Spring 2021 Programs at Cultural Institutions Group (CIG) Organizations Throughout the City
The programs provided by the CIG organizations include virtual and physical exhibitions, youth and family programs, student and educator programs, and adult programs.
NEW YORK, NY– (SPRING 2021) – The Cultural Institutions Group is pleased to announce its members’ Spring lineup to virtually and physically engage with art, science, and culture in New York City. The selections highlighted below feature details with a mix of educational and entertainment offerings ranging from exhibitions, afterschool programs, and workshops to live streamed galas, films, festivals, and performances. By no means is this list exhaustive. If you have further questions, please reach out to CIG Communications Chair, Sheryl Victor Levy at svlevy@mcny.org, CIG coordinator, Cristina Coleman, ccoleman@wcs.org or the institutions themselves.
Exhibitions:
New York City Center
Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures Festival
Through April 4, 2021; Performances debut each Friday for digital access
Starting at $15/ show
Matthew Bourne’s productions are known for their fresh and intriguing twist on classics. Four of the most beloved New Adventures productions–Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake, The Car Man, Cinderella, and Romeo and Juliet–are available on demand in rotation from March 5 through April 4. Three of the productions have never been seen on stage in New York. This iconic and ground-breaking British dance-theater company is famous for telling stories with their own unique theatrical take. City Center is the New York home for New Adventures with past appearances including the cinematic production of The Red Shoes, the gothic take on The Sleeping Beauty, and most recently the return engagement of Bourne’s timeless Swan Lake. Digital access, with on demand viewing for a limited time, is $15 per production or access the full line-up with a Matthew Bourne Festival 4-Pack for $50 and save $10.
MoMA PS1
Niki de Saint Phalle: Structures for Life
Through September 6, 2021; Onsite
Free with Museum Admission
From the very outset of her career in the 1950s, Niki de Saint Phalle (American and French, 1930‒2002) defied artistic conventions, creating works that were overtly feminist, performative, collaborative, and monumental. Her first US retrospective, Niki de Saint Phalle: Structures for Life features over 200 works that highlight Saint Phalle’s interdisciplinary approach and engagement with pressing social issues. Innovation was key to Saint Phalle’s process: from beginning to end, she envisioned new ways of inhabiting the world. Early on, Saint Phalle pushed against accepted artistic norms, creating artworks that used assemblage and performative modes of production—such as shooting at her canvases–as well as large-scale sculptures like her Nanas. From the late 1960s onwards, Saint Phalle expanded her practice to include architectural projects, sculpture gardens, books, prints, films, theater sets, clothing, jewelry, and, famously, her own perfume. This exhibition foregrounds the artist’s interdisciplinary endeavours, focusing on the visionary architecture and utopian sculpture environments that formed the core of her later work.
Gregg Bordowitz: I Wanna Be Well
May 13-October 11, 2021; Onsite
Free with Museum Admission
Since the late 1980s, writer, artist, and activist Gregg Bordowitz (b. 1964, Brooklyn, NY) has made diverse works—essays, poems, performances, drawings, sculpture, and videos—that explore his Jewish, gay, and bisexual identities within the context of the ongoing AIDS crisis. Bordowitz was an early participant in New York’s ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power), where he cofounded various video collectives, including Testing the Limits, an advocacy group within ACT UP, and DIVA (Damn Interfering Video Activists). While developing a visual language capable of communicating harm-reduction models to a broad public in his collaborative works, he made his own videos and television broadcasts that juxtaposed performance documentation, archival footage, role play, and recordings of protest demonstrations, drawing influence from feminist conceptual art. In recent years Bordowitz has increasingly introduced poetry and performance as art events, exploring histories of music and televised stand-up comedy. *I Wanna Be Well*—named after the 1977 Ramones song—marks the first comprehensive overview of the New York artist’s prodigious career, which spans three decades of production. Moving between multiple genres, the exhibition contemplates an expanded concept of portraiture as a mode of political and artistic address.
El Museo del Barrio
ESTAMOS BIEN – LA TRIENAL 20/21
Through September 26, 2021; Onsite
El Museo del Barrio presents ESTAMOS BIEN – LA TRIENAL 20/21, the museum’s first national large-scale survey of Latinx contemporary art featuring more than 40 artists from across the United States and Puerto Rico. Originally planned for Fall 2020, the show has been reconceived and expanded as a yearlong initiative, the exhibition debuts summer 2020 with online projects followed by an onsite exhibition in Las Galerías (Galleries) opening Spring 2021. Related public programs featuring curators, artists, invited scholars and other guests will take place throughout the year. This exhibition was curated by El Museo’s Chief Curator Rodrigo Moura; Curator, Susanna V. Temkin; and Guest Curator, Elia Alb.
