Online Viewing Rooms and our local Parks, large and small, have supported our efforts to stay healthy and positive during this difficult time. As we prepare for reopening June 8th, we continue with these creative ways to connect. June brings with it more than 40 art installations, performances and online exhibits to add to your list, as well as many Online Viewing Rooms & Tours still on view.
Before we begin, we reflect on the life ~ and death of George Floyd, with a mural painted by local Minneapolis artist, Xena Goldman. “As artists, this is our tool,” Goldman said. “This is something we can do to serve the community and honor his memory.”
Spalding & Hersch, Live at The Village Vanguard through June
Cover design, art work, and photo by Christopher Drukker
What better way to kick-off the month of June than with a live recording by Esperanza Spalding and Fred Hersch at The Village Vanguard to benefit the Jazz Foundation. We’re lucky to be able to hear it free through the month of June. Want more? Buy the digital album and support the Foundation.
SmallsLIVE beginning June 1
Starting tonight Smalls Jazz Foundation will begin having bands perform live from Smalls Jazz Club. The club will not be open to the public until such a time that we are given guidance that we may. It will be just the musicians, a manager and one sound person. We will live stream these shows to our website, www.smallslive.com, and also to our Facebook page. There will be no charge to watch these live shows. Our model is one of sponsorship. One where supporters, if they choose, may make donations to our foundation (tax deductible) and by doing so, sponsor the performances and the venues. Just Register for Free.
LMCC: New York We Love You Benefit Auction 2020 closes June 2nd at 5:00 pm
Lower Manhattan Cultural Council + Artsy present the LMCC New York We Love You Benefit Auction 2020. Browse lots and place bids before the sale closes on Tuesday, June 2nd at 5pm.
It’s a Cocktail Party! Virtually at Poster House ~ June 3
Join Poster House Museum as Nicholas shares coveted poster classics and rare gems from that iconic time of flappers and fantasy. After whetting our collective appetites for all things Great Gatsby, Don will instruct us how to turn our humble homes into virtual speakeasies with four classic cocktails. The Roaring Twenties are back again! Virtual Art Deco Poster & Cocktail Party, June 3rd from 7-9pm. Register For Free.
Artful Circle Virtual Visits: The Sculptures of Central Park ~ June 3
Artful Circle is introducing a brand new online program ~ Virtual Visits! Entertaining, educational and interactive, The Sculptures of Central Park, Part one, is a Free introductory session on June 3, 14 and 16. Register & Enjoy!
Claire Oliver Gallery Adds VR Experience with Inaugural Visit to Bisa Butler: Portraits at Katonah Museum of Art
Expanding on the gallery model, Claire Oliver Gallery announced a new addition to its website. Its inaugural VR Experience will take us to the Bisa Butler: Portraits Exhibition at the Katonah Museum of Art.
Explore The National Arts Club Permanent Collection
Explore over 60 artworks from The National Arts Club’s permanent collection + the Club’s first-ever virtual exhibition, A Century of American Landscape Art, showcasing works collected over the last 100 years.
Virtual Tour of The Statue of Liberty
Missing the Statue of Liberty? Check out a virtual tour of not only the exterior (above image from the torch), but also the interior and museum!
Josh Smith: High as Fuck in the Online Viewing Room at David Zwirner Gallery
High As Fuck presents new work by Josh Smith made during the current COVID-19 pandemic and New York City’s mandatory quarantine. Staged by the artist on the rooftop of his studio in Brooklyn, High As Fuck is an open-air exhibition that is, by default, only accessible online by a homebound audience. The show features a new series of paintings of empty streetscapes. Depicted is Smith’s neighborhood environs as he has experienced them during early morning and nighttime walks around a locked down city.
