Art All Around US — 11.27.24
Happenings for Thanksgiving Weekend and Beyond!
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I hope you enjoy every moment. If you’re looking for some fun and interesting, creative things to check out this weekend and beyond, here’s a good bit of what’s going on all around us. T
My Photo Exhibit Closing Gathering on Friday
If you haven’t seen my photo exhibit, “All in Sight,” there’s a gathering for its closing this Friday afternoon, Dec. 6 from 2 to 4 PM, at An Beal Bocht, an awesome artsy pub in Riverdale. I hope some of you can make it, especially those of you who weren’t able to come to the opening! You can learn a little bit more about the exhibit here. Here’s one of the photos in the show, featuring some engaging nature on Mosholu Parkway in Norwood.
Holiday Art Markets
Holiday shopping ads for national and international chains began bombarding us back in October. We don’t have to pay attention. There are other options, including buying local, and especially from local artists. Here are the ones I’ve heard about:
On Sunday, Dec. 8, from noon to 3 PM, Riverspring Living (also known as The Hebrew Home) hosts an Art Festival & Holiday Market. You can support local Bronx artists at this event, which is at 5901 Palisade Ave. in Riverdale.
There will be local artists sharing cards, jewelry, ornaments and more in the 2024 Holiday Bazaar at Blue Door Art Center in downtown Yonkers through Dec. 24. More info and schedule details here. And as Blue Door reports, “Holiday treats will be served, join in on the fun. Meet the artists, mingle with your community. We offer free gift wrapping with purchase.” Of course, it’s FREE to attend! More info here.
And though it’s not in the Bronx (it is in the relatively nearby — by car especially — Long Island City, the BrickHouse Ceramic Art Center presents its Ceramics Holiday Market from Dec. 13 to Dec. 15. It’s FREE! More info here. And the beautiful ceramic items below are by Bronxite Ellen Pollan, who is taking part in the Holiday Market.
Ceramic work by Ellen Pollan.
Art and … Food!
OK, this might not seem related to art, but the existence of a tasting tour in a Bronx neighborhood is experiencing creativity nonetheless, in sight and, well, taste. And depending on where you live in the big borough of the Bronx, taking part in a tour of Mott Haven (the most south of South Bronx neighborhoods) might be a bit of a hike from home. So, it’s gonna be helpful to know where you can get lunch or dinner nearby. How? Well, the nonprofit Oyate Group that provides tours to support Taste of Mott Haven, has one more date coming up for a FREE tour — and taste — of restaurants in the area, on Wed., Dec. 11. You can sign up here. (Thanks to the excellent, progressive political writer on Substack, Micah Sifry, for letting me know about this!)
Art Exhibits
At Lehman College Art Gallery, through Jan. 18, 2025, is “Incandescence: The Chandelier in Contemporary Art Works” by 45 artists exploring “the motif and meaning of the chandelier through sculptural forms, photography, painting, drawing, installation and video.” All the details here and here. FREE!
The Derfner Judaica Museum, at the Hebrew Home in Riverdale, features “Artfully Arranged: Floral Works from the Collection” through Feb. 2, 2025. FREE!
“FUTURA 2000: BREAKING OUT,” at the Bronx Museum is “a retrospective of this singular artist’s evolution from early graffiti art styles to his current practice of contemporary abstraction. The exhibition is the most comprehensive examination of FUTURA 2000’s five-decade career ever presented in his hometown of New York City.” It runs through March 20, 2025. FREE!
There are a few great exhibits at Wave Hill right now and there is more info on all of them right here. Admission is FREE on Thursdays. I wrote a bit about one of the exhibits, with photos, in a prior edition.
Through Jan. 26, 2025 in Norwood, the Museum of Bronx History presents the group exhibition of Seis del Sur: “HISTORIAS: The Stories Behind the Images.” The museum is open on Saturdays, 10 AM to 4 PM. Private tours via appointment are available throughout the week. All FREE!
An excellent exhibit at WALLWORKS NEW YORK in Mott Haven,“Yo Soy de Aquí / I am From Here,” features artists Lizzy Alejandro, Alexis Marie Montoya, and Kamille Vargas-Estrella. It’s on through Dec. 6. FREE!
Artist Opportunities and Awards
The Bronx River Art Center has an open call for artists who maintain collections of any kind to participate in an upcoming exhibition that explores the intimate relationship between artistic practice and collecting. It is for the exhibit “Between Inspiration and Collecting: The Artist's Cabinet.” The deadline is Dec. 15. More info here.
The deadline to apply for Bronx Council on the Arts’ BRIO Award is Jan. 13, 2025. Each year, BRIO (Bronx Recognizes Its Own) provides direct support to individual Bronx artists who create works in the literary, media, visual, and performing arts with awards of $5,000. BCA provides a few sessions around the borough providing likely applicants info and advice on completing the application. They haven’t announced the dates for those yet but I will let you know as soon as I know. And you can check out BCA’s website on this for more info, and the application itself. BCA also has a listing of additional organizations that provide various “calls for artists.”
Photography
En Foco, in partnership with Pregones and the Puerto Rican Traveling Theater, presents the exhibition “In The Spirit Y En El Espíritu: Works by Mariana Yampolsky” at the Pregones/Puerto Rican Traveling Theater (575 Walton Ave., Bronx). It runs through March 31, 2025 and features portraits by Mexican photographer Yampolski (1925–2002), and is curated by Xavier Robles Armas.. FREE!
Dance
Los Nutcrackers: A Christmas Carajo, Fri., Dec. 6 to12 at BAAD! (Bronx Academy of Art & Dance) $25. Tickets/info here.
Live Music
An Beal Bocht, an artsy Irish pub in Riverdale has live music and other artsy events throughout the week.
Connaughton’s Riverdale Steak House in Riverdale has live music including open mics every other Wednesday eve. You can get more up-to-date details on host and performer Mark Weitzman’s (also known as Mark the Harper) Facebook page.
Bartow-Pell Mansion in Pelham Bay Park features a jazzy Christmas concert with Full Gallop Entertainment and vocalist, Veronica Nunn on Friday, Dec. 6, 6 to 8 PM. All info here.
Artsy Readings
In the excellent art news website Hyperallergic, I just came across this very cool, diverse list of books relate to the arts. It might be a good site for gifts for yourself, and those you love.
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Enjoy your holiday!
Peace, Salaam, Shalom,
Jordan
P.S. If you’re interested in checking out prior issues, with photos of the wonderful work of all kinds of local artists and at local museums and galleries, just click here.