by Kathleen Reckling, Deputy Director of Public Programs, ArtsWestchester When COVID-19 landed in North America, artist Cheryl Wing-Zi Wong was away from her New York home, balancing a residency in Calgary, Canada with overseeing the complex fabrication of her monumental sculpture, Current. There was still pasta on the shelves of…
Five days a week, artist Chris Soria hops on his silver bicycle at 7 a.m. and takes a five-minute ride from his Nyack home to an underpass on the Rockland County side of the Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge. On the way, he picks up coffee and breakfast sandwiches for…
Photography is as special a medium as music is. Can you tell me who your favorite band is? I can’t. There are just too many sounds and different styles that I love, and picking my favorite would be an impossible task. The same is true with photography. Ever since the…
A life-sized bronze statue of Abraham Lincoln in Peekskill tells the story of Lincoln’s only visit to Westchester more than 150 years ago. The statue captures the President-elect during his stop in Peekskill on February 19, 1861, during his inaugural train trip from Illinois to Washington D.C. At the train depot, the soon-to-be President gave a brief but powerful address, in which he implored more than 1,000 Peekskill residents for support in the emerging secession conflict.
The first of ten original works of art is scheduled to be installed on the Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge path this month. A massive sculpture, TAPPAN ZEE, is the work of artist Ilan Averbuch. It is one of the site-responsive works chosen in a competitive selection process managed by ArtsWestchester in collaboration with the New York State Thruway Authority and the Arts Council of Rockland.
In Westchester, architect and developer Martin Ginsburg has been a leader in harnessing the arts for his development projects. In partnership with ArtsWestchester, Ginsburg Development Companies (GDC) has issued a call to artists for a major 25-foot high sculpture for his 50 Main Street project in White Plains, and he has pledged $120,000 as an artist’s commission. In this, Ginsburg is not alone. To the south, in the Fleetwood neighborhood of Mount Vernon, Alexander Development has pledged a $100,000 commission for a signature sculpture as a landmark feature for its 249 luxury rental development 42 Broad St. West. In New Rochelle, National Realty & Development Corporation has commissioned two large steel sculptures from British artist David Harber to adorn the waterfront of its new WaterMark Pointe development.
The work of Pier Paolo Pasolini was both radical and forward-thinking in its time – and arguably, it is as relevant today as it was fifty years ago. Over the years, during which the Neuberger Museum of Art conceived its Pier Paolo Pasolini: Subversive Prophet exhibition, it became increasingly “timely,” according to Museum Director Tracy Fitzpatrick. The show, on view through May 31, originally intended to fill in the curatorial blanks of past exhibitions of Pasolini’s interdisciplinary works, has taken on new meaning in today’s complex political world.
So far, hundreds of community members have donated, arranged, pinned and sewed the fabric for a work of public art that will transform the front and side of ArtsWestchester’s nine-story historic building at 31 Mamaroneck Avenue in downtown White Plains this May. Once known as the Peoples National Bank and Trust, it has new life as an arts center for the people of Westchester. ArtsNews Editor Mary Alice Franklin, sat down with Browder to find out more about the inspiration behind this project.
The balancing act for contemporary artists is complicated; they must be relevant to the narrative of art history while embracing the themes of current trends. This challenge is compounded by an inescapable need for the artist to promote their self-interest in a global time warp. The consistency of change for the artists is as regular as a heartbeat, to create something new and innovative needs to be a byproduct of intense observation, disciplined and deliberate self-examination. Artists that jockey for inclusion in the mainstream of art have an additional responsibility to consider. They carry the burden of telling their personal stories with high expectations of bridging multiple worlds; they look to examine their ethnicity and simultaneous connections to the mainstream of American history and culture.
Derrick Adams and Bisa Butler have both navigated their particular and universal environments with insightfulness and clarity. In their aesthetic practices, they have masterfully made artwork that speaks to their provincial and universal viewers. Adams and Butler are two artists who personify the words of Walt Whitman: “That you are here—that life exists, and identity; That the powerful play goes on, and you will contribute a verse.”
by Randy Williams, Art Department Chair at Manhattanville College The balancing act for contemporary artists is complicated; they must be relevant to the narrative of art history while embracing the themes of current trends. This challenge is compounded by an inescapable need for the artist to promote their self-interest…
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