Hip Hop,Tango, Classical, Rock, Poetry, Theatre, Art Exhibits ...
.... It's All Happening This Week and Beyond ...
It’s kinda cool when I can’t easily categorize an arts event when so many different kinds of creative performances are part of it. Like this one at the Bronx Brewery, 856 E. 136th St. in Mott Haven (part of an ongoing program through June). It features poetry, music and dance this Friday night, April 19 from 6 to 8 PM. Bronx Council on the Arts organized it in collaboration with Uptown Melody. Caesar the Poet (photo below) performs, as does the Black Lotus Band (a soul, jazz, rock and R&B fusion band) and WRT the Collective, a hip-hop dance collective. RSVP (and more info) here.
Music
There are two FREE concerts, put on by the Bronx Arts Ensemble, with BAE’s orchestra and Courtney’s Stars of Tomorrow performing Mozart’s Coronation Mass on Fri., April 19 at 7 PM at Church of St. Benedict in Throggs Neck. There’s a second performance of that group performing at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church (in Belmont near the Bronx Zoo) on Sat., April 20 from 8 to 9 PM.
As always, An Beal Bocht in Riverdale has a lot of good stuff going on: music, theatre (see Theatre section below) art, and more, including a performance of Seeing Voices, a great band, this Saturday, April 20, at 9 PM. You can check them out on YouTube. The John Pinamonti Band performs next Friday, April 26 at 8 PM. Every Saturday there’s a bluegrass jam led by Ron Zwerdling at 11 AM, and every Tuesday at 8 PM there’s a welcoming open mic hosted by an excellent musician and songwriter, Eric Sullivan. There are a lot more happenings to check out here. It’s FREE to get it in but all are urged to “Please Be Generous!” when a staffer brings around the gratuity basket to gather tips for the performers.
Also in Riverdale, the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception in Founders Hall (map), at the University of Mount Saint Vincent, New York Classical Players performs “Nathan and Schubert (The Bronx),” this coming Friday, April 19 from 3 to 5 PM. The concert is FREE, but you can get your free tickets here.
At Lehman Center for the Performing in Bedford Park this Saturday, April 20 at 8 PM, McDonald’s Gospelfest presents Shirley Caesar, Dottie Peoples and Byron Cage. The performance will also include tri-state area gospel talent such as choirs, dancers, and soloists. Tickets here.
And go here to learn about concerts at Starving Artists and its weekly open mic on City Island.
Dance
The brand new Bronx Music Hall (reported on in recent issue), presents the dance performance “Bronx Rising!” on Friday, April 26 at 1 PM exploring Tango from Argentina. It’s $10 for adults and $7 seniors. There’s more info @bxmusic on Instagram.
Poetry
Bronx Poet Laureate Kay Bell hosts a poetry jam at Dreamyard Art Center, 1085 Washington Ave., on Friday, April 19 from 1 to 3:30 PM. RSVP here.
“Living Big Girl: A Chair That Fits,” is a poetic play “where fat is deconstructed and reimagined,” to be performed at Lehman Stages at Lehman College this weekend — Sat., April 20 at 5 PM and Sun., April 21 at 3 PM. Tickets are available here. According to the Bronx Council on the Arts, the team behind the play are a Bronx Cultural Vision Fund awardee.
Theatre
The PRTT in the name of the theatre group Pregones/PRTT (which has truly excellent performances in its South Bronx theatre) stands for The Puerto Rican Traveling Theatre, which is the name of the organization’s performance space on West 47th Street in Manhattan. From May 2 to May 26, the performance there will be “The Desire of the Astronaut,” “which explores the enduring myth and popular iconography of the astronaut through the fictional story of Esteban Only, the last Boricua in space.”
Next Saturday and Sunday (April 27 @ 7 PM & 28 @ 2 PM) at An Beal Bocht Cafe (which is more of an artsy Irish pub/restaurant/performance space than a cafe) in Riverdale, Poor Mouth Theatre Company presents “Running With Coffee,” by Eileen Byrne Richards. It’s a “timely tragicomedy about caregiving, mid-life, mental health and fighting over the washing machine after your parents move in!” Tickets are $20 and you can pick them up at the Cafe or go here to purchase.
In Woodlawn this weekend, Riverdale Children’s Theatre puts on “Into the Woods, Jr,” at St. Barnabas Elementary School Auditorium. I already said this last week but I think it’s worth repeating: RCT performs incredible shows in Riverdale and Woodlawn. Yes, my daughter performed in like a dozen of its shows and got a lot out of it, but the performances are almost always rather incredible. When I saw RCT’s performance, “A Chorus Line,” several years ago, it blew my mind, as did “Oliver” and so much more. Bottom line: If I had seen RCT perform those on Broadway I wouldn’t have been disappointed. Tickets here.
