Coronavirus: All the Museums, Theater, Symphonies, and Other Culture to Consume From Home

In just a matter of days, the coronavirus pandemic has drastically altered the American way of life. Many schools and restaurants are closed, along with museums, aquariums, and movie theaters.

On the positive side, we live in an age when technology offers us opportunities to virtually tour many of these spots, from the Met to the Royal Opera House in London. Channeling our anxiety and pent-up energy into more productive and educational activities is never a bad thing, right?

To that end, here’s a running list of the ways to get your culture fix while you’re stuck at home, socially distance from the world.

Museums

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Musée d’Orsay, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), the National Gallery in Washington, D.C., the Tate, and the Art Institute of Chicago—those are just a handful of the museums that have online galleries available for viewing. Check out Google’s handy arts and culture home page for an easy guide. Or check out their social media pages for some art history lessons.

Rubin Museum of Art: The New York museum is offering a livestream from its famed Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room, if you're in need of a moment of zen.

Art Experiences

Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors: The Japanese artist’s exhibit has been traveling the country, but you can get a taste of what it’s like now via video.

Banksy murals: Check out the street work of the mysterious artist from the comfort of your couch.

Symphonies, Plays, and Ballets

Vancouver Symphony: The orchestra’s final live performance (for a while) on March 15 was live-streamed and is still available for viewing here.

Berlin Philharmonic: Check out multiple beautiful performances in this online treasure trove of classical music.

The Royal Opera House: You don’t have to be in London to experience the amazing performances from operas to ballets at this famous venue.

Metropolitan Opera: The New York institution is putting out live streams every night—but they’re only available until 3 p.m. the next day.

Lincoln Center: While the Upper West Side staple is closed for now, they are offering an array of programming for you to enjoy at home—like Zoom concerts with stars like Wynton Marsalis and online classes for students. Stay tuned to their social channels for more of what's to come.

Broadway Shows

New York’s Great White Way may be dark, but you can still experience the magic of shows like Oklahoma! and Kinky Boots by way of the Broadway HD streaming service, with plans starting at just $8.99 a month after a seven-day free trial.

The Social Distancing Festival

“Hi! My name’s Nick. I’m a playwright in Toronto. On Friday March 13, I became one of many artists to have a production canceled due to the need for social distancing because of the spread of coronavirus,” the virtual festival’s creator writes. “This is a site for celebrating artists and the work that has been canceled/delayed/disrupted. So far, submissions have included clips from rehearsals, scenes done with cast-mates over webcam, recordings from previous workshops, design plans, and performers just doing the song they were really excited about singing into their webcam. It doesn’t need to be anything formal or polished!” Check out their offerings here.

Zoos and Aquariums

Shedd Aquarium:: The fine people at Chicago’s famous spot made the world smile with this video of its penguins exploring exhibits after they closed to the public. Follow the aquarium’s Facebook page for more joyful animal content.

Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden:: The zoo, famous for Fiona the hippo, is doing Home Safari live-streams on Facebook daily at 3 p.m. ET. It also has a ton of fun videos to peruse on its FB page as well.

San Diego Zoo: Many of the animals (from baboons to condors) at one of the world’s most famous zoos have live cams you can follow while you work from home.

Originally Appeared on Glamour