Today The Apollo Theater announced details of its fall 2020 season, which will take place exclusively online on the Apollo’s Digital Stage. The season features a broad range of free virtual events, including Wyclef Jean performing his Double Platinum album The Carnival; a special Live Wire conversation focused on the artistry of the Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin; and monthly Apollo music nights with independent musical artists through the Apollo Music Café, featuring artists Stout, J. Hoard, and Madison McFerrin.
One of the most enchanting streets in Harlem is a row of 28 houses on the south side of West 130th Street between Lenox and Fifth Avenues known as Astor Row. Let’s take a stroll back in time.
Kenseth Armstead’s ‘Boulevard of African Monarchs’ in Harlem
NYC DOT Art Community Commission and The Marcus Garvey Park Alliance partnered to install a timely and pertinent new art installation in Harlem. Kenseth Armstead: Boulevard of African Monarchs arrived on 116th Street and Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard on August 13, 2020.
On a recent studio visit with Connie Lee (pictured left), Curator/Director of Living with Art Salon and the President of Marcus Garvey Park Alliance and the Public Art Initiative to view The Dream Series by artist (pictured right) Capucine Bourcart
Have you been dreaming more frequently over this past few months? Intense, life like, scary dreams? Whimsical or wonderful dreams? According to several studies, COVID-19, and its affect on our life in general, has increased the trend.
This past June, I visited the Living with Art Salon, who had a most unusual piece in a small side-room, entitled ‘Big Dream‘ by artist Capucine Bourcart. This large-format artwork, hung from the ceiling, gracing the floor. It held a dream in a code known only to the artist, and it was printed ~ line by line ~ with sand collected from all over the world. Oh yes, we wanted to see more. Below is a visit to the artists’ studio to see her entire collection of the Dream Series.
Located across 125th Street from the famed Apollo Theater, Harlem Mart 125 was once a vibrant market for over two-hundred local vendors, with the feel of an indoor, open-air market. Owned by the City of New York, it was developed by government agencies in the mid-1980s to give street vendors an opportunity to have an indoor stall. For many reasons, the Mart closed its doors in 2002 and has remained vacant.
What does an aircraft carrier do when it retires? The Baylander IX-514 on the West 125th Street Harlem Pier, opened its hatch in a new life as a restaurant on the West Harlem Pier at 125th Street.
The Baylander will reopen for its 4th Season on April 27, 2023.
View from the front room – Living with Art ‘Pattern Migration’
Living with Art, the uptown salon-style gallery, re-opened with the installation Pattern Migration ~ works by artists Capucine Bourcart and Beatrice Lebreton.
Harlem’s historicNational Black Theatre (NBT) is hosting an annual salute to its founder and CEO emerita, the late Dr. Barbara Ann Teer, with NBT’s Founder’s Month, a month-long celebration of Teer, Black theater and community. Running through July 18, the celebration will feature the launch of NBT@Home: A Letter to the Future, a new series of online conversations on theater, current events and Black history with guests including Toshi Reagon, Ebony Noelle Golden, adrienne maree brown, Jonathan McCrory, Sade Lythcott, members of the theater’s original company of “Liberators,” and more, and the launch of NBT’s VISION Forward Fund Campaign, a fundraising drive to support and advance the theater well into the future.
‘Spirit of Harlem’ by artist Louis Del Sarte on Frederick Douglass Blvd at 125th Street in Harlem
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.
Black Public Media (BPM) is celebrating 40 years of showing the world that #blacklivesmatter by bringing Black content creators and their stories to the forefront for audiences across all screens.
As the organization takes stock of its four decades-long history, it is releasing the BPM 40 for 40 Media Game Changers, a list recognizing 40 individuals and organizations that, like BPM, have helped keep Black voices and Black stories present in the media and shaped the modern-day landscape of independent, Black film and television.
