Art All Around Us — 5.28.25
Music, Film, Art Openings, Theatre & More — in the Bronx & a Bit Beyond ...
Cooking is creativity too (and often a necessary accompaniment when going to exhibits and performances). My family has been meaning to check this out for a long time: La Piraña Lechonero in the South Bronx, where outdoor chef, owner and sole server, Angel Jimenez (above) presents meals to remember. So, last Sunday we went down to East 152nd Street and Wales Avenue to get some roast pork, shrimp and more for a phenomenal lunch (with leftovers we saved for dinner last night). I love this description of Jimenez from a 2020 review in The New York Times:
He is the greeter, the order taker and the cashier. He is the roaster of pigs, the fryer of tostones, the pounder of mofongo. He is the genial keeper of order in a grease-smeared swirl of chaos that would be catastrophic for most food businesses but is one of the many charms of this one.
So, check it out. You can dine in the park right behind where Jimenez serves or at the beautiful St. Mary’s Park just a couple of blocks away.
I hope you are all well and enjoying spring and can find sometime to check out — and enjoy — an event below. So, here we go …
EXHIBIT OPENINGS/NEW EXHIBITS
Here are all the upcoming art exhibits at Wave Hill in Riverdale.
Pelham Art Center in Pelham, NY is just a bit north of the northeast Bronx, and Metro North stops right nearby. If you’re able to make it, check out its next opening reception, on Thurs., May 29: “13th Biennial Alexander Rutsch Award Winner: ransome.” “The artwork of ransome (see photo above) centers on his African American lineage, which is traced back to sharecroppers of the American South who migrated to Northern cities along the East Coast. His pictorial narratives are personal, yet the symbols he uses are universal and interplay with larger social, racial, ancestral, economic, and political histories that inform our nation to this day.” The exhibit is on through July 13. FREE!
Bronx Documentary Center hasn’t had an exhibition for a bit, but it’s just on a brief pause exhibit-wise and returns with an opening reception for the “8th Annual Latin American Foto Fetsival,” on Thurs., July 10, from 6 to 9 PM. If you’ve never been to BDC, this would be a great chance to check it out. It’s FREE and on through July 20. All the info here.
I love seeing children’s/teens art exhibits, so I look forward to checking out an exhibit at the Lehman Art Gallery, where the artwork of students from K to 12 will be open to all. It’s just one day (I wish it was longer) on Thurs., June 5, from 10 AM to 4 PM. More info here. FREE!
“Van Gogh’s Flowers,” is now open at New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx and goes on through Oct. 21. All the info here. (By the way, Bronx residents can get free access to see most of NYBG. Learn more here.)
THEATRE
At Bartow-Pell Mansion in Pelham Bay Park, there will be seven performances of Shakespeare’s “As You Like It,” June 8 through June 15. All the info here.
And City Island Theatre Group, right across the little bridge from Pelham Bay Park, presents the play, “Ripcord,” by David Lindsay-Abaire and directed by James Mohn, on June 6 through June 14. All the details here.
Riverdale Y presents “Seussical,” through May 29. All the info here.
Details on Riverdale Children’s Theatre summer session for third to tenth graders are right here.
Looking Up …
After lunch on Sunday (photo of chef/owner in intro above) we went for a walk in St. Mary’s Park nearby and saw these guys in photo above practicing the drums. It’s a beautiful park I suggest checking out when you get a chance. (Photo by Jordan Moss)
MUSIC
Also at Bronx Music Hall: On Sat., June 7, at 8 PM, as a part of the series “Bronx Rising! The South Bronx Experience,” join host Randy Cohen at Bronx Music Hall for “a special live taping of Person Place Thing featuring multi-Grammy-nominated Latin jazz icon Bobby Sanabria & Ascensión. Through stories and music, Sanabria shares the person, place, and thing that shaped his journey — from the heart of the South Bronx to the global stage.” Tickets are $15, and all the info here.
On Sat., May 31, at 8 PM, Hostos Center for the Arts & Culture in the South Bronx features the performance of “Los Rivera Destino (Witty Satire with Music!)” All the info here.
The Bronx River Art Center presents the Bronx River Sound Festival on three June Saturdays: June 14, 21 & 28. All the info here.
The first Sunday of every month you can see the Bronx Music Podcast interview of Bronx musicians, hosted by Gary Axelbank, live at The Artist, on City Island. More info here.
As usual, there is a lot of great live music, as well as art and theatre, to check out at An Beal Bocht Café in Riverdale. Open mics, with Eric Sullivan are every Tuesday at 9 PM. Writers/Poetry Night with Melinda Wilson & Erin Lynn is on the 2nd Wednesday of every month. Yet there’s so much more. Check it all out here.
Lehman Center for the Performing Arts in Bedford Park presents Fernando Villalona on Sat., May 31 at 8 PM. All the info here, and a video performance of his here.
FILM
The Bronx Filmmakers Collective, in partnership with Bronx River Art Center (BRAC) and Bronx River Alliance, presents The Bronx River Film Diaries, an experimental documentary workshop and film challenge celebrating Earth Day 2025. Inspired by this year’s global Earth Day theme, “Our Power, Our Planet,” the project centers on the local theme “Our Power, Our River,” inviting Bronx residents to explore their relationship with the Bronx River through personal, poetic filmmaking. It’s on through May 31 at the Bronx River Art Center. All the info here. FREE!
