NEW YORK, NY.- To celebrate the 50th birthday of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum’s Frank Lloyd Wright–designed building, the museum will extend free admission to the public on Wednesday, October 21 from 10 am to 5:45 pm. Throughout the day, visitors will enjoy special activities, including:

• Photo Opportunities – Visitors may have their pictures taken in the 50th Anniversary photo booth and are encouraged to upload the images onto the museum’s Flickr group at flickr.com/groups/freeday.

• Anniversary Eye Tours – Interactive tours with museum educators will be offered in five languages as well as tours for partially sighted, blind, and deaf audiences.

• Documentary Film – Art, Architecture, and Innovation: Celebrating the Guggenheim Museum, a 27-minute film that explores the history of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation and Museum and chronicles the building’s conception, construction, and critical reception, will screen all day.

• Educational Activities for Families – From 1 to 5 pm, various family-friendly interactive projects will take place at stations throughout the museum. Family Architecture Activity Guides will also be distributed to children ages 12 and under.

• Story Circle – From 11 am to 3 pm, on the hour, readings of picture books, including I’d Like the Goo-Gen-Heim by A. C. Hollingsworth, will take place.

• Free Guggenheim Cookies – At 3 pm, enjoy free cookies, inspired by the new GuggenheimKids product line, while supplies last.

• Green Bag Giveaway – The first 50 people in line will receive a 50th Anniversary reusable tote bag, also available for purchase in the Guggenheim Store.

• Raffle – All visitors can enter a children’s or adult raffle to win items from the Guggenheim Store. Highlights include a necklace and cuff links from the museum’s Restoration Rocks jewelry line and a backpack filled with a LEGO Guggenheim Museum building set and products from the GuggenheimKids line.

• Live Twitter Tour of the Frank Lloyd Wright Building – From 4:30 to 5:30 pm, the Guggenheim Twitter team, museum visitors, and followers around the world will have the chance to discuss and post thoughts and observations during a live Tweet conversation. Participants can include #GUGG50 in their tweets or visit twitter.com/Guggenheim to follow the museum on Twitter.

• The Deutsche Bank Series at the Guggenheim Opens with Anish Kapoor: Memory – Visitors will be among the first to see the New York presentation of a major site-specific sculptural installation that weighs 24 tons by leading international artist Anish Kapoor. The exhibition is on view through March 28, 2010. For more information, visit guggenheim.org/new-york/exhibitions/upcoming.

• Harry Winston Jewels Inspired by the Guggenheim – For one-day only, Guggenheim-inspired diamond jewelry will be on display in the Guggenheim Store.

In addition, the following exhibitions will be on view:

• Kandinsky
Through January 13, 2010

• Gabriele Münter and Vasily Kandinsky, 1902–14: A Life in Photographs
Through January 13, 2010

• Paired, Gold: Felix Gonzalez-Torres and Roni Horn
October 2, 2009–January 6, 2010

• Intervals: Kitty Kraus
October 9, 2009–January 6, 2010

A special New York City tribute will occur also on October 21.

• The Empire State Building Celebrates – At dusk, the Empire State Building will be lit Guggenheim red in honor of the 50th Anniversary. Throughout October, the Empire State Building presents a dynamic timeline of the history of the Guggenheim Museum in the main entrance lobby.