Maria Lassnig. Me, Encircled by a Fly in the Online Viewing Room at Hauser & Wirth
Image courtesy Hauser & Wirth New York
The work of Maria Lassnig, one of the most significant painters of the contemporary era, is marked by its unrelenting probing into themes of the body and its meaning. The online exhibition, ‘Maria Lassnig. Me, Encircled by a Fly’, is a special selection of the artist’s works on paper and canvases between 1987 and 2005. It explores this preoccupation with the physical presence of the body – a concept the artist coined as ‘body awareness’. ‘I searched for reality that was more fully in my possession than the exterior world’, Lassnig remarked. ‘I found it waiting for me in the body house in which I dwell, realest and clearest reality…’ Taking its title from an eponymous self-portrait painted in the 1990s, the presentation considers myriad interpretations of the physical that Lassnig depicted throughout her oeuvre.
Grey Art Gallery at NYU ~ Online Tours, Talks, and Good Reads
Though we do not yet know when the Grey Art Gallery will reopen to the public, we are continuing to devise new ways of sharing our collections and exhibitions. In the past year, our exhibitions Taking Shape: Abstraction from the Arab World, 1950s–1980s and Modernisms: Iranian, Turkish, and Indian Highlights from NYU’s Abby Weed Grey Collection have highlighted the diversity that exists in modern art on a global scale. Here’s what to watch and read this weekend to learn more about modernisms across national borders.
Monuments Now at Socrates Sculpture Garden
Monuments Now has been modified due to COVID-19. Three cumulative parts will evolve throughout the year 2020 beginning with Part 1 opening this Summer, consisting of major new commissions for contemporary monuments by artists Jeffrey Gibson, Paul Ramírez Jonas, and Xaviera Simmons.
SCNY Photography Show in The Galleries at Salmagundi
35.6 × 27.9 × 2.5 cm. $450.
The SCNY Photography Show unveiled in The Galleries at Salmagundi online viewing room in the Artsy Showroom. The works are presented by Salmagundi Club photographer members. The full collection at The Galleries at Salmagundi in The Artsy Showroom.
The Hudson River School in 3D
The Albany Institute holds a large and important collection of nineteenth-century American landscape paintings, works often associated with the term “Hudson River School.” Now you can explore this wonderful collection from your home with a Virtual Visit: 3D Tour of Hudson River School Exhibition.
Virtual Chinese Cooking Class with Nom Wah ~ June 8
On June 8th, join Poster House Museum for a virtual cooking class with Nom Wah, one of New York City’s oldest dim sum houses. Celebrating its 100th anniversary, Nom Wah has served authentic Chinese dishes to locals and tourists alike since 1920, becoming one of the most famous restaurants in Chinatown. In this one-night-only class, Nom Wah’s Head Chef will give you tips and tricks to craft iconic Chinese cuisine at home. By the end of the event you’ll have dinner for the whole family!
Pat Steir: Artist, a Documentary Film ~ June 9
Pat Steir: Artist, a documentary film directed by Veronica Gonzalez Peña about the life of legendary artist Pat Steir, will be released on Apple TV, Prime Video, and other digital platforms as well as DVD on June 9, 2020.
Museum Mile Festival Goes Virtual ~ June 9
Eight New York City museums are joining together to create the first ever day-long virtual Museum Mile Festival on Tuesday, June 9, 2020, from 9 am to 9 pm. Throughout the day, each museum will host live and pre-recorded programs, virtual exhibition tours, live musical performances, and activities for families streamed across their respective websites and social media platforms. Culture enthusiasts from around the world will now be able to join New Yorkers, during this unprecedented moment, and enjoy the festival.
Faith Ringgold Online at MoMA ~ June 18
Join Anne Umland, Senior Curator in the Department of Painting and Sculpture, in conversation with artist Faith Ringgold, as they discuss Ringgold’s work as part of MoMA’s Virtual Views Initiative. The Free Online Event will be held on Thursday, June 18th at 8:00pm.
Celebrating Juneteenth Day ~ June 19
Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day, Jubilee Day, and Cel-Libertation Day, celebrates the Emancipation Proclamation of 1865. It is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the end to slavery in the United States. While much of our City is still under COVID-19 restrictions, our community celebrates in thoughtful walks, marches, and online, virtually. Here are a few ways to celebrate Juneteenth 2020 in New York, beginning with the One Million March.