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Alice Neel: People Come First
Through August 1, 2021; Onsite
Free with Museum Admission
Alice Neel: People Come First will be the first museum retrospective in New York of American artist Alice Neel (1900–1984) in twenty years. This ambitious survey will position Neel as one of the century’s most radical painters, a champion of social justice whose longstanding commitment to humanist principles inspired her life as well as her art, as demonstrated in the approximately one hundred paintings, drawings, and watercolors that will appear in The Met’s survey. Images of activists demonstrating against fascism and racism will appear alongside paintings of impoverished victims of the Great Depression, as well as portraits of Neel’s neighbors in Spanish Harlem, leaders from a wide range of political organizations, queer artists and performers, and members of New York’s global diaspora. The exhibition will also highlight Neel’s erotic watercolors and pastels from the 1930s, her depictions of mothers, and her paintings of nude figures (some of them visibly pregnant), all of whose candor and irreverence are without precedent in the history of Western art. Neel was a longtime resident of New York, and the city served as her most faithful subject. Indeed, the sum total of her work testifies to the drama of its streets, the quotidian beauty of its buildings, and, most importantly, the diversity, resilience, and passion of its residents. “For me, people come first,” Neel declared in 1950. “I have tried to assert the dignity and eternal importance of the human being.”
Alex Da Corte: As Long as the Sun Lasts
April 16-October 31, 2021; Onsite on Roof Garden
Free with Museum Admission
Alex Da Corte (American, born 1980) has been commissioned to create a site-specific installation for The Met’s Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Roof Garden. The Roof Garden Commission: Alex Da Corte, As Long as the Sun Lasts will be on view from April 16 through October 31, 2021. It is the ninth in a series of site-specific commissions for the outdoor space.
Museum of the City of New York
Rising Tide
April 16, 2021; Onsite
Rising sea levels affect us all. In Rising Tide, Dutch documentary photographer Kadir van Lohuizen illustrates the dramatic consequences of climate change across the world through photographs, video, drone images, and sound. Experience the effects of rising sea levels in Greenland, Bangladesh, Papua New Guinea, Kiribati, Fiji, Amsterdam, Panama, Miami, and our own neighborhoods here in New York City.
New York Botanical Garden
Kusama: Cosmic Nature
April 10-October 31, 2021; Onsite
Experience Yayoi Kusama’s profound connection with nature. Contemporary Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama is one of the most popular artists in the world, drawing millions to experience her immersive installations. Exclusively at NYBG, Kusama reveals her lifelong fascination with the natural world, beginning with her childhood spent in the greenhouses and fields of her family’s seed nursery. Her artistic concepts of obliteration, infinity, and eternity are inspired by her intimate engagement with the colors, patterns, and life cycles of plants and flowers.
Wave Hill
The Shadow of the Sun: Ross Bleckner and Zarchari Logan
May 22 – August 15, 2021
Free
The Shadow of the Sun: Ross Bleckner and Zachari Logan pairs New York-based painter Ross Bleckner and Canadian artist Zachari Logan. This exhibition brings together two artists who are in different stages of their careers and have collaborated in the artmaking process over the past ten years. Though differing in mediums, processes and depictions, the abstracted imagery in Bleckner’s paintings complements the figurative representations in Logan’s drawings and sculptures—and vice versa. The artists share a sensibility in their ideas, forms, materials and motifs, including flora, fauna and human presence. At Wave Hill, the juxtaposition of Bleckner and Logan’s individual works along with their new collaborative pieces, including a large-scale, site-specific drawing for the gallery—creates a fresh context for exploring their notions of visibility/invisibility, queerness, contemporary landscape and the fragility of life.
Fragments of Perception
May 22 – June 27, 2021
Free
Inspired by the Aquatic Garden pool and tropical plants at Wave Hill, Shoshanna Weinberger’s installation Fragments of Perception transforms the Sun Porch into an invisible garden, as well as a space that explores the complexity of her Caribbean-American heritage. A grouping of abstracted anthropomorphic sculptures created using laser-cut, two-sided, acrylic mirrors, resembles various flora.
Adult Programs:
Bronx Museum of the Arts
Representing Vs. Re-Presenting: Unpacking Methods of Visibility
Thursday, March 25, 4–5pm; Virtual
Bringing together artists Shaun Leonardo, Steve Locke, and Jamel Shabazz, "Representing vs. Re-presenting: Unpacking Methods of Visibility" will explore the various ways we represent communities within two-dimensional media (drawing, painting, and photography). The panelists will be discussing their positions as artists with feet in both worlds as both artist/maker and community(ies) members.
Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Seeds of Hope and Healing: A Virtual Making Brooklyn Bloom Event
Saturday, March 20 & Sunday, March 21, 2021; 1–3 pm; Zoom
Free; Preregistration Required
Combining prerecorded presentations with live, interactive Q&As, Making Brooklyn Bloom 2021 is a free, two-day virtual event. We are pleased to reprise the participation of several presenters who had been scheduled for last year’s conference, which was canceled due to the COVID-19 crisis. At this critical moment in human history, the conference’s virtual workshops and talks will highlight the meaning, healing, and connection that plants provide us. By centering stories of seeds and the often difficult histories they contain and reveal, we’ll explore the question: Can sowing the seeds of our pasts help us heal our collective future? Presentations and workshops include: “Power to Heal: Gardens and Gardeners in the Era of Covid and Climate Change”, “Plant Journeys through the African Diaspora, Seed Starting: Preserving Our Cultures”, and “She Hid Seeds in Her Hair: The Power of Ancestral African Foods.”
Brooklyn Museum
Film Screening for #StopLine3
Saturday, March 20; 7–8:30pm; Onsite
Free
Extinction Rebellion NYC hosts an outdoor screening of the documentary Necessity: Oil, Water, and Climate Resistance (Jan Haaken and Sam Praus, 2020) in conjunction with the Stop the Money Pipeline coalition. The film follows the Indigenous-led struggle to protect land and demand climate justice in Minnesota, where leaders are calling on the public to support their fight against the “Line 3” expansion of oil pipelines that carry highly toxic tar sands oil through Native lands and essential waterways. Learn more about the #StopLine3 effort with opening remarks from Tania Aubid, a traditional wild rice harvester who is currently on a hunger strike to stand against the pipeline. After the film, Claudia Velandia-Onofre of Protect the Sacred NYC and Nancy Rosoff, Andrew W. Mellon Senior Curator, Arts of the Americas, discuss the film in the context of our exhibition Climate in Crisis: Environmental Change in the Indigenous Americas.
Virtual Art History Happy Hour: Itinerant Avant-Gardes
Thursday, March 25; 6–7pm; Facebook & Zoom
Free
In the 1920s and '30s, Maria Martins, Marina Núñez del Prado, and Alicia Penalba left their respective home countries of Brazil, Bolivia, and Argentina, embarking on travels—both within and beyond the continent—that shaped their avant-garde visions. While their paths rarely, if ever, crossed, they shared a collective interest in the itinerant and transnational possibilities of modernism. Join Joseph Shaikewitz, Curatorial Assistant, for a fun and informative lecture about this trio of South American sculptors. Taken together, their works engage themes of pleasure, sensuality, and liberation, and reveal how each artist performed gender and national identity to navigate the masculinist terrain of modern art.
Art and Empathy: Community Care Through Art
Thursday, April 1, 3–5pm; Onsite
Free
We cannot deny the ways that the COVID-19 pandemic has reshaped our lives, but we don't have to go it alone! Join art therapist Sarah Pousty, museum educator Dalila Scruggs, and social work intern Lula Zeray as we make space for self-care, conversation, and connection. We’ll rest and reflect in community, explore a work of art in depth through close looking and discussion, then create artworks of our own.
This online program is free, but space is limited, and registration is required.
Virtual Roundtable: Writing in Space with Aruna D’Souza
Thursday, April 8, 6–7:30pm; Zoom
Free
Aruna D'Souza, writer, critic, and co-curator of our special exhibition Lorraine O’Grady: Both/And, hosts an evening of readings and conversation in honor of the publication of Lorraine O’Grady: Writing in Space, 1973–2019. Explore the entwined practices of art and writing as artists Chloë Bass, Jarrett Ernest, and more reflect on the writings of conceptual artist Lorraine O’Grady, who for more than forty years has explored the complex relationship between text and image. Each participant focuses on a different text in the anthology, which includes statements, scripts, interviews, and previously unpublished notes spanning the evolution of O’Grady’s performance work and conceptual photography, as well as her many published critical essays on art, music, and culture.
Brooklyn Talks: Lorraine O’Grady and Zoe Leonard
Thursday, May 27, 6–7:30pm
$10
Join Lorraine O’Grady, one of the most significant contemporary figures working in performance, conceptual, and feminist art, for an in-depth conversation in conjunction with our special exhibition Lorraine O’Grady: Both/And. O’Grady is joined by photographer Zoe Leonard to discuss their respective approaches to conceptual photography, moderated by Catherine Morris, Sackler Senior Curator for the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art.
