Pay-What-You-Wish Museum Offers, January 20

The Children's Museum of the Arts – Tribeca
Pay-what-you-wish
This kids' art-making museum will host a "pay-as-you-wish, play-as-you-wish" Inauguration Day special. The museum told us that the idea is to offer a community gathering place where all can reflect and support and inspire each other while making great art: 12-6pm.

Wade through a room full of discarded film clips in the Dreamlands exhibit at the Whitney.

The Whitney Museum of American Art – Chelsea
Pay-what-you-wish
The Whitney extended its traditional pay-what-you-wish Friday evenings into an all-day affair for Inauguration Day. The museum also invites guests on one of six guided "My America" tours of portraits from their collection. There will also be gallery talks about art and American identity, and an afternoon discussion in the onsite auditorium where artists, activities, and writers will share their views on the current political climate. No reservations needed, and all of it is FREE.

It's the last chance to wander through the magical Pipilotti Rist: Pixel Forest exhibit at the New Museum.

The New Museum – Bowery
Pay-what-you-wish
The New Museum's pay-what-you-wish hours give you no excuse to miss the memorizing Pipilotti Rist: Pixel Forest exhibit, which closes Sunday. Note: A portion of the exhibit is no longer on view (the fourth floor), but the majority of the exhibit, including the popular light installation seen in the photo above will be available on Friday. Also on view: A.K. Burns: Shabby But Thriving.

The Rubin Museum – Chelsea
FREE
The Rubin is waiving its admission fee altogether and inviting guests to explore the values it holds dear: compassionate action, wisdom, and empathy, which it sees as paramount in the current political climate.

Museum of Chinese in America – Chinatown
FREE
MOCA celebrates the importance of immigrants in America with its FREE admission on Inauguration Day. The core exhibit, With a Single Step: Stories in the Making of America offers a poignant look into the lives of Chinese-American immigrants.

Museum of Arts and Design – Columbus Circle
Pay-what-you-wish
Admission is pay-what-you-wish all day giving you a final chance to see the museum's Crochet Coral Reef: Toxic Seas exhibit, which closes Sunday.

Queens Museum – Flushing, Queens
FREE
The Queens Museum will be closed on Inauguration Day in support of the J20 General Strike, but its doors will be open to all who wish to gather for a "Sign Making in Solidarity" event to prepare for the protest marches taking place in NYC, Washington, and elsewhere on January 21.

Museum Events, January 20

Inauguration Day Marathon Reading of Langston Hughes – Prospect Park, Brooklyn
The Brooklyn Museum presents a daylong reading of Langston Hughes' Let America Be America Again. Readings will begin every half hour in the Martha A. and Robert S. Rubin Pavilion on the first floor. This museum is always a "suggested" admission, and kids under 19 are always FREE.

Inauguration Day Messages for President Trump – Upper West Side
If you missed the Subway Therapy installation of Post-it notes that spontaneously took over Union Square in the election's aftermath, head to the New-York Historical Society to pen your own note to President-elect Trump and stick it on the glass at the museum's entrance. The museum partnered with the artist, the state of New York, and NYC's MTA, to preserve a collection of those original subway notes, too. My family and I added to the collage on a recent visit and it was both cathartic to get some frustrations out and hilarious to read what others had written. Our reaction read simply: "Meh!" FREE

Note: The Historical Society closes earlier than usual tonight and will not reopen until Saturday afternoon.

Express Yourself – Washington Heights
The Sugar Hill Children's Museum of Art and Storytelling will celebrate Americans right to protest with a family fete designed to encourage self-expression. Expect singing, clapping, dancing, drumming, and of course spoken word. You can also leave a note on the "I Need...Voices from the Community" wall. Ongoing Thursday, January 19-Sunday, January 22. Always FREE for kids ages 8 and younger.

RELATED: When and How to Score FREE Admission at NYC Museums, Gardens, and Zoos

More Family Inauguration Day Events in NYC

Inauguration Family Day with the Arab-American Family Support Center – Dumbo, Brooklyn
Meet new friends at this event, sponsored by the Arab-American Family Support Center and Creatively Wild Art Studio, which is the host for the afternoon. There will be music to dance to, art to be made, and lemons-to-make-lemonade out of. The cost is $20 per family, but all proceeds go to the Arab-American Family Support Center, which helps empower low-income immigrants and looks to build tolerance and peace in local communities.

Inaugurate Love – Washington Heights
Head to the United Palace Theater for this daylong celebration of the city's multicultural roots through music, art, dance, spoken word, drum circles, poetry readings, and more. The aim of the event is to "unite, uplift, and inspire" the greater community. FREE

Inauguration Day at Poet's House: Day One Reading – Battery Park City
This downtown literary hot spot is hosting an evening of poetry readings meant to inspire citizens to come together from the first day of Trump's presidency in the spirit of resistance. Poets will be on hand to share their work before the floor is opened to the community open mic style. FREE

Find more family events any day of the year in our jam-packed events calendar and be sure to check out all our top picks for this weekend's activities in New York City.

Top photo: The New-York Historical Society has preserved a portion of the Post-it note messages that sprang up in Union Square in the wake of the election. Head to the museum to add your own note on Inauguration Day. Photos by Shira Kronzon.