Kerstin Brätsch: Fossil Psychics for Christa, 2020
Kerstin Braetsch’s most recent works, titled Fossil Psychics for Christa, are brightly-colored, three dimensional stuccos, hovering between the realms of painting and sculpture. Stucco is a form of plaster, historically used to imitate marble and other rare stones. “It’s about extending painting,” Braetsch has explained of what drives her work, “following the logic of my brushstroke but in a different language.” With this material, Braetsch creates “paintings” that appear ancient, like the result of geologic phenomena. Created with the assistance of master artisan Valter Cipriani, they resemble brushstrokes and monsters, regular motifs in Braetsch’s oeuvre. These impossible objects are physically immediate, almost demanding to be touched, as well as deeply mysterious, like fossils transported here from another, less corporeal realm. Step into the Online Viewing Room at Gavin Brown’s enterprise for the exhibition, Kerstin Brätsch: Fossil Psychics for Christa.
The historic Harlem-based theater is resuming its 51st season with the launch of a new initiative called NBT@Home: Uplifting Communal Resilience on Wednesday, April 22, at 5:30 p.m. ET on its Facebook page and Facebook Live. NBT@Home is a new, free five-part weekly digital series that will present curated, hour-long artist discussions on subjects including the arts and health in the Black community and beyond.
Look for NBT@Home on Wednesday, April 29th, May 6th, May 13th, May 20th.
Ki Smith Gallery will not be physically opening its doors to the exhibition, Base 12: Don’t Call It a Comeback due to coronavirus. However the artists in this group exhibition announced that they will participating in the Fight Coronavirus & Artist Aid online auction, organized by Christie’s Corporate Social Responsibility program.
Adapting to changing times, The Apollo Theater will hold auditions for its new season via online submissions.
For the first time in its 86 year history, the Apollo Theater’s Amateur Night auditions will be conducted exclusively through online submissions, for the summer and fall 2020-21 season.
Artists known as BASE 12. Image courtesy Ki Smith Gallery.
How do you engage with a painting hung on the wall of a subway station? On the sidewalks or in our Parks? What happens when an exhibition is staged at one of the most celebrated museums in New York City without the museum’s consent?
Bisa Butler: “Zouave” (detail) quilted and appliquéd cotton, wool and chiffon 88 x 52 inches, 2020. Image courtesy Claire Oliver Gallery
Claire Oliver Gallery opens its doors to the debut solo exhibition by artist Bisa Butler: The Storm, the Whirlwind and the Earthquake on view February 29 – April 25, 2020. Butler’s textile portraits of people of color are created from layers of brightly colored fabrics with a multiplicity of meanings. Butler’s composite characters are inspired by historical photography; the resulting images are rendered life-sized with viewers often engaging the subjects eye to eye.
Dates have been set for the annual Harlem Restaurant Week 2020! Dozens of new and exciting restaurants and hot spots have been added to the list this year, including retail and special events.
This February, the world famous Apollo Theater will kick off Black History Month with Apollo Open House: Celebration of Cool on Saturday February 1st from 1 p.m. – 6.p.m., to celebrate and explore the rich history of the Theater as it continues the legacy of Black History.
Judith Schaecter, ‘Murdered Animal, 2018, stained glass lightbox, 28″ x 28″, courtesy of the artist and Claire Oliver Gallery
The much anticipated inaugural exhibition in its new Harlem building, Claire Oliver Gallery will open its doors to Almost Better Angels featuring new works by Judith Schaechter on Saturday, January 18th.
The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture will host its Eighth Annual Black Comic Book Festival on January 17 and January 18 from 10 AM to 8 PM. Darryl “DMC” McDaniels, member of the legendary hip hop group Run-DMC and founder of the independent publishing house Darryl Makes Comics, will participate in the panel discussion “Hip Hop and Comics in 3D” with Andre Davis and Dawud Anyabwile on January 18 at 2 PM.
