Art All Around Us — 7.9.25
Summer Events, etc. in the Boogie Down Bronx & Beyond ...
Looking Back …
In 2017, a couple of years after I started doing artwork, I went to the Art Students League for a few years and did this untitled piece on canvas with acrylic, pastel, and some oil pastel. 20 in. x 30 in. —Jordan Moss
Hey Everyone!
Before we get started, I just wanted to let you know that I will be on vacation the next couple of weeks, so the next newsletter after this one will be posted on Wed., Aug. 29.
In the meantime, enjoy your summer and I hope some of the events listed her add to some of your fun and explorations.
OK, let’s get to it …
MUSIC & MORE
Through August, Riverdale Neighborhood House features “Music in the Garden,” a series of outdoor concerts (jazz, salsa, and Americana) on several Thurs. eves through August. The next one is John Pinamonti and Shannon Brown (who often appear at An Beal Bocht in Riverdale) this Thurs., July 10 at 6:30 PM. All the info here. And after that, on July 24 at 6:30 PM, The Traveling Jewburys (all Bronx residents) will perform a special “Homecoming Concert.” Again, the details are here.
Part of its SummerMusic series, Bronx Arts Ensemble presents concerts through early August at the Van Cortlandt House Museum lawn in Van Cortlandt Park. The next one is Sat., July 12, from 3 to 4 PM featuring the Odane Whilby Band, which focuses on the Pop and R&B favorites from the 1950s to 1980s. FREE! Details here.
Also this coming Thurs., July 10, Bronx Music Hall, a beautiful, relatively new theatre on East 163rd Street (right next to Boricua College) presents Nueva Voices: Meu Rio, featuring Mafaldi Minnozi at 8 PM. All the 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 Tues. at 9 PM. Writers/Poetry Night with Melinda Wilson & Erin Lynn is on the 2nd Wednesday of every month. Check it all out 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.
PHOTOGRAPHY
Bronx Documentary Center (BDC) features its 8th Annual Latin American Foto Festival with an opening on Thurs., July 10, from 6 to 9 PM. From July 24 to Aug. 3, the exhibit will take place at other sites in the Bronx, Queens, and Brooklyn. All the info here. FREE!
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. (PICs)
“Throwback: The Photography of Edwin Pagán,” an exhibit of the Bronx native 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.
POETRY SLAM
Pregones/PRTT and the Nuyorican Poets Café present the Final Friday Slam at the historic Puerto Rican Traveling Theater (connected to Pregones in the Bronx) in mid-town Manhattan. It’s on the last Friday every month through the end of 2025. Competing poets consist of weekly Nuyorican Bowery Slam winners, one lottery-selected poet from the audience and curated competitors. The tournament-bracket-style slam will see participants exchange their poetry head to head until only one is left! Open seating. Next slam is Fri., July 25 from 9 PM to 1 AM. $35 a ticket. Details here.
ART OPENINGS/ACTIVITIES
The Artist Studios Program at Bronx River Art Center, in West Farms, presents a spotlight exhibition by Michele Brody called "Arboreal Ethereal: Capturing the Entropy of Nature," with an opening reception this Thurs., July 10 fro 5 to 8 PM. The exhibit is on through Aug. 16 with a closing reception. FREE! All the info here.
Featuring the work of several Bronx-based artists, the Bronx Kreate Hub in the South Bronx presents “Nothing But Prints for the People of the Bronx,” featuring posters and comic book arts. The opening is this Sat., July 12 from 6 to 8 PM. Bronx Kreate Hub’s address is 15 Canal St., Bronx, 1st floor gallery.
Every Saturday during the summer, between 10 AM and 3 PM, the James Baldwin Outdoor Learning Center presents a farmer’s market on the right side of DeWitt Clinton High School on Mosholu Parkway. It includes food, crafts, sometimes yoga, a choir and much more. This Sat., July 12, JBOLC features artist Dennis RedMoon Darkeem, “who will guide us through this Saturday writing and art-making prompts to create pages for a collective Zine honoring our ancestors, connections to water, and the history of Tibbetts Brook (which goes through Van Cortlandt Park). Participants will also use upcycled materials in the process.”
ART
The exhibit “Working Knowledge: Shared Imaginings, New Futures” at The Bronx Museum, has been extended through Aug. 17. (All visits to Bronx Museum are FREE!) The art is incredibly interactive, so I bet kids would love it, too. Details here.
The broad exhibit, “Van Gogh’s Flowers,” is open at New York Botanical Garden until Oct. 21. All the info here. Bronx residents can get FREE access to see most of NYBG. Learn more here.
There are exhibits of several artists at Wave Hill in Riverdale this summer.
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. All the info here. FREE!
Into art, but spending the night at home? Check out Derfner Judaica Museum’s collection here. And here. Derfner is a beautiful museum at the Hebrew Home in Riverdale. It is in between exhibits at the moment, but they are open to all throughout the year.
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.
WALLWORKS NY, based at Inspiration Point (ground floor) in Hunts Point, features the solo exhibit, “Pitch ‘n Mix,” by Priest through July 27. All the info here. FREE!
KIDS & FAMILIES
The relatively new Bronx Children’s Museum in the South Bronx has much to offer. All the info here.
A BIT BEYOND THE BRONX
Interested in learning more about writing of all kinds? Then check out the workshops, readings, events and more at Hudson Valley Writers Center in Sleepy Hollow.
Pelham Art Center in Pelham, NY is just a bit north of the northeast Bronx, and Metro North stops right nearby. The exhibit “13th Biennial Alexander Rutsch Award Winner: ransome” is on through July 13: “The artwork of ransome 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.” FREE!
Through July 26, Blue Door Art Center in downtown Yonkers presents “Anime: East Meets West Thru Art & Pop Culture.” Info, and photos of the work, here and here. FREE!
A solo exhibit of Elizabeth de Bethune is on through July 10, at Riverfront Gallery inside the Yonkers Public Library in downtown Yonkers. FREE! All the info here.
“Faces and Figures,” an exhibit at the Hudson River Museum in Yonkers, is on through July 20. More information and photos here.
Click here for info about FREE films in Inwood (upper Manhattan) on Monday nights throughout the summer.
OK, have a great summer everyone. I’ll see you right back here on Aug. 29.
Peace,
Jordan
Thank you, Jordan!