Arts and the Holidays
12.18.24 and beyond ...
Walking from Kingsbridge Heights to Norwood yesterday I came across a couple of relatively new murals. I love murals. They’re colorful in different ways, they often highlight a neighborhood, a borough, and, of course, beautifully honor a person who is no longer with us.
This one is on the side of a Starbucks On East 208th Street at the corner of Jerome Avenue. It’s by Queens artist Kamille OG Ejerta of Queens (you can see more of her work on IG @ogmillie).
And here’s the work of Laura Alvarez, who, with the help of friends and neighbors, raised the funs to create this new mural over an old one that was ruined by graffiti. I lived at the other end of this block for 11 years. It often was a mural-less eyesore. Great to see what it is now. (More info in Norwood News and more of Alavarez’s work here.)
Holiday Happenings & Art Markets
Check this out: This Sat., Dec. 21, at 3 PM you can join the annual Puerto Rican song procession, led by Bronx Music Heritage Center and its Bronx Music Hall. “Join Bobby Sanabria, Jorge Vazquez, Jose Rivera and other pleneros as we sing and walk through the Melrose neighborhood, ending up at Rincon Criollo.” It starts out at the Bronx Commons residence entrance at 442 E. 162nd St. FREE! More info here.
Have you ever checked out the Holiday Train Show at The New York Botanical Garden? Well, this year it has expanded beyond the inside of the Conservatory to the great outdoors (see photo below). Always fun, and stunning, for all ages. It’s on through Jan. 20. All info here.
NYBG’s train show is also outside this year. Photo courtesy NYBG. 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 … Meet the artists, mingle with your community. We offer free gift wrapping with purchase.” Of course, it’s FREE to attend! More info here.
On Wed., Dec. 29 for FREE, you can walk around Wave Hill in Riverdale at night until 7 PM. There are some evening programs or “simply stroll the grounds.”
Art Exhibits & Happenings
Through April 8, 2025, En Foco and Kreate Hub present the curated group photo exhibit “Entre el Silencio: Meditations on Silence” at WallWorks in Mott Haven. “The exhibition is part of En Foco’s mission to uplift, validate, and preserve the culture and legacy of diasporic lens-based artists.” Click here for more information.
In partnership with Pregones, En Foco 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!
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!
At BronxArtSpace “See This Country Clearly,” an exhibit by Jonathan Allen and Michael Paul Britto and curated by Sara Reisman, is on through Dec. 21. It features the artists’ “distinct but complementary practices [that] converge around the politics of civic life … Working in collage, text, public address, video, and installation, Allen and Britto question what it means, in this pivotal time, to be on the right side of history, and how to really see our country for what it is, a flawed democracy, the course of which has shifted away from historically democratic safeguards.” More info here. FREE!
Speaking of which, this Saturday, Dec. 21 at 3 PM, Britto and Allen will co-lead a hands-on collage workshop for students and adults, focused on helping them develop stories and narratives to tell their own stories, with the following prompt: What would you like others to see clearly about your community? Materials will be provided, but please feel free to bring books, magazines, photos that you would like to use in your own original collages.” More info here. 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!
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!
The Casita Maria Gallery, of the Casita Maria Center for Arts & Education in Hunts Point, presents the exhibit “Animal Studies,” by Maria P. Vila, through March 6, 2025. The work of Vila, a teaching artist at Casita Maria, “features a series of watercolor, soft pastel and oil paintings combining animal imagery with poetry and collage as a form of healing.” FREE!
A Bit Beyond the Bronx
Just over the bridge from Bronx to Manhattan on Broadway are art happenings in Inwood organized by Inwood Art Works which supports ongoing events of all kinds. Check it all out here.
In Pelham, very close to the Bronx border’s northeast section, there are ongoing art exhibits and events at the Pelham Art Center. Check them all out here.
At the Hudson River Museum in Yonkers there are several exhibits to explore, including “No Bodies: Clothing as Disruptor,” which is on through Jan. 26, 2025.
At Upstream Gallery in Hastings-on-Hudson (Short drive up the Saw Mill from the Boogie Down) is the Winter Group Show through Dec. 29, which I look forward to checking out, as I haven’t been there in a good while, and they often have excellent exhibits. You can click here to learn, and see, more.
At the Riverfront Art Gallery (in the Riverfront Library) in downtown Yonkers, the exhibit “Windows and Doors” is on through Jan. 3. “In all of our lives we have windows that can be opened, and doors that we may pass through. Making art can provide opportunities to open windows onto new vistas, and walk out of those doors that keep us held inside. … “The concept of this exhibition has a unique meaning because it features artwork from incarcerated individuals in the Rehabilitation Through the Arts (RTA) visual arts program. Check it out. FREE! You can take a Metro-North train from Marble Hill or Riverdale to Yonkers and the library is about a block across from the station.
Kids/Adults/Families
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, which opened just a little less than a year ago. Info here (scroll down page for listing). And here’s a link to all the “active” exhibit space and happenings.
Blue Door Art Center in downtown Yonkers offers FREE classes/programs for kids on Saturday mornings.
Artist Opportunities and Awards
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 on-line sessions for likely applicants re: info and advice on completing the application. You can check out BCA’s website for more info, and the application itself.
BCA also has a listing of additional organizations that provide various “calls for artists.”
Enjoy the holidays, everyone! I’m taking a break next week so the next newsletter will be the week after that.
Peace, Salaam, Shalom,
Jordan