The Salmagundi Club Spring Auction ~ Live Online June 19th
The Salmagundi Club Auction, benefiting the historic club, has been rescheduled for June 19 at 4:00pm online. The works by artist members include all media from oil paintings, sculpture, fine-art graphics, and photography. This Event is a major fundraiser for the non-profit Salmagundi Club.
The World is Full of Endless Things: Saul Leiter’s New York in the Online Viewing Room at Howard Greenberg Gallery
The World is Full of Endless Things: Saul Leiter’s New York is now in the Online Viewing Room at Howard Greenberg Gallery New York. The exhibition is a wonderful ode to New York, exploring Leiter’s nearly seventy-years in a City he loved ~ and in particular, the East Village where he lived beginning in 1952.
‘Michaelangelo Lovelace. Nightshift’ coming to the Online Viewing Room at Fort Gansevoort
Beginning Thursday, May 28, Fort Gansevoort will present Nightshift, an exhibition of drawings by Michelangelo Lovelace (b. 1960), composed from the bedsides and common areas of nursing homes throughout Cleveland, Ohio, where he has worked for over 30 years as a nurse’s aide while pursuing his artistic practice.
Renowned Photographer Peter Turnley with ‘The Human Face of COVID-19, NYC’ + ‘New York Lock-down Visual Diary’
Since the beginning of the coronavirus crises in NYC, Peter Turnley has gone out most days, with camera and notebook. ‘The Human Face of Covid-19, NYC‘ (video above) and a link to his beautiful ‘New York Lock-down Visual Diary.’ tell the stories of so many heroes and victims, documented in images ~ a true celebration of their courage and New York spirit.
Orhan Pamuk: Nights of Plague
When Nobel Laureate and Columbia University School of the Arts Writing Professor Orhan Pamuk was asked what he’s working on right now, “remarkably, he has for some time been writing a new novel called Nights of Plague.” In a question and answer session, Professor Pamuk discusses his book alongside his drawings, pictures, and maps, illustrating the world he is inventing.
More from Pamuk’s opinion piece in the New York Times in April, 2020, entitled ‘What the Great Pandemic Novel Teaches Us.’
Virtual Solstice in Times Square ~ June 20
Experienced yogis and first-timers are all welcome to join Times Square Summer Solstice Yoga Celebration led by Solstice Times Square Co-Founder Douglass Stewart. Saturday, June 20th, 8am, 12pm, and 4pm.
The Summer Solstice at Stonehenge Streaming Live ~ June 20
For the first time ever, the summer solstice at Stonehenge will stream live on Sunday morning (sunrise), June 21 (local time) and Sunset, June 20th, on English Heritage’s social media accounts. Follow on Facebook, June 20th.
Birthday Drag Brunch & Trivia Party Online at Poster House Museum ~ June 21
It’s a party ~ a Trivia Party! Poster House Museum is celebrating its First Birthday with a Virtual Birthday Drag Brunch on June 21st! For this poster-themed event, the Museum has enlisted none other than the incomparable Hedda Lettuce to host Classic Movie Poster Trivia over Zoom. Grab a cocktail and sign up for this Free Event.
Celebrating the 35th Anniversary of the Percent for Art Program & Art Installation, Growth, in Harlem Art Park ~ June 26
On June 26th, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs will celebrate the 35th Anniversary of the Percent for Art Program, and its first art installation, Growth, by sculpture artist, Jorge Luis Rodriguez. Here are some wonderful images of the artist and Growth as it was being created, and a few thoughts on this historic occasion by the artist when we visited his studio in May, 2020.
HIV/AIDS: Activism & Posters Online at Poster House Museum ~ June 29
As part of ongoing Pride Month Programming at Poster House Museum, save the date, June 29th from 5:30-7:30pm for Avram Finkelstein, one of the creators of the iconic Silence=Death poster, in conversation with AIDS historian Ian Bradley-Perrin.