Art Exhibits & Related Happenings
Bronx Documentary Center’s current exhibit in Melrose, named for the late photographer Anja Niedringhaus, who was killed in 2014 by an Afghan police commander, is a moving collection of Niedringhaus’ images from Afghanistan and Pakistan. The show continues through May 5. I haven’t seen it yet, but a few pals who did see it say it is not to miss! Here’s just one incredible photo that I hope draws you to go see it.
Speaking of BDC, they also have another phenomenal exhibit at “Conzo: A Look Back at the Bronx, 1977-84,” by Joe Conzo, Jr. The exhibit continues until this Sunday, April 21.
BronxArtSpace presents “Hold me as I fly,” which “embraces the paradox in the necessary practices of deep, grounding care and experimental risk-taking on the path toward liberation.” The exhibit runs until May 18.
BxArts Factory, at 240 E. 153rd St., hosts a Spring Market with “unique artworks and handmade crafts from talented local artists,” on Saturday, May 4 from 11 AM to 7 PM.
En Foco co-hosts an exhibit with Wallworks NYC and Judith Escalone, called “Phantasmachina,” a showing of works by Tricia McLaughlin, featuring a selection of drawings, paintings, and renditions of creatures in 3D animation. The exhibit is on through April 30. More info here.
Biennial (Part Two)” at the Bronx Museum is on through June 16. As the museum states on its website, “The exhibition features work by 27 artists who participated in the Museum’s flagship AIM Fellowship—an annual professional development program for artists based in NYC—in 2020, 2021, or 2023.” (Admission is always FREE at The Bronx Museum!)
There are three new exhibits at Wave Hill in Riverdale, which begin with an opening day this Saturday, April 20 from 1 to 4 PM. Photo below is from the exhibit “Ruben Natal-San Miguel: Nature Finds a Way.” (Admission is FREE on Thursdays.)
The Orchid Show at New York Botanical Garden isn’t just orchids. It also features an event, Florals in Fashion, through April 21.
There are two exhibits to see at the Derfner Judaica Museum in Riverdale: Aspects of Appearance: Portraits From the Collection in Context, on through June 20, and Tradition and Remembrance: Treasures of the Derfner Judaica Museum, which is ongoing. There’s also great art all around the same floor as Derfner, which is part of The Hebrew Home, a nursing home in Riverdale. And there’s a good bit of outdoor sculpture and a beautiful view of the Hudson River and Palisades on the grounds in back. There are great online exhibits as well. Admission is FREE.
I recently went to a great opening of “I Stood My Ground,” a group exhibit at Longwood Art Gallery (led by Bronx Council on the Arts) at Hostos Community College on the Grand Concourse, just south of East 149th Street. More info on the exhibit here. It’s open, and FREE, until May 1.
Gallery 505 in Riverdale is currently showing “Color of an Independence,” by Jose-Luis Tejeda. Exhibit is on until June 28. (Photo of his work in last edition.)
Bronx River Art Center has an excellent, FREE, group exhibit, “NEVER WAIT!/¡NUNCA ESPERES!” (will report on this more next issue) through June 8.
My own exhibit, “Aftereffect: Art & Photography,” continues through April 27, at the Poe Park Visitors Center, which is the gray, modern building in the park near the corner of Kingsbridge Road and the Grand Concourse. The exhibit includes my photography and abstract, mixed media art. It’s open Tuesdays through Saturdays from 8 AM to 5 PM (Just knock on the door that faces the park. The other main door facing the Concourse isn’t accessible right now). The exhibit is on through April 27. Here’s one of my photographs in the exhibit…
Artist Opportunity
Bronx Art Space is calling for artists to submit work through May 24 for “Celebrating Fatherhood,” part of their Giving Light Social Justice Series. “Curator Beverly Emers aims to resist the generalized narratives that fathers of color are absent.”
Workshops/Programs for Kids (& Adults)
Every Saturday from 2 to 4 PM, BronxArtSpace, on 700 Manida St., provides FREE art classes for all ages.
Great interactive exhibits and programs at the relatively new Bronx Children’s Museum.
Bronx River Art Center, on East Tremont Avenue, provides children’s and teen art classes.
Blue Door Arts Center in downtown Yonkers features many FREE kids’ and teens’ art workshops.
Through its Youth Photo League, Bronx Documentary Center in Melrose offers a “FREE after-school and summer documentary photography programs [that] teach[es] middle and high school Bronx students to use photography, writing, and research to explore social justice issues and prepare them for college and future careers.”
Have a great week and weekend everyone! Let me know what you thought of anything you explored/experienced above, or if you have any suggestions/questions for Art All Around Us. You can leave a comment here or email me at jordanmossbx@gmail.com. And just a reminder: I just created an Art All Around Us page on Instagram, @artallaroundusbx, which will include updates and highlights of what’s going on in between the publishing of the newsletter, which is always on Wednesday eves.