Flushing Town Hall
Akua Allrich & The Tribe: A Beautiful Disruption- The Genius Of Black Women in Music
Saturday, March 20, 2021; 8pm; Live-streamed performance
$12
Celebrate Women’s History Month with songs of freedom, love and inspiration of the genius women who have shaped music, including Nina Simone, Miriam Makeba, Roberta Flack, Abbey Lincoln, Alice Coltrane and more.. Akua Allrich is a vocalist beyond measure. A musical treasure with a massive stage personality and vocal style that is fluid and ever evolving, her musical roots run deep into blues, soul, and rhythm and blues, with a clear grounding in jazz and pan-African music. Along with her group, The Tribe, she has received accolades for her annual events honoring the defining female voices of Black music. This performance will be live streamed in incredible high definition with a four camera system.
Yaa Samar! Dance Theatre Artist Talk: '3 x 13'
Sunday, March 21, 2021; 2pm; Virtual
Free
Join a conversation with the creators and artists featured in Yaa Samar! Dance Theatre’s new film '3 x 13.' Created by award-winning Director Eimi Imanishi and Choreographer Samar Haddad King, '3 x 13' explores the singularity of the individual and the universality of the human experience. In 12 short films with original music by Lou Tides, 12 artists from around the globe share a journey of transformation that deeply marked their lives. Moderated by FTH Deputy Director Sami Abu Shumays.
Metropolitan Museum of Art
ETHEL and Friends: Balcony Bar from Home
Fridays, March 19 and 26, April 2, 9, 16, and 23, May 7, 14, 21, and 28, 5–5:30pm; Virtual
Free
Fix yourself a drink and experience The Met's Balcony Bar from home with ETHEL, one of the most acclaimed string quartets in the contemporary classical field. With an eye on tradition and an ear to the future, ETHEL is a leading force in concert music's reengagement with musical vernaculars, fusing diverse traditions into a vibrant sound. Expect familiar classical tunes mixed with a fair share of the group's signature cutting-edge repertoire. Guest artists and collaborators also make periodic appearances.
ETHEL is Ralph Farris (viola), Kip Jones (violin), Dorothy Lawson (cello), and Corin Lee (violin).
Insider Insights; Textiles Revealed
Saturday, March 20, 10am–10:20am; Facebook or Youtube
Free
Join a Met conservator (Cristina Balloffet Carr, Conservator, Textile Conservation) to learn how X-rays, microscopy, and other advanced imaging techniques help tell the stories of textiles in The Met collection. Discover how The Met's Department of Textile Conservation uses new scientific discoveries to understand historic textiles.
Artists on Artworks—Monika Weiss on Francisco Goya
Tuesday, March 30, 6–6:30pm; Virtual
Free
Polish American artist Monika Weiss shares her insights on the work of Spanish artist Francisco Goya and reflects on her own transdisciplinary practice, which investigates relationships between the body and history and evokes rituals of lamentation in response to tragedy. Please note: This program is prerecorded.
Picture This!—Alice Neel: The People Come First
Thursday, May 13, 2–2:30pm, Onsite
Free
For adults who are blind or partially sighted. Join us for this virtual tour to enjoy works of art through detailed descriptions and discussion.
Free; reservations are required and space is limited. Contact 212-650-2010 or access@metmuseum.org to register and receive instructions for joining us online.
Presented in conjunction with the exhibition Alice Neel: People Come First.
Museum of Jewish Heritage
Isabel Wilkerson and Rabbi Angela Buchdahl on “Caste”
Tuesday, March 23, 2021; 7pm; Virtual
$10 Suggested Donation
While working on her Pulitzer Prize-winning book The Warmth of Other Suns, about the Great Migration of African Americans out of the Jim Crow South, Isabel Wilkerson realized that the United States had an unspoken and deeply ingrained caste system. In her new book Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents, a #1 New York Times bestseller and Oprah’s Book Club pick, Wilkerson explores the impact of this American caste system—a rigid hierarchy of human divisions—and its connections to caste systems in India and Nazi Germany. She documents how the Nazis studied American race laws as they planned the German Nuremberg Laws, and she points forward to ways that we can move beyond artificial and destructive separations towards a common humanity. Join Wilkerson and Rabbi Angela Warnick Buchdahl, Senior Rabbi at New York’s Central Synagogue and the first Asian-American person to be ordained as cantor or rabbi in North America, for a conversation about Caste, the legacy of the Holocaust, and what lies under the surface of American life today.
