Above, Bob Dylan, Gramercy Park, 1963. Photograph by Ralph Baxter. Courtesy of American Song Archives.
New York University will host the Bob Dylan Center’s critically acclaimed exhibition, How Many Roads: Bob Dylan and His Changing Times, 1961-1964, from August 25 through October 15 in its Gallatin Galleries, 1 Washington Place, in Greenwich Village.
The center’s first traveling show, How Many Roads brings the story of Dylan’s early career and growing political and social awareness to the very neighborhood where he lived, wrote, and performed. First presented in Tulsa last year, the exhibition uses archival materials and newly created original documentary films to examine Dylan’s artistic response to current events, especially the Civil Rights Movement.
The exhibition launches a university-wide program focused on the power of the arts to open new perspectives on complex challenges, bridge divides and foster common bonds, and drive positive change in the lives of people and the places where they live, work, learn, and play.
How Many Roads explores the political and social messages in Dylan’s music and his participation in key moments of the Civil Rights Movement. Included are photographs of the 1963 Newport Folk Festival, footage from 1963’s March on Washington, and a voter registration drive in Greenwood, Mississippi.
“The exhibit centers on Dylan’s music as a lens through which to view some of the most defining events of the 20th century,” said Mark Davidson, curator of the exhibit, co-editor of Bob Dylan: Mixing Up the Medicine, and senior director of archives and exhibitions at the American Song Archives. “The early ’60s were a time of rapid change for America, and Dylan paced alongside, documenting—this exhibit shows you how.”
The exhibit also highlights the influential figures in the songwriter’s circle—Pete Seeger, Joan Baez, and Len Chandler, among others—and the ways in which events such as the Cuban Missile Crisis influenced his music.
NYU’s collaboration with the Dylan Center grows out of the university’s new presence in Tulsa, Oklahoma, home to the artist’s archive of over 100,000 items spanning more than a half-century of creative work. NYU Tulsa opened in January 2025 in the city’s downtown Arts District and is the newest of the university’s global network locations and the fourth in the US. In addition to semester-length “study away” programs for students, NYU Tulsa has also begun to develop a range of experiential learning, research, creative, and community engagement activities.
“One of the many joys of developing our NYU presence in Tulsa—an incredibly rich city for the study of American popular music—has been the opportunity to cultivate a deep relationship with the Bob Dylan Center and the Woody Guthrie Center. Several of our students have already benefited from transformational internships in the archives of both organizations, and now we are thrilled to bring the Dylan Center's first-ever traveling exhibition to our Washington Square campus,” said NYU President Linda G. Mills.
The Bob Dylan Center’s exhibition emphasizes Gallatin’s commitment to interdisciplinary learning and the crucial role that the arts plays in education and culture, explains Victoria Rosner, dean of the Gallatin School of Individualized Study.
“The way the How Many Roads exhibit illustrates Dylan’s engagement with the US Civil Rights Movement is emblematic of Gallatin's commitment to civic engagement and critical thinking. Anyone interested in history, music, poetry, photography, postmodern culture, and songwriting will benefit from learning about Bob Dylan and this era of history in the Village,” Rosner said. “This is interdisciplinary liberal arts at its best.”
NYU’s top-ranked arts programs and facilities, unparalleled access to industry leaders, and network of locations in vibrant cultural centers around the world have made it a global leader in arts. The Arts & Impact initiative builds on this foundation by showcasing the power of creative work, particularly in conversation across varied fields.
“Art is an avenue to spur dialogue, generate new ideas, and reimagine the world as it could be,” said Provost Georgina Dopico. “At NYU, we aim to put this power to work not only on its own but also through intersections with the university’s great strengths in fields as diverse as medicine, law, education, and engineering to create new pathways for understanding and innovation.”
“Remix the Future,” a months-long slate of programs and events under the Arts & Impact banner, will tap into the university’s various schools and programs. It kicks off with a private opening reception for How Many Roads on September 3. Other events, some of which will be open to the public, include appearances by Afrobeats singer/songwriter Adekunle Gold, New Yorker staff writer and Gallatin faculty member Amanda Petrusich, and musician Noel Paul Stookey ("Paul" from Peter, Paul, and Mary), who will be the inaugural Arts & Impact Artist-in-Residence.
Several events will have a global focus. Carnegie Hall Executive and Artistic Director Clive Gillinson will lead a conversation with Nabeel Abboud-Ashkar, executive director of Polyphony Education, on ways to use the arts to foster productive dialogue, and Abboud-Ashkar and members of the Galilee Chamber Orchestra will demonstrate how to build trust through music-making.
Finally, the Gallatin School of Individualized Study’s annual BIG WALK will focus on Greenwich Village and its early influence on Dylan. Led by Louise Harpman, professor of architecture, urban design, and sustainability, the September 20 walking tour will start at Gallatin Galleries and finish at the Bitter End with a musical performance.
Details about these activities can be found at the Arts & Impact website.
“Remix the Future” will continue in the spring with panels, performances, and other events, including several at the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music in the Tisch School of the Arts and across NYU’s global network.
The Gallatin Galleries are open Monday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free.
About New York University
Founded in 1831, New York University is one of the world’s foremost research universities and is a member of the selective Association of American Universities. NYU has degree-granting university campuses in New York, Abu Dhabi, and Shanghai and has 13 other global academic sites, including Tulsa, London, Paris, Florence, Tel Aviv, Buenos Aires, and Accra. Through its numerous schools and colleges, NYU is a leader in conducting research and providing education in the arts and sciences, law, medicine, business, dentistry, engineering, education, nursing, the cinematic and performing arts, music and studio arts, public administration, social work, public health, and professional studies, among other areas.
About the Gallatin Galleries
The Gallatin Galleries, housed in New York University’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study, showcases innovative and immersive work that blends multiple forms of artistic practice with themes that encompass economic, racial, and social justice. Founded in 2008 and curated by Keith Miller, the Galleries are home to complex and compelling displays that integrate video, photography, sound, painting, and sculpture, illuminating the work of both up-and-coming and established artists while reflecting the interdisciplinary academic mission of the Gallatin School. For more information, please visit its website.