NEW YORK, NY.- The Museum of Modern Art will host an evening benefit to celebrate the opening of The 2010 Armory Show on Wednesday, March 3, 2010, from 8:30 to 11:30 p.m.

The acclaimed indie rock band The Walkmen will perform live in MoMA’s Agnes Gund Garden Lobby. The Walkmen’s most recent album, You & Me (Gigantic Records), was released in the summer of 2008 to critical acclaim, while the band’s 2004 single, “The Rat," was recently ranked in the top 20 of Pitchfork.com's list of the Top 500 Tracks of the 2000s.

Justin Miller (DFA Records) will DJ the event. Also performing live will be the experimental band Human Rights. Combining improvisation and structured songs, Human Rights features members of Beirut, Psychic Ills, No Regular Play, and Volcano the Bear.

Tickets for the party start at $100. A shuttle bus will be available to transport guests from The Armory Show at Piers 92 and 94 to MoMA. Tickets may be purchased by visiting www.moma.org/armoryshow2010, calling MoMA’s Department of Special Programming and Events at 212/708-9680, or e-mailing specialevents@moma.org. The evening reception, along with the daytime Early Access Preview at Piers 92 and 94, benefits exhibition programming for The Museum of Modern Art and P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center.

The Armory Show is America's leading fine art fair devoted to the most important art of the 20th and 21st centuries. In its 12 years, the fair has become an international institution. The twelfth edition marks another milestone for the fair with the introduction of Armory Focus, a new section that will feature an important art community every year and is premiering with Berlin. Armory Focus:Berlin includes 22 of the German capital's leading emerging and established galleries.

The relationship between The Armory Show and MoMA stems back to 2001, the year in which the fair dedicated its opening day to the Museum and in which the Pat Hearn Acquisition Fund at The Museum of Modern Art was founded.

The 2010 Armory Show is open to the public from March 4 to March 7. Hours are noon to 8:00 p.m. on Thursday through Saturday, and noon to 7:00 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $30 per day.