Inwood Art Works announces its tenth year of the Inwood Film Festival, to be held at Columbia University’s Campbell Sports Center in Inwood from May 29 to June 1, just across the Bridge from Broadway in Marble Hill/Kingsbridge. All the info here.
PHOTOGRAPHY
En Foco and Kreate Hub Bronx present the photo exhibit “Shifting In Place” through Sept. 1 at Kreate Hub in the South Bronx. The exhibition features a curated selection of photographs by artists previously featured with Nueva Luz or the En Foco Archives and Study Center. (Photography exhibit openings in Exhibit Openings, Etc. section above.)
“Throwback: The Photography of Edwin Pegán,” an exhibit of the filmmaker and photographer is up at Pregones/PRTT Theatre in the South Bronx through Aug. 17. It’s presented in partnership with En Foco. All the info here.
ART EXHIBITS
Did you know the Neuberger Museum at Purchase College, in Purchase, NY (about a 25 min. drive from the north Bronx, has pretty incredible FREE exhibits? Morris Louis, creator of the painting above, is only one of many famous artists presented in its ongoing exhibit, “Then and Now: Selections from the Collection.” And I really loved the exhibit of Janet Langsam, “Improbably Feminist,” which is on through June 29.
Wilfredo BIO Feliciano’s solo exhibition, “king of hearts” at WALLWORKS, NY (now based at Inspiration Point in Hunts Point) is on through June 13. FREE!
BronxArtSpace presents in its Giving Light Social Justice Series: “Honouring Black Motherhood, Remembrance, and Reproductive Rights,” through June 19 with an opening reception on Sat., May 31, 2 to 6 PM. The artists are Laura Alvarez, Wilhelmina Grant, Sandie Luna, Omari Maynard, Andrea Marie, and Kelly Nicely. The curators are Beverly Emers & Flor Montero. More info here. FREE!
The new exhibit at Bronx Museum on the Grand Concourse (part of which is currently being renovated and enlarged) is “Working Knowledge: Shared Imaginings, New Futures.” It’s on through July 6. (All visits to Bronx Museum are FREE!) The art is incredibly interactive, so I bet kids would love it, too. I hope a lot of school classes make a trip there.
Through May 31, the Van Cortlandt House Museum in Van Cortlandt Park features the exhibit, “History Stitched Together: Bronx Bicentennial Quilts.” All the info here. FREE!
At the Hudson River Museum in Yonkers, there are several exhibits to go see, including “It Takes Two: Unexpected Pairings,” through June 1, and “Collection Spotlight: Cityscapes,” which is ongoing. All current exhibits listed here.
Casita Maria Gallery in Hunts Point presents “You CAN Sit Here,” a multimedia solo exhibition by Bronx native Tiffany ‘Tiff McFierce’ McPherson, on through Aug. 16. More details here. FREE!
Riverdale Art Association hosts member exhibits, and its website shares members’ artwork. It also gathers artists to share and discuss their work in person. Check out all it offers right here. And you can see works of members here.
The exhibit “Beyond the Feminist Mystique,” at Blue Door Art Center in downtown Yonkers, is open through June 14. All the info here. FREE! By the way, BDAC is a nonprofit where you can apply to take art in group exhibits. I’ve been part of several shows there and the staff are very welcoming and encouraging to artists of all ages!
Through November, Bronx County Historical Society presents the exhibit “Uptown Rumble: Heavy Music in the Bronx,” Here’s what the show is all about: “While The Bronx is universally recognized as an epicenter for hip hop, salsa, doo-wop, jazz, reggaeton, and many other popular music genres, our borough is ignored in popular narratives about hard rock, heavy metal, and punk rock.” The show, at the Bronx History Museum in Norwood, features photos, flyerz, fanzines, clippings, memorabilia, oral history and more. FREE!
At the Derfner Judaica Museum in Riverdale, the exhibit “Nature’s Persistence: Recent Work by Shelley Haven,” is running through June 29. FREE! All the info and photos here.
With an opening reception on May 30 from 5:30 to 8:30 PM,the Upstream Gallery in Hastings-on-Hudson (just a bit beyond Yonkers on the Saw Mill) presents the exhibits of “Rachel Weatherford Whitlow: A Sense of Place” and “Susan Richman: Dissolving Boundaries.” The exhibit runs from May 22 to June 15. FREE! All the info here.
WORKSHOPS/CLASSES/GRANTS
Blue Door Art Center in downtown Yonkers offers FREE classes/programs for kids on Saturday mornings.
BxArtsFactory in Melrose provides a useful series of video lessons on their website for families doing art at home.
There are various kids’ art workshops at Bronx Children’s Museum. Info here (scroll down page for listing). And here’s a link to all the “active” exhibit space and happenings.
Bronx Council on the Arts has a great listing of organizations that provide various opportunities, grants and projects for artists of all kinds.
Have a wonderful week and weekend, everyone!
Peace, Paz, Salaam, Shalom,
Jordan
P.S. You can always email me at aaaubronx@gmail.com with ideas, suggestions, etc. And if you’re interested in seeing more of my art and photography, you can check out my Instagram posts at @jordanmossbx.