This and That by JL

Our exhibition, “Brick by Brick,” is inspiring stories as warm and loving as any brick fireplace. Diana Costello’s grandpa, Pietro Viscogliosi, sounds like the quintessential brick mason, just like Serafino Laboranti, my former neighbor in Queens and the only person I would trust to build a brick floor in my kitchen. Serafino was a master mason […]

    Many of us remember exactly where we were when John F. Kennedy was shot.  For me, the scene is emblazoned in my mind. I was in my kitchen spooning mashed banana into my toddler’s mouth. The radio soothed some Sinatra… perhaps it was The Summer Wind. From bliss, I went into panic mode […]

Can it be true that, in terms of size and production, the brick industry in the Hudson Valley was second of importance in our region to IBM? So George H. Hutton told us in his book The Great Hudson River Brick Industry. We can quibble with his hyperbole, but the truth is that in its […]

Ordinarily, one wouldn’t mention the Erie Canal, Carnegie Hall and the Croton Aqueduct in the same breath. But they do have a shared history that will be explored in a new, highly anticipated exhibition called Brick by Brick, which will be presented by ArtsWestchester at its stately White Plains gallery through January 2019. The exhibition tells […]

Just when I think that collaboration is one of the hardest ways to work in the arts world, I become encouraged anew by what I see happening among artists in Westchester. What makes collaboration so difficult is that its success depends upon a shared vision. This shared vision may be hard to achieve, but it […]

Some kids are special. That’s because they have special challenges. Recently artist Diane Cherr wrote me about some special kids she worked with to create a mural at the headquarters of The ARC Westchester. “The mural is a surprise being dedicated to Ric Swierat, the Executive Director who is retiring in June after many years […]

Wane One is a happy fella.  In fact, he’s over the moon, so to speak, about the street mural he and his crew are painting in front of the ArtsWestchester building on Mamaroneck Avenue.  Wane One, the name, is actually the “tag” of Wayne Peterkin, who began his artistic career using spray cans to paint […]

It was Times Square at night that inspired Greek-born artist Stephen Antonakos (1926-2013) to begin working his magic in neon. He is said to have loved the garish colors and the tubes of light. Neuberger Museum of Art now reverberates with his spectacular “Procenium” installation, completed in 2000 and designed specifically for the space it […]