists Space", "Gagosian", "MoMA", "Pace Gallery", ...]

List Boroughs

GET /api/v1/boroughs

Returns a list of all NYC boroughs in the dataset.

Example Response

["Brooklyn", "Manhattan", "Queens"]

Get Statistics

GET /api/v1/stats

Returns statistics about the exhibitions dataset.

Example Response

{
  "total_exhibitions": 159,
  "current_exhibitions": 24,
  "upcoming_exhibitions": 24,
  "closing_soon": 2,
  "unique_venues": 26,
  "unique_boroughs": 3,
  "last_updated": "2026-01-11T16:44:28.453140"
}

Exhibition Schema

Field	Type	Description
`id`	string	Unique identifier
`title`	string	Exhibition title
`venue_name`	string	Gallery or museum name
`opening_date`	string	Opening date (YYYY-MM-DD)
`closing_date`	string	Closing date (YYYY-MM-DD)
`show_type`	string	solo, group, two_person, or unknown
`artists`	array	Array of artist names
`url`	string	Exhibition URL (nullable)
`borough`	string	NYC borough (nullable)
`status`	string	upcoming, current, closing_soon, or closed
`days_until_closing`	integer	Days remaining (computed)

CLI Dashboard: exhibitions-top

An interactive terminal dashboard for monitoring exhibitions, inspired by htop. Perfect for keeping track of what's currently showing and what's closing soon.

Features

Real-time monitoring with auto-refresh every 60 seconds
Color-coded display:
- Red: Closing within 7 days (critical)
- Yellow: Closing within 14 days (warning)
- Cyan: Upcoming exhibitions
- White: Normal status
Interactive controls: Sort by closing date, venue, or opening date
Statistics bar showing total exhibitions, current shows, and closing soon

Installation

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/finoradin/nyc-exhibitions.git
cd nyc-exhibitions/examples

# Install dependencies
pip install -r requirements.txt

# Run the dashboard
python exhibitions-top.py

Keyboard Controls

Key	Action
`q`	Quit
`r`	Refresh now
`↑` / `↓`	Scroll up/down
`1`	Sort by closing date (default)
`2`	Sort by venue name
`3`	Sort by opening date
`h`	Toggle help

Source code: Available in the examples/ directory of the repository.

Code Examples

JavaScript

// Fetch current exhibitions
const response = await fetch(
  'https://nyc-exhibitions-api.fly.dev/api/v1/exhibitions?limit=10'
);
const exhibitions = await response.json();

exhibitions.forEach(ex => {
  console.log(`${ex.title} at ${ex.venue_name}`);
  console.log(`Closes in ${ex.days_until_closing} days`);
});

Python

import requests

# Get current exhibitions
response = requests.get(
    'https://nyc-exhibitions-api.fly.dev/api/v1/exhibitions',
    params={'limit': 10}
)
exhibitions = response.json()

for ex in exhibitions:
    print(f"{ex['title']} at {ex['venue_name']}")
    print(f"Closes in {ex['days_until_closing']} days\n")

cURL

# Get current exhibitions
curl "https://nyc-exhibitions-api.fly.dev/api/v1/exhibitions?limit=10"

# Get exhibitions closing this week
curl "https://nyc-exhibitions-api.fly.dev/api/v1/exhibitions?closing_within_days=7"

# Get statistics
curl "https://nyc-exhibitions-api.fly.dev/api/v1/stats"

Support

Questions or feedback? Open an issue on GitHub

Note: Data is updated weekly on Saturdays. No need to poll more frequently.