The Salmagundi Club Galleries Re-Open with Coast Guard Art Collection Exhibition ~ June 29
As New York City moves to step beyond the restrictions of COVID19, it is only appropriate that the Salmagundi Club re-opens its main floor gallery on June 29 with an exhibition of works depicting the United States Coast Guard, first responders in their own right.
The Jewish Museum Applies for Permit Displaying Temporary Mural by Artist Lawrence Weiner
The Jewish Museum hopes to display a multi-story mural installed at the corner of Fifth Avenue and East 92nd Street with the neon-blue message, ‘All the Stars in the Sky have the Same Face‘. It was originally designed in 2011 by American conceptual artist Lawrence Weiner, with lettering in Hebrew, Arabic and English. Stay tuned for decision by New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission.
Take a Tour of the Stars in Grand Central Terminal
Immerse yourself in an unforgettable journey across the iconic celestial ceiling in Grand Central Terminal. Learn about the constellations, discover the zodiac’s orientation, and find out about the ceiling’s mysterious “dark patch”!
Take a Virtual Day-Trip to The Barnes in Philadelphia
The Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia has a new free online program ~ Barnes Takeout. Get your daily serving of art in this new YouTube series.
Andy Warhol ~ in Twelve Online Viewing Rooms of Tate Modern
This major retrospective is the first Warhol exhibition at Tate Modern for almost 20 years. As well as his iconic pop images of Marilyn Monroe, Coca-Cola and Campbell’s soup cans, it includes works never seen before in the UK. Twenty-five works from his Ladies and Gentlemen series – portraits of black and Latinx drag queens and trans women – are shown for the first time in 30 years. Take a virtual exhibition tour of the artist’s life and career in twelve rooms of Tate Modern.
Explore Tate’s other galleries online.
Let’s Take a Van Gogh Museum 4K Tour of Over 2,100 Artworks
The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam is closed due to COVID-19, but the Museum invites all to step into a seven-part virtual tour, displaying more than 2,100 artworks.
Take a Virtual Day-Trip to 12 Historic Destinations via National Trust for Historic Preservation
Stroll through Vizcaya Museum and Gardens in Coconut Grove; tour the Pollock-Krasner House; the Museum at Eldridge Street; George Eastman Museum + more through the National Trust for Historic Preservation portal.
Take a Virtual Walk on Mars with NASA
You have the time, so why not take the ultimate day-trip ~ to Mars. Starting April, 2020, everyone can get a taste of what that feels like. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, collaborated with Google to produce Access Mars, a free immersive experience. It’s available for use on all desktop and mobile devices and virtual reality/augmented reality (VR/AR) headsets. That includes mobile-based virtual reality devices on Apple and Android. Buckle up!
Times Square Arts + Artists Have Messages for All New Yorkers
Phase two of this installation will be shaped by the work of contemporary visual artists and curated by Times Square Arts and For Freedoms. A rotating display of designs will be on view in Times Square on an ongoing basis at the 15, 30, and 45- minute marks throughout each day. The digital spaces for this citywide initiative have been generously donated by 20 Times Squareand Maefield Development, American Eagle, Branded Cities, Morgan Stanley, Silvercast Lincoln Tunnel, and LinkNYC.
Fotografiska New York Launches Fotographers (in) Focus
Fotographers (in) Focus is a behind-the-lens video and photo project, asking photographers currently exhibiting at Fotografiska to tell more about their process, and what they have been working on during the pandemic.
Fotografiska New York + United Nations Human Rights & David Clark Cause = the Annual ‘Photography 4 Humanity’ Global Prize Competition & Exhibitions
Description: “A married couple drink coffee in the remains of their home in Souma.”
Location: Syria. Courtesy Fotografisks
Fotografiska New York, the photography museum located in the Flatiron District of Manhattan, announced today their partnership with United Nations Human Rights and David Clark Cause as the exclusive presenter of the annual Photography 4 Humanity Global Prize Competition and subsequent exhibitions.
Submissions for the 2020 Photography 4 Humanity Global Prize Competition open today, May 8th, and will be open until August 31, 2020.