Remembering Olga Lengyel and “Five Chimneys”
Tuesday, April 6, 4pm; Zoom Webinar
$10 Suggested Donation
In 1944, Hungarian physician’s assistant Olga Lengyel was deported to Auschwitz along with her parents, husband, and two sons. She was put to work in the Auschwitz infirmary, where she also secretly toiled for a French underground cell, helping to demolish a crematory oven. At the end of the war, she was the only member of her family to survive.
Lengyel made her way to New York and, in 1946, published Five Chimneys: A Woman Survivor’s True Story of Auschwitz, which became one of the earliest testimonies to depict the barbarism of the Nazis. Thirty years later, her vivid exposé of the death camps inspired William Styron’s award-winning novel Sophie’s Choice.
20 years after Lengyel’s death in April 2001, join the Museum and The Olga Lengyel Institute for a program exploring her remarkable life and legacy. The program will be moderated by Dr. Sara R. Horowitz, Professor of Comparative Literature and Jewish Studies at York University and an expert in women and the Holocaust, and will feature: David A. Field, Nancy Fisher, and Robert Jan van Pelt.
Annual Gathering of Remembrance
Sunday, April 11, 2pm
Free
Every year, at the Annual Gathering of Remembrance, the Museum brings thousands of New Yorkers together to say with one collective voice: we will never forget. Delivered by a city with one of the world’s largest communities of Holocaust survivors, the tribute has power that echoes across generations.
Please join us at this year’s virtual gathering in observance of Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day). The program will feature music, remarks from Holocaust survivors, young people, and public figures, and a candle lighting ceremony. Together, we will honor the memory of those who perished at the hands of evil and pay tribute to those who survived and have made a better world for us all.
A Conversation with Helen Epstein About the Second Generation
Thursday, April 15, 7pm; Zoom Webinar
$10 Suggested Donation
In 1979, Helen Epstein published Children of the Holocaust, one of the first books to examine the intergenerational transmission of trauma from Holocaust survivors to their children. In the four decades since its publication, Epstein has published 11 additional books (including Franci’s War, a memoir of her mother’s life, in 2020) and has served as a leading voice among descendants of survivors. She is also active in Holocaust memorialization work in the Czech Republic, where her family is from.
As Holocaust survivors get older and their descendants assume the mantle of Holocaust memory, the issues raised by Epstein’s work are taking on new and important meanings.
Join Epstein and Ellen Bachner Greenberg, founder of Descendants of Holocaust Survivors (2G Greater New York), for a conversation about Epstein’s life and legacy and the questions she faces today.
Painting the Holocaust: Remembering Alfred Kantor and His Sketchbook
Tuesday, April 20, 4pm; Zoom Webinar
$10 Suggested Donation
Join the Museum for a celebration of Kantor’s remarkable life and legacy, featuring his daughter Monica Churchill; Zuzana Justman, a filmmaker and writer who interviewed Kantor for her film Terezin Diary; and Dr. Ori Z. Soltes, Professor of the Teaching of Jewish Civilization at Georgetown University and former Director the B’nai B’rith Klutznick National Jewish Museum with a specialty in art and the Holocaust.
Unpacking “The Archive Thief”
Monday, May 24, 2pm; Zoom Webinar
$10 Suggested Donation
In the aftermath of the Holocaust, Jewish historian Zosa Szajkowski gathered up tens of thousands of documents from Nazi buildings in Berlin, and later, public archives and private synagogues in France, and moved them all, illicitly, to New York. Dr. Lisa Leff reconstructed Szajkowski’s story in all its ambiguity in her 2015 book The Archive Thief: The Man Who Salvaged French Jewish History in the Wake of the Holocaust.
Join Leff and Dr. Jonathan Brent, Executive Director and CEO of the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, for a discussion about Szajkowski’s story, the documents he stole, and what it all means for those interested in preserving the past today.
Museum of the City of New York
Your Hometown: Virtual Conversation with Designer Danielle Guizio
April 8, 7pm ET; Zoom
Free; Donation suggested
In this live (on Zoom) virtual edition of the new podcast "Your Hometown," designer Danielle Guizio talks with host Kevin Burke about launching her label in NYC and her journey taking her company from small start-up to booming business.
The Ultimate (Virtual) Trivia Night
Tuesday, April 13, 8pm ET; Zoom
Free; Donation suggested
Join the Museum and the Gotham Center for New York City HIstory for virtual trivia, inspired by the city we know best. From architecture and theater to transportation and pop culture, we’ll put your knowledge of NYC to the test in categories spanning the city’s epic 400-year history.