IMAGES: Annina Roescheisen, Stills from Bridging Grey, 2019
Ki Smith Gallery will open its doors to Bridging Grey, a new video and performance installation by German artist Annina Roescheisen. Her readings of Ludwig Wittgenstein, Arthur Schopenhauer, and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe are the basis for this new body of work. In the mid-eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, these philosophers began to investigate the aesthetics of color. Roescheisen has been most influenced by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, whose intuitive approach linked the colors we see to the emotion and mood we feel in their presence. In his Theory of Colours, Goethe writes about painting, “From these three, light, shade, and colour, we construct the visible world, and thus, at the same time, make painting possible, an art which has the power of producing on a flat surface a much more perfect visible world than the actual one can be.”
On Saturday, November 30th, Ki Smith Gallery will open its doors to a celebration of the extraordinary life of acclaimed documentary and street photographer Jill Freedman (1939-2019).
Today, the iconic nonprofit Apollo Theaterannounced details of its spring 2020 season featuring genre-spanning performances—from music, dance, and theater to comedy and film screenings—that continue the theater’s strong mission of articulating African American narratives through cultural programming. Season highlights include the Apollo’s Africa Now! and African Film Festival 30th Anniversary Celebration presenting the legendary Oumou Sangaré; Burnt Sugar the Arkestra Chamber performing Isaac Hayes’ Academy Award-winning score Shaft, alongside a screening of the film; the Apollo Salon Series presentation of A Time to Love, a musical theater collaboration with National Black Theatre; and the signature series that brings patrons to the Apollo year-round, Amateur Night at the Apollo, Apollo Music Café, andApollo Comedy Club.Through its programming, educational, and community initiatives, the Apollo continues to advance its commitment to creating a 21st century performing arts canon, providing a home to artists and the community, while tackling important social issues for Harlem, New York, and the nation.
Here it is ~ The exciting Apollo Theater 2020 Spring Season.
Some twenty-five years ago, Commissioner of the New York State Office of General Services, RoAnn Destito, did a walk-through at what is our current State Office Building. The building was in total disarray with no window glass in some of the space. But in the basement she found a treasure-trove of artwork that had been stacked up and left there for several years. It was the work of local artists of that day, names like Barboza, Bey, Catlett, DeCarava, Van Der Zee…….
This work is part of The New York State Harlem Art Collection’s permanent collection, and it will be on view beginning November 15 for the first time since the mid 1990s.
The long-awaited ribbon-cutting for the restoration and unveiling of the historic Harlem Fire Watchtower took place on Saturday, October 26, 2019, to the delight of the entire community. Come along with us as we walk up to the Acropolis and celebrate the watchtower’s return.
“96 in the Shade” Image courtesy of the artist, Al Johnson and X Gallery
X Gallery began as a one-year experiment, with the support and sponsorship of John McGuinness, owner of Harlem Properties on Malcolm X Boulevard (Lenox Avenue). Now in its third year, the gallery will be closing its doors with a final two-day exhibition, works by the renowned artist, Al Johnson.
St Martin’s Episcopal Church, 230 Lenox Avenue in Harlem
Churches in Harlem and East Harlem have been very much in the news, due to declining membership and deteriorating buildings, and numerous sales of these properties. And so, when a reader told us that the historic bells were recently removed from St. Martin’s Episcopal Church in Harlem, we were more than curious ~ and delighted to learn that the carillon is on its way to South Carolina for evaluation and restoration. A representative of the Diocese went on to say that their first order of business will be to stabilize the tower and interior space, with scaffolding going up inside the building next week.
We checked in with the Diocese again in September, 2021, and they were eager to share that they are continuing the restoration, with their main focus on restoring the tower, fixing the roof and otherwise making it possible for the congregation to move back in. The bells remain out of state at the bell foundry, where restoration is underway.
