When Will Ben Shahn's Bronx Murals Be Freed?
... That and More Going On All Around Us ...
One of my favorite artists is Ben Shahn. I love his stunning color combos, his stories, his politics, his drawings, his shapes. I especially like his lettering, in Hebrew and English, which often shows up in his work, including the stunning one above.
Why am I bringing this up? Well, 13 giant New Deal murals of Shahn — their 1938 creation assisted by his wife, Bernarda Bryson Shahn — at the Bronx General Post Office have been locked up since 2014, when it was purchased by Young Woo & Associates, and OK’d by the city for its proposed redevelopment plan.
My wife and I were having a drink at Giovanni’s on E. 150th St. last Sunday, after seeing a show at Pregones/RITT Theatre (more on that below) around the block, and looking out the window there reminded me that the only thing created there is the restaurant on the roof, Zona De Cuba, which opened in 2019.
In 2016, the website New York Yimby posted an update, saying “Sometimes next Spring the landmarked general post office … will start a new life as retail, office space, and a restaurant.” But the retail and office space has yet to emerge during the eight years since then.
I called Young Woo & Associates, LLC to get more info close to publication, so I didn’t hear back in time, but I look forward to updating you on where things stand in the next edition.
OK, here’s some of what’s happening All Around Us …
The relatively new Bronx Children’s Museum (open Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays), includes a section where kids (and adults!) can learn about the “The Waterways,” via its 35-foot-long water table, “which mimics the look, feel, and function of the three Bronx waterways: the Bronx River, Harlem River and Orchard Beach.”
In AAAU’s last edition, check out several February happenings at BAAD! (Bronx Academy for Arts and Dance), a jazz concert at Mind Builders Creative Art Center in Wakefield, an Afro-Colombian Dance & Percussion workshop at the Bronx Music Heritage Center and more.
The Bronx Council on the Arts always lists many current art happenings throughout the borough as well as opportunities for artists, including a call for submission for “Black History Celebration Arts Showcase.” Application due Feb. 15.
Gary Axelbank, host of BronxTalk and The Bronx Buzz TV on BRONXNET, has launched a new podcast on YouTube called “The Bronx Music Podcast,” featuring interviews with Bronx musicians of all kinds. The first edition features folk musician Elliot Glick.
Blue Door Art Center in downtown Yonkers has put out a call for artists for an upcoming exhibit called “Women in Action, Together!” Submissions are due Feb. 18.
In addition to the Sixth Annual Biennial (Part One) show at the Bronx Museum that I want to go to again (the opening was great but too mobbed to see all the artwork up close) I also want to see Carlos Wilfredo’s exhibit, “Naturaleza Mutable” at Casita Maria Center for Arts and Education, open through March 1 in Hunts Point.
Through March 3, at the Hudson River Museum in Yonkers is the exhibit “Hip Hop Heroes,” honoring the Bronx, Mount Vernon and Yonkers “as sites of New York’s musical innovation, where artists from The Lox to DMX to Mary J. Blige honed their craft.” The museum has several other exhibits going on now, too.
Highlight:
Speaking of Hip Hop, that was the key theatrical element of “48 Hours in … El Bronx” at Pregones Theatre last Sunday, which my wife and I attended. There were six short plays written and rehearsed, in conjunction with the performance group Harlem 9, in just 48 hours! How is that freakin’ possible? Incredible! Especially because they were excellent, moving, engaging, sad and funny plays with a slew of excellent actors. One of the plays even centered on the Bronx damage done by Robert Moses who brought the borough its nightmare expressway, dividing an eliminating entire neighborhoods. Upsetting, yes, but hilarious simultaneously. Despite their one-night run, I hope somehow these performances can resurrect somehow, somewhere in the near future.
Trees as I See Them
Though I know so little about trees — their names, their national origins, their health, what kind of leaves they’ll share in Spring, etc. — I’m obsessed with them: their shapes, their heights, their interactions above and below ground. They are sculptures of nature, and even the same or related trees, present vastly different creative shapes (sometimes even human-like) which alternate in style season by season and, of course, they grow and change with age. They are a source of meditation for me. Birds and animals are beautiful too but trees are rooted. They move and shape themselves in vastly different ways in wind and storm but their base keeps them safe nonetheless (with some sad exceptions). You can just sit or stand and stare and view its movements and interactions. Here are a couple of photos of just one tree in Van Cortlandt Park that I really dig.
One last thing: The latest monthly exhibit at An Beal Bocht Cafe in Riverdale is by musician and artist friend Suzanne Hockstein. The show is on through the end of the month. Hockstein also performs with her band Seeing Voices at An Beal Bocht and has a monthly gathering of local musicians thre — The Cover Collective — who perform songs based on a theme. The last one, “All in the Family,” featured songs about moms, dads, sisters, brothers, etc. Here a couple of pix from Hockstein’s exhibit:
Have a wonderful weekend!
Art All Around Us is a weekly newsletter I publish via Substack, focusing on art in the Bronx, but also covering some of what’s going on in lower Westchester and upper Manhattan. It includes art happenings of all kinds and art resources for all types of artists. Sometimes, as with this edition, I’ll do some reporting on issues related to Bronx art and artists. AAAU is still pretty new, and growing as I continue working on it. If you have any suggestions or thoughts, please let me know here in a comment or email me at: jordanmossbx@gmail.com. Thanks to all who have already contacted me with support, encouragement, ideas and pledges of financial support. For all of that, I am truly grateful! -Jordan Moss
Another great newsletter, Jordan! Thank you! Outrageous about the post office re-development has yet to happen, with those murals hidden from public view. Looking forward to hearing what you find out and who to bug about getting the show on the road.