This April, we welcome a new host for Trivia, Remi Poindexter, a doctoral candidate at the CUNY Graduate Center.
Revisiting the Harlem Renaissance
Thursdays, April 22 & 29 | May 6 & 13, 5:30pm ET; Zoom
Registration Required; $75 & up for entire series | $20 & up for individual sessions
Dive into the Harlem Renaissance in this four-part series of live virtual talks with Pulitzer-Prize winning historian Jeffrey C. Stewart. Each session will begin with an illustrated presentation by Stewart exploring a different facet of the Renaissance, followed by a conversation with a special guest (plus time at the end for Q & A).
Sessions:
I. Introduction: Art is Philosophy
Thursday, April 22, 5:30 ET
with Harlem style intellectual Lana Turner
II. Poetry and the New Negro Literacy
Thursday, April 29, 5:30 ET
with poet Mahogany L. Browne
III. Visual Arts and Black Design
Thursday, May 6, 5:30 ET
with artist and art historian Margaret Vendryes
IV. The African American on the American Stage
Thursday, May 13, 5:30 ET
with playwright Michael Dinwiddie
Envisioning Alternatives to Policing: Violence Prevention
Tuesday, April 27, 7pm ET; Zoom
Free; Donation suggested
Ashley Southall of The New York Times leads a discussion about the powerful programs and techniques that activists and organizations in New York and other cities have employed to foster safety in their communities -- without police involvement. From practicing "violence interruption" to advocating for policies that directly address contributors to gun violence, the panel features pathbreaking experts who have worked on the front lines and behind the scenes to reimagine safety for all. This is the second of three virtual events in our new series, Envisioning Alternatives to Policing.
Keys to the City: A Great Day in Harlem
Saturday, May 22, 10am–3pm (Rain date Sunday, May 23)
$53
50 Clues & 1 Grand Prize. Do you and your friends have what it takes to earn the Keys to the City? Join us for the return of our fully outdoor scavenger hunt! Unlock secret places, historic haunts, and new views as you and your team solve clues in Harlem's many vibrant neighborhoods while helping us raise vital funds to support the Museum.
All clues will be located outside, and the Hunt is designed to be done in a safe, socially distant manner.
Museum of the Moving Image
NEA Big Read 2021: Bidding Farewell in Zhang Yimou’s To Live
Thursday, March 18, 2021; 7pm; Zoom
Free
Free online screening followed by discussion with scholars Hsiu-Chuang Deppman and Michael Berry, presented in collaboration with the Museum at Eldridge Street. A cornerstone of director Zhang Yimou's international breakthrough period in the nineties, To Live (1994), adapted from Yu Hua’s novel of the same title, is the searing, epic saga of a married couple living through decades of turmoil across China's tumultuous mid twentieth century. Gong Li and Gou Ye give riveting performances as Jiazhen and Xu Fugui, who experience joy and suffer tragedy, and watch their fortunes change from the post-WWII rise of the People's Liberation Army to the Great Leap Forward of the fifties to the Cultural Revolution of the sixties. To Live won Best Actor and the Grand Prix at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival. Museum of the Moving Image will host a presentation by Hsiu-Chuang Deppman (Oberlin College), followed by a conversation between Deppman and Michael Berry (UCLA), which explores Zhang Yimou’s deeply cinematic approach to the novel’s narrative.
Staten Island Zoo
Staten Island Conservation: Near and Far Building Career Bridges for Biologists Through Conservation Research
Thursday, March 18, 2021; 7-8pm; Zoom
$10 per registration
Want to learn about wildlife, and the researchers who devote their lives to protecting them? Like adventure but don’t necessarily want to leave your house, or pajamas, to go on one? Well… The Staten Island Zoo’s Conservation Near & Faris just for you! Join us for a virtual meeting with conservation and wildlife researchers on the field! Grab your notebook, a cup of coffee, and have your questions in hand. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet the individuals spearheading the field of conservation, right now! Ever wondered how scientists get their start in the field? Looking for ways to get involved in research? Little to no experience in the field or knowledge about animals? Or maybe you just want to find some ways you can lend a helping hand? Well, all you need is the passion and drive to want to make a change.
Join Dr. Landberg, Director of Research with the Amphibian Foundation who will be presenting new innovative programs which give students the opportunity to get into the field and
contribute to research and conservation; all while adapting to the safety protocol necessary admits the global pandemic. Some programs include the new long-term Urban Ecology Research projects and The Conservation Research Bridge Program.