Continuing the good news, In November, 2021, Amsterdam News reported that St. Martin’s was one of 18 receiving a Sacred Site Grant from The New York Landmarks Conservancy. St. Martin’s was pledged a $25,000 grant towards roof replacement at the attached parish hall, and $15,000 to help support architectural work for the project, per New York Landmarks Conservancy.
And finally, in a recent interview Rev. Patrick Williams said that scaffolding is coming down because the roof work has concluded. However, there is still quite a lot of work to be done, as the restoration continues.
Workers on scaffolding, October 22, 2020
We may be in the middle of a pandemic, but the renovation work at St. Martin’s Church continues. Above and below, workers were spotting high on the top scaffolding on Thursday, October 22, 2020.
artist tatyana fazlailzaheh-she is the first public artist in residence at nycchr.
New York City Department of Cultural Affairs announced four new public artists-in-residence (PAIR). We spotted the work of one of them on Lenox Avenue at 125th Street in Harlem.
Tatyana Fazlalizadeh, a Brooklyn-based street artist and painter whose street art project Stop Telling Women to Smile tackles gender-based street harassment. Her work can be found on walls from New York to Paris, Los Angeles to Mexico City, and right here…….
THE NATIONAL URBAN LEAGUE’S PLANNED HEADQUARTERS ON 125TH STREET IN HARLEM WILL INCLUDE 170 BELOW-MARKET APARTMENTS, OFFICE SPACE, RETAIL AND THE CITY’S FIRST CIVIL RIGHTS MUSEUM. IMAGE: BEYER BLINDER BELLE. Image via Commercial Observer.
The much anticipated mixed-use development located at 121 West 125th Street that will be home to the new headquarters of the National Urban League is now leasing. Update on Yimby May 23, 2023.
In addition to the National Urban League, the building will be used by several non-profit’s including 100 Black Men. It will also house a Trader Joe’s and a Target retail shop, Sephora and Pandora. To answer everyone’s big question, no set date has been set for the opening of Trader Joe’s.
You think it’s hot outside? Check this out ~ Jazzmobile to launch residency at historic Minton’s Playhouse ~ kicking it off with Nat Adderley, Jr. on July 4th. Let’s celebrate!
California Chef Russell Jackson has opened a fine dining restaurant, Reverence Harlem, in the historic Strivers Row District, close to where he has been living, on 138th Street ~ and Reservations are now Live!
Ariel Blackwood dances in 125th & FREEsom. Photo Credit: Garlia C. Jones. Image courtesy NBT
The National Black Theatre(NBT) has been celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2019 with a series of performances throughout the city ~ all year long. Next up ~ June 22nd and June 29th
Faction Art Projects opens its doors to Andrew Thiele: Moral Compass, a four-day solo exhibition of new urban, mixed media collage works. The exhibition of the Harlem-based artist will feature over twenty new large-scale artworks. Throughout the show, there will be a calendar of events including a workshop, a jazz performance and a book signing of Thiele’s newest publication.
Filipe Branquinho, Jorge Macate, Padeiro (Jorge Macate, Baker), 2011. Courtesy the artist.
After the End: Timing Socialism in Contemporary African Artpresents a selection of works engaging with the history of African socialisms. It features artists looking at countries including Angola, Ethiopia, Guinea-Bissau and Mozambique. The exhibition is the first in North America to explore aesthetic responses to African socialisms and their aftermath.
The much anticipated renovation of Settepani Harlem is complete, with a soft opening that packed the tables. The new concept has all the bells and whistles from their signature breads and gorgeous deserts to salads, pizza and panini’s ~ along with a full bar.
The Annual Mount Morris Park Community Improvement Association (MMPCIA)House Touris set for Sunday, June 9th. This year, the tour’s theme, Harlem Nights, is in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Harlem Renaissance.
They’re back! Remember the eleven Harlem students who created murals inside the new Shake Shack on 125th Street? Once again, partnering with Creative Art Works, the young artists completed the exterior work on the facade, which includes Fifth Avenue and 125th Street.
