By Alexandra Alexa, Thu, March 5, 2020 Photo credit: R. Mickens/© AMNH
For most of us, color is such a seamless part of how we experience the world that we don’t think to stop and question it. But color is more than just a visual phenomenon, it carries symbolic and cultural meanings, has the ability to impact our mood, and in the natural world, it plays a critical role in the survival of many species. The many dimensions of color will be explored in The Nature of Color, a new exhibition opening at the American Museum of Natural History on March 9th.
More details
By Devin Gannon, Wed, March 4, 2020 What better place to celebrate women than in New York? The state hosted the country’s first women’s rights convention in 1848, Union Square held the first large-scale suffrage parade in 1908, and New Yorkers came up with the idea to honor women for one month every year. This Women’s History Month, which marks the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage, honor the trailblazing New Yorkers who forged the paths for feminists today with lectures, art exhibits, and bites from women-owned vendors. Ahead, find our favorite events, from a Wikipedia edit-a-thon at the Museum of Modern Art to a trolley tour of Woodlawn Cemetery.
More here
By Alexandra Alexa, Tue, March 3, 2020 Alex Webb, Park Slope, 2018. Chromogenic development print. Courtesy of the artist
Photographer couple Alex Webb and Rebecca Norris Webb have lived in Park Slope for some 20 years and for just as long, they’ve been documenting the borough they call home. In 2014, the duo embarked on a collaborative series of photographs that show typically unseen corners of Brooklyn and tell the layered stories of its multicultural neighborhoods. A collection of 30 images from that series will be on view at the Museum of the City of New York beginning on March 11 in an exhibition titled The City Within.
More images, this way
By Alexandra Alexa, Tue, March 3, 2020 Image by David Mark from Pixabay
St. Patrick’s Day takes place on Tuesday, March 17 this year but in NYC, it’s much bigger than just the official holiday. Celebrations get an early start and run throughout the month with a whopping nine parades dedicated to the holiday (some have already taken place but you still have plenty to choose from). Of course, many of the festivities are known for being raucous and alcohol-fueled, but there are many other ways you can celebrate: from taking a walking tour in the former “Little Ireland” area of the Lower East Side, to learning how to bake Irish soda bread and shamrock macaroons, to getting competitive in an Irish-themed trivia night. Ahead, we rounded up 20 options and none of them involve waking up early to snag a seat at McSorley’s.
Start your planning now!
By Alexandra Alexa, Wed, February 26, 2020 Yayoi Kusama in 2020. Photo courtesy of the artist.
Opening May 9th and running until November at the New York Botanical Garden, a blockbuster exhibition dedicated to Yayoi Kusama will immerse us in the Japanese artist’s visionary world through a career-spanning survey, the debut of four new works, and a variety of complementary horticultural installations created by the Garden’s team. Tickets went live to the public at 10am today, and because NYBG expects such high traffic, they’ve shut down their regular website until 11:45am. Be prepared to wait in a virtual queue until it’s your turn.
More details
By Alexandra Alexa, Wed, February 26, 2020 Photo (cropped) by Alex Proimos via Wikimedia Commons
The Metropolitan Museum of Art has announced two new sculpture commissions to be installed in the museum’s facade niches and the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Roof Garden later this year. Mexican artist Héctor Zamora will create a site-specific intervention on the roof titled Lattice Detour that’s set to open on April 21. On September 9, American artist Carol Bove will unveil new sculptures in the building’s Fifth Avenue facade niches, becoming only the second artist to activate the building’s exterior in this way. The works are still in progress but Sheena Wagstaff, the Met’s Leonard A. Lauder Chairman of Modern and Contemporary Art, hinted that Zamora’s piece will “invite us to reconsider the panoramic view of the city skyline” and Bove’s installation will feature “colorful stylized abstractions.”
More details
By Devin Gannon, Tue, February 25, 2020 All photos by Michael Appleton/NYC Mayor’s Office
A new art exhibition is open at Gracie Mansion, the fourth and final installation of Mayor Bill de Blasio and First Lady Chirlane McCray’s tenure. Catalyst: Art and Social Justice, which will also be the largest ever hosted at the historic home in Yorkville, features more than 75 works created by over 50 artists since the 1960s. With a focus on inclusion, the exhibit explores the connection between art, justice, and the social change movements behind it all.
Get the details
By Dana Schulz, Thu, February 20, 2020 Image by jacqueline macou from Pixabay
You don’t have to travel to New Orleans to get in on the Mardi Gras festivities; New York City has some fun Fat Tuesday events of its own (though they may be a tad tamer than what you’ll find in Louisiana!). From brass bands and jazz performances to crawfish boils and King Cake, we’ve rounded up 20+ great ways to celebrate Mardis Gras this year.
Start making plans
By Michelle Cohen, Thu, February 20, 2020 Photograph by Maria Baranova-Suzuki courtesy of Times Square Arts.
With the new ban on single-use plastic bags hitting New York on March 1, a conversation has been started–and in some cases, continued–about the effects of our consumption on future generations. As important and complex as the topic may be, award-winning Brooklyn-based artist, puppet designer, and director Robin Frohardt has found a way to shine a creative light on consumption, conveniences, and the impact of single-use plastics. Located in Times Square, “The Plastic Bag Store” is an immersive, site-specific public art installation and three-act puppet show, on view from March 18 to April 12 at 20 Times Square.
Find out more
By Devin Gannon, Fri, February 14, 2020 Photo by Glenn Castellano, New-York Historical Society
This Presidents’ Day, visit Washington, D.C. without leaving New York City. The New-York Historical Society on Friday opened a special permanent gallery that features a detailed replica of the White House Oval Office. The “Meet the Presidents” exhibit allows visitors to play POTUS for a day, with the classic Resolute Desk set up for photo ops.
See the exhibit