Here’s How to Whitney From Home!
Even in uncertain times, there are no limits to the creative spirit. It’s what makes us human. So while the Museum is temporarily closed, know that the spirit of the Whitney is open to all—and committed to connecting you to inspiration, knowledge, and a sense of community through art. They’ve laid out some of the best ways to explore American art of the twentieth century to today across our website and social media channels. Start with a journey through our online collection, revisit some of your favorite Whitney exhibitions, and enjoy an array of video and audio content that will bring you closer to the stories behind the art and artists that we at the Whitney hold so dear.
Read, Watch + Listen at MoMA
MoMA has opened its Online Portal to free online courses, educational materials to teach art from home, Artist Talks, and an online view of the Museum’s collection.
The MET 360° Project
The Met 360° Project is a series of six short videos inviting viewers to virtually visit The Met’s art and architecture using spherical 360° technology. The Project includes The Great Hall; Met Cloisters; The Temple of Dendur; Met Breuer; The Charles Engelhard Court; and Arms and Armor Galleries.
Explore The American Museum of Natural History Virtually
The Museum of Natural History is closed, but they welcome virtual visits. Here you will get a behind the scenes look at iconic habitat dioramas; inside the Museum, and a Google Arts and Culture Tour. On this page, you will also find materials for teachers (Khan Academy), families and kids.
Free Passenger Search from Ellis Island Foundation
Have you tried the free passenger search to find your Ellis Island connection?
NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission Launches ‘Seneca Village Unearthed’ ~ Online
The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) announced the launch of Seneca Village Unearthed, an online exhibit and collection of artifacts from what was once New York City’s largest community of free African-American landowners. Seneca Village was located in what is now Central Park, a scenic landmark. Through this online exhibit and collection, the general public will for the first time have access to nearly 300 artifacts and get a glimpse of what life was like for Seneca villagers in the mid-19th century.
Take Refuge in the Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room at The Rubin Museum of Art
The Rubin Museum of Art is sending out an online ‘Rubin Care Package’ of art and practices for navigating our world in this time of instability and feeling of global community fear, loss, isolation and stress. Take refuge in the Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room with two-hours of meditative chanting, and Podcasts allowing listeners to hear meditations designed to focus our mind and control our breath.
Watch & Listen to the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center
Watch, listen and interact with Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Learn about their recordings, enjoy music videos, and watch livestreams.
Jazz at Lincoln Center with Three Full concerts Online
Jazz at Lincoln Center has unlocked its vaults and rolled out three full concert videos from past seasons. Heading over to YouTube, enjoy The Music of Miles Davis; South African Songbook; and Family concert: Who is Chick Corea. Stay tuned for more from their archives in the near future.
….and from the vault, a commemoration of Ella Fitzgerald on what would have been her 100th birthday. Celebrate the ‘First Lady of Song’ from home Here.
Museum of Jewish Heritage Livestream Events
The Museum of Jewish Heritage has launched Livestream Events including a concert to commemorate The 75th Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz.
The National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene Brings the Stage to You ~ Online
The National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene, who brought us ‘Fiddler on the Roof‘ in Yiddish, has stepped up with ‘Folksbiene LIVE!’, a social media performance series. Can’t get to Broadway? Check out the online stage at Folksbiene! Live.
The Schomburg Center invites the Public to Explore Victor Hugo Green + The Green Books Online
The Green Book, a guidebook for black Americans, was published by New York postal worker Victor Hugo Green from 1936 to 1966, during the Jim Crow era in America as a way for working-class African-Americans to pursue the American Dream of travel before and during the Civil Rights Movement. The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture houses the full digital collection of Green Books and other similar guides. They are available free online.
Let’s Take a Walk in our Parks, Big & Small ~ and Bring Along Your 6′ Measuring Stick
New York City Parks have a plethora of outdoor art installations throughout all five boroughs. It may come to pass that our City is put under a ‘shelter-in-place’ order. But in the meantime, a nice long walk and some fresh air and exercise might be good for mind and soul. Here are a few suggestions, keeping in mind that some of the installations are temporary, and coming to an end as soon as the end of this month.