The Amphibian Foundation is dedicated to connecting individuals, communities, and organizations to create and implement lasting solutions to the global amphibian extinction crisis. Providing many opportunities for all to get involved at various levels to help in maintaining their mission Do not miss this opportunity to speak with Dr. Landburg first-hand on ways to get involved in these programs and Amphibian Foundation.
Wave Hill
2021 Horticultural Lecture Series
Wednesday, March 24 and Wednesday, April 14, 2021; 4-5:30pm; Virtual
$20 per lecture
Wave Hill’s 2021 Horticultural Lecture Series starts and ends at great English gardens, both with plantings of modern sensibility and a strong emphasis on encouraging biodiversity. In between, we offer a story of great American gardeners, growers and plant people who, just as they were realizing success in the early 20th century, were forced to give it up and start again following World War II. This year, for the first time, our distinguished lecture series takes place virtually on Zoom.
Wednesday, March 24th: No garden today is untouched by the legacy of Japan’s gardening culture, not only in terms of the plants themselves, but especially the hard graft of Japanese immigrants who put down roots in the United States and built successful nurseries and cut-flower farms here. A horticulturist and writer who is interested in the narratives of people and their plants, Eric Hsu brings alive a collection of stories that resonate with our universal love of plants and those passionate about them. He is currently Chanticleer’s plant information coordinator, overseeing plant records and teaching plant identification to interns.
Wednesday, April 14th: Can gardens be designed and managed to support biodiversity while maintaining their aesthetics? Fergus Garrett, Head Gardener of Great Dixter House & Gardens in East Sussex, shares a new approach to gardening at this influential Arts and Crafts garden, where mosaic habitats are woven into the landscape to enhance wildlife habitats. Hear from him how a biodiversity audit is influencing the way that the site is managed, balancing the needs of wildlife, access, gardening and forestry. Following his presentation, author and podcaster Margaret Roach will offer an American perspective.
Museum of the City of New York
Envisioning Alternatives to Policing: Mental Health
Thursday, March 25, 2021; 7pm; Virtual
Donation suggested; Preregistration Required
This discussion, the second of three virtual events led by The New York Times' Ashley Southall, explores alternatives to policing in mental health crises. This panel features experts and activists who have long advocated for changes to addressing mental health interventions, and a conversation about how New York and other cities have responded.
Flushing Town Hall
"Songbirds"- Remembering Minnie Riperton, Shirley Horn and Joni Mitchell
Friday, March 26, 2021; 7pm; Streamed Live
$5
In celebration of Women’s History Month, Flushing Town Hall is proud to present "Songbirds,” featuring the music of Minnie Riperton, Shirley Horn and Joni Mitchell, performed by the Mala Waldron Quartet. "Songbirds" is a beautiful journey into a not so distant past made popular by Minnie Riperton, Shirley Horn and Joni Mitchell, filled with memorable music and song. The Mala Waldron Quartet features Mala Waldron, Piano and Vocals; Steve Salerno, Guitar; Michael T.A. Thompson, Drums; and Gene Torres, Bass. Moderated by FTH's Jazz Producer Clyde Bullard, a live Q&A will follow the performance with Mala Waldron answering questions from a virtual audience.
Historic Richmond Town
Webinar: Ship Graveyards of Staten Island, Part II - The North Shore
Wednesday, March 31, 2021; 8-9pm; Webinar
$10
For hundreds of years, New York Harbor has been one of the most active waterways in the world, with tens of thousands of vessels having plied its waters over the city's lifetime. But when these sea-bearing vessels have reached the end of their career of service, where exactly do they go? While most are scrapped or repurposed, some are discarded in the same waterways they traversed — and just off-shore of New York City's borough of Staten Island, many of these decaying relics still remain. This is the story of Staten Island's ship graveyards and the tales behind the vessels that still remain. Join New York Adventure Club for a virtual exploration of the ship graveyards of Staten Island, where many out-of-service ships throughout the 19th and 20th centuries were discarded and abandoned. While Part I focused on Staten Island's south shore, Part II will bring us to wrecks scattered across Staten Island's north shore.
Led by local historian and educator Jeffrey D.G. Cavorley, our virtual exploration of these watery graves will include: Why Staten Island's waterways became the final resting spot for so many retired vessels; A virtual look at the shipwrecks and ruins on Staten Island's north shore and bits of New Jersey; Stories of notable wrecks caused by accidents, sabotage, and extreme weather; Connections to the world stage, from the early part of 1900s through the World War II era, and beyond; Photos showcasing Jeffrey's many explorations of the ship graveyards via kayak
Queens Theatre
New American Voices: The Prisoner
Wednesday, April 14, 2021; 8pm; Virtual Reading
Free
Created by Seamus Lucason and directed by Nicola Murphy. Against all odds, a prisoner has endured the worst of horrible conditions, and awaits a miracle as his execution draws near. Unbeknownst to him, while he has been within the walls of Tralee Prison, Ireland has begun a profound change, and help comes from an unexpected source.
