This and That by JL

The idea that you can choose your own family…that you can reassemble your family structure into a more compassionate one than the one you were born with…that you can build your own safety net…has been around informally for eons. It was given a name in 1988 in a Canadian comic strip called “The Chosen Family”. […]

  Back in the day, the term “pop-up” usually referred to the ubiquitous Pillsbury doughboy. In today’s world, it has taken on new meaning. Many a pop-up gallery has come and gone in empty storefronts around the city. Enter the New Rochelle Arts Council taking the concept to a whole new level by introducing artist-made […]

    People around the world over watched in horror and disbelief as the beloved monument Our Lady of Paris crumbled under intense fire. I too was riveted as I watched, hoping that this Cathedral of Notre Dame would survive. And it did. So swift and strong was the outpouring of concern and support, that […]

    If you remember the handle “Samo(c),” then like me, you hung out in the East Village in the ’70s where Jean-Michel Basquiat was doing his graffiti-style thing. You can visually stroll the streets of “the village” at the Jacob Burns Film Center in May through “FrameWorks 2019: Art on Film,” a curated series […]

    Next week, we will be celebrating philanthropy. Derived from the Greek words “philos,” which means loving, and “anthropos,” which means humankind, philanthropy is just that: a love for humankind. It is centuries old and crosses cultures. Conceptually it is not simply about “giving” but about improving the well-being of humankind. Each year, ArtsWestchester presents […]

There’s something to be said for freezing a moment.  That’s what photographers do. One Westchester photographer I know has been freezing many moments as the construction of the new Mario M. Cuomo bridge has been underway. David Rocco, a retired civil service carpenter, is happy when he is photographing construction projects. For the past few […]

    For as long as I can remember, once a year, a budding teenage artist gets to show his or her talent in Washington, DC as a guest of Congresswoman Nita Lowey. That’s because as busy as she always is representing the 17th Congressional District, she always shines a light on the folks back home. […]

Recently, I have been thinking about walls….not the Berlin wall, the Pink Floyd wall or even Robert Frost’s Mending Wall, but the ironic oppositional interpretations which love walls or hate them depending on their purpose. In this case, I am watching with excitement the new exhibition and partition walls going up in our gallery thanks […]