In celebration of the completed installation, Creative Art Works invites the Community to an official dedication of the exterior art on Thursday, May 23rd at 4:30pm. In addition, 25% of all proceeds on any purchase at Shake Shack that entire day will be donated to Creative Art Works IF the buyer mentions Creative Art Works (or CAW) at the register.
The artists Ektoras Binikos and Simon Jutras have merged their diverse artistic styles to create a sophisticated new mixology cocktail bar, located on Frederick Douglass Boulevard’s Restaurant Row in Harlem ~ a homage to the Uptown Speakeasies and salons of Harlem’s historic past ~ Sugar Monk.
NYC Parks’ Art in the Parks ~ Creative Courts initiative, Facebook Artist-in-Residence Program (FB AIR Program), along with artist Saya Woolfalk, the non-profit Publicolor, and the Marcus Garvey Park Alliance/Public Art Initiative have arrived at the basketball court on Madison Avenue near 122nd Street in Marcus Garvey Park. Watch as this work-in-progress takes shape over this next week.
Tendayi Kuumba by Michael Hančovský courtesy Harlem Stage
From May 2-4 and 9-11, 2019, Harlem Stage’s signature dance series E-Movescelebrates its 20th anniversary. Throughout its history, E- Moves has commissioned, presented and nurtured choreographers of color across the spectrum of contemporary dance idioms to create new work. In celebration of this anniversary, Harlem Stage will present 6 nights of dance featuring 2 commissioned artists presenting new works. In addition to the 2 new works, each night will feature additional choreographers and a pop-up performance by up-and-coming choreographers.
Armando Mariño, The Mexican, 2019. Image courtesy FACTION Art Projects
FACTION Art Projects will open its doors to the solo exhibition, La Selva Oscura, by Armando Mariño with ten large-scale oil paintings of figures in landscapes drawing on themes of identity and personal history within the current political and socio-economic climate.
Drawing from his Cuban roots, the artists’ work is influenced by periods of time living in Cuba, the Netherlands, France and New York’s Hudson Valley ~ as well as experience of dislocation and popular culture.
Lenox Avenue unveils an addition to its already fabulous Restaurant Row. Archer & Goat, located next to Il Caffe Latte and Nilu Gift Shop, between 119th and 120th Streets.
Hank Willis Thomas: All Power to All People, a 25-foot tall Afro Comb will arrive on the Plaza at The Africa Center in Harlem along with a fun-filled weekend including a Community Day on Saturday, April 13th and Sunday Drumming on April 14th.
Alex Katz, Sunset, 2019 courtesy Gavin Brown’s enterprise Harlem
This exhibition tells the story of a year in Alex Katz’s painted-life. A life where landscapes are observed from the edge of his home in Maine. For more than half a century, Katz painted this land with a virtuosity yoked to a consistent elegance. Today, while the elegance remains, something else has beckoned. Katz finds himself in the middle of the tempest.
X Gallery opens its doors to the artwork of Ademola Olugebefola, one of the original founders of the WEUSI Artist Collective ~ a movement founded in 1965, created for the purpose of promoting the African-American Culture through art.
Celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, the Clair Oliver Gallery announced a move from its Chelsea location to a new home in Harlem, with space currently under construction.
The 2019 edition of The Tribeca Film Festival will open with a documentary on The Apollo Theater! The Roger Ross Williams directed film, which will air later in the year on HBO, will screen at the historic Harlem venue on April 24th.
Celebrate the life of the trailblazing entertainer and activist, Harry Belafonte, with artists who know him well at the musical event, Turn the World Around: The Music and Legacy of Harry Belafonte at City College of the Arts (CCCA) on Friday, March 1st.
Martinez Gallery located on the corner of 135th Street and Broadway in Harlem
Is it a pediatric clinic inside an art gallery or an art gallery inside a pediatric clinic? Either way, it’s a fun and colorful way for kids and artists of all ages. Follow us inside……
