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Overheard at ArtsWestchester

This week’s blog is a story overheard and shared with me by my executive assistant Megan Thomson Connor.  Artist Evan Bishop had a grand idea. He brought it to ArtsWestchester and was awarded an Arts Alive Individual Artist grant for his “100 Words of Wisdom.” It is a “body art” project in which Bishop is […]

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The Folk Arts of Hip Hop

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This week’s post is by guest blogger Elena Martinez, Guest Curator for ArtsWestchester’s Folk Arts program. Graffiti is only one component of what has come to be called hip hop. Most people agree that the graffiti writer is one of four main “elements” of hip hop’s aesthetic expression. There is also the MC, who “raps” […]

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Making Music in Westchester

Mark-Morganelli_ Jazz Fest

  In today’s technology-driven world, making music can be done from anywhere. That’s in part why Crain’s New York Business is reporting that 20% of the New York City’s recording studios have disappeared over the past decade, and 25% of live-music clubs have shut down since 2000. The culprit appears to be rising rents and changing entertainment habits. That may […]

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It’s Worth Remembering

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Hard to believe that tonight is the 18th year ArtsWestchester is hosting its popular ArtsBash. But, it’s worth remembering that in 1998, we had just purchased a nine story old bank in “as is” condition. For the uninitiated, “as is” means everything is on its last legs in a building that has been vacant for […]

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The NEA at Its Best

Eastern Gate, 1961

When I think of Romare Bearden, I can actually reproduce in my mind colorful depictions of African American factory workers going about their laborious routines. I am less familiar with the artist’s abstract works, which are at the root of his vision. Now, in part through a $45,000 grant from National Endowment for the Arts […]

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Give a Shout Out to a Westchester (Woman) Artist!

Give a Shout Out to a Westchester (Woman) Artist!

Happily, I celebrated International Women’s Day yesterday.  People were tweeting their favorite artists. So I decided I would, too. I am using this occasion to give a shout out to 101 awesome Westchester artists who have exhibited in our gallery. If I missed anyone, please let me know in the comment section. The extraordinary work […]

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POP! A Flashback to the Sixties

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Last week, wandering through Neuberger Museum of Art, I was transported to the Greenwich Village and Lower East Side of my youth. Graphic and sculptural interpretations of Campbell Soup cans, bathrobes, lipsticks and other ordinary objects were suddenly appearing in galleries as high ticket items. The movement that started in the fifties seemed to flourish and expand […]

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Debbie Reynolds, a Pillar of Strength

Debbie Reynolds and Daughter

The recent focus on women’s issues has got me thinking about women I admire. Growing up in the age of lush movie musicals, I had this visual image of Debbie Reynolds as a cheery, romantic ingenue, tenaciously clinging to her perkiness and proper upbringing. Indeed, she fit the mold of “everyone’s sweetheart.” Her passing in […]

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