Still on View:
David Shrigley, Lockdown Drawing in the Online Viewing room at Stephen Friedman Gallery through June 7, 2020
‘Lockdown Drawings’ is a new body of work created by British artist David Shrigley during the UK’s coronavirus lockdown in spring 2020. Encompassing 340 works to date, these quick-witted ink on paper drawings reveal chance utterings and satirical comments on everyday situations and human interactions. Shrigley produced these works at his home by the sea in Devon, in the southwest of England. “We decamped here from Brighton. And I brought 500 sheets of paper and several bottles of ink,” the artist says. “I have a little studio in the house [and] I’m able to do my thing.”
The Facade Commission: Wangechi Mutu at The MET on view through June 8, 2020
The Metropolitan Museum of Art unveiled four installations on the facade of The Met Fifth Avenue, entitled The Facade Commission: Wangechi Mutu, The NewOnes, will free us. Wangechi Mutu was selected to create sculptures for The Met’s Fifth Avenue façade niches—the first-ever such installation on the Museum’s historic exterior—inaugurating a new annual artist commission series. The works were unveiled on September 9, 2019, and extended through June 8, 2020.
Six Art Installations in Bella Abzug Park on view through June 30, 2020
Who can forget Bella Abzug ~ and in honor of her memory, New York City Parks renamed Hudson Yards Park in her honor during Women’s History Month, 2019. The busy little Park is also a #7 Train stop on the subway at 34th Street, and sits alongside an entrance to The Shed and The Vessel. It is under the auspices of not only NYC Parks, but also The Hudson Yards Hell’s Kitchen Alliance (HYHK).
Tatyana Fazlalizadeh: Stop Telling Women to Smile on view to at least August, 2020
Tatyana Fazlalizadeh, a Brooklyn-based street artist and painter whose street art project Stop Telling Women to Smiletackles gender-based street harassment. Her work can be found on walls from New York to Paris, Los Angeles to Mexico City, and right here…… along with some unexpected additions to her posters from locals.
Jean-Marie Appriou: the Horses on view through August 30, 2020
Jean-Marie Appriou: The Horses arrived on the Doris C. Freedman Plaza, following Mark Manders: Tilted Head. Curated by Public Art Fund Curator, Daniel S. Palmer, the massive equine sculptures stand like surreal sentinels at the entrance to Central Park.
Capucine Bourcard: Eat Me! + Public Art Initiative on view through August 30, 2020
In a city filled with fast-food options on every corner, bags of chips and cans of soda filling the shelves in local deli’s and bodega’s, and large, glossy ads of sugared drinks on billboards and in shop windows, it’s not easy promoting healthy eating to our kids. Or is it. In the installation EAT ME! the artist, Capucine Bourcart takes a deep-dive into the ease of turning this around in her community, Harlem.
Naomi Lawrence: La Flor De Mi Madre + Public Art Initiative on view through August 30, 2020
The 12 foot x 24 foot Crochet mural, La Flor De Mi Madre by artist Naomi Lawrence, is located on the fence at Eugene McCabe Field in East Harlem. It represents the diverse community in which it is placed, in a colorful representation of national flowers.
Susan Stair: Roots on Fire on view through August 30, 2020
Spending time with artist Susan Stair brings a whole new meaning to the trees that fill our green spaces. As we watched her work to create the clay molds for her next installation, Roots on Fire, Stair took us on a virtual journey underground, exploring how trees constantly send electrical messages through their roots and the mushroom (or mychorrizal network) that compose the Wood Wide Web. Come along on our three-part journey, as we document the creation of the installation Roots on Fire.
Simone Leigh: Brick House Coming to the High Line Plinth on view to September, 2020
As the High Line extends north, the new extended section known as the High Line Plinth unveiled its inaugural installation ~ Simone Leigh’s Brick House, seen from 10th Avenue at 30th Street.
See you in July!