Flushing Town Hall
Louis Armstrong Legacy Virtual Jazz Jam
Wednesday, April 14, 2021; 7pm; Facebook or Zoom
Free
Led by Carol Sudhalter and our wonderful house band featuring Joe Vincent Tranchina, Scott Neumann and Eric Lemon, the jam welcomes musicians including our jazz jammers from Queens/Long Island, as well as newcomers from around the world, to share their music, lift our spirits and honor those we have lost.
Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning
10-Minute Film Fest
April 16 and April 17, 2021; 7:30 pm; JCAL Youtube Channel
Free
The online event consists of short films made by NYC based filmmakers with one central theme - 2020. It will take place exclusively on JCAL’s Youtube on April 16th and 17th at 7:30pm. With a theme of 2020, filmmakers will be given a platform to tell their stories, and interpret this unprecedented year in their artistry.
Queens Theatre
Ghost Story
Wednesday, May 12, 2021; 8pm; Virtual Reading
Free
Created by Lia Romeo and directed by Kamille Howard, Lydia's looking for a one-night stand. She's met a cute guy and brought him back to her apartment, but things keep getting in the way- like the fact that her apartment might very well have an angry ghost. A sly romantic comedy about the things that haunt us and the ways we try to move forward.
Youth & Family Programs:
American Museum of Natural History
Earth Day from Home
Thursday, April 22, 11 am, 1 pm, 2 pm, 3 pm, and 7 pm ET; Virtual
Free
Celebrate Earth Day at this family-friendly online festival honoring our planet. Events throughout the day include: Animal Tales with American Lore Theater (11am); Astronomy Online: From Sun to Sea Life (1pm); The Scientist is In: Conservation in Action (2pm); Earth Day Dance Party (3pm); Frontiers Lecture: Unlocking Climate Data in Corals (7pm)
Brooklyn Museum of Art
Teen Night: WHAT PARTY
Friday, April 9, 5–7pm; Virtual
Free
Join us on Zoom as Teen Night, our teen-led program centered on art and activism, goes virtual! This evening highlights a range of youth artists and entrepreneurs carving their own path, inspired by KAWS: WHAT PARTY. Follow #BKMTeens on Instagram or Facebook to learn more.
This online program is free and open to all youth ages 14–22; register on Zoom. All participants will be encouraged to engage through the chat and must abide by our community agreements. Virtual Teen Night is organized by the Teen Night Planning Committee, our paid teen internship in public programming.
Bronx Zoo
Virtual Meet and Greet
Variety of sessions through late March and the month of April based on a different animal; Virtual
$32.95/ session
During this popular 30 minute live online program featuring our amazing keepers and three animal ambassadors, you’ll get the opportunity to: ask questions in real time and learn about caring for animals from the experts. Choose from returning fan favorites - fennec fox, sloth, penguin, porcupine, or NEWLY ADDED parrot, owl, cat, or hornbill - plus two additional surprise animals. Support the Bronx Zoo during these challenging times while connecting with animals like never before.
Museum of the City of New York
MCNY Kids Create: Basketball Sounds and Style with Bobbito Garcia
Thursday, April 1, 10am & 1pm ET; Zoom
Free; Registration required
Join DJ/producer, filmmaker, and designer Bobbito García in this virtual intergenerational STEAM education program and dive deep into sports, music, and fashion. Learn how the sounds of New York City basketball moved from the court to the recording studio with objects from the City/Game: Basketball in New York exhibition, and experience the style of the game as you design your own high-fashion sneaker in a live art-making activity.
Recommended for ages 7 and older. All ages are welcome. Sessions are intergenerational and family members are encouraged to join and participate together.
New York City Ballet
Ballet Breaks (ongoing series)
Saturdays at 11AM; Virtual
Free
Experience New York City Ballet from your home with these lively Saturday morning movement workshops, powered by Zoom. For Children Ages 3-8; no prior dance training needed.Get your family moving alongside the artists of NYCB with Ballet Breaks. Each 30-minute workshop will be taught by a different NYCB dancer who will lead your little ones through a warm-up and choreography inspired by a beloved ballet from our repertory. Stretch, twirl, and leap with us as we explore basic ballet concepts and learn a new dance together each week
Staten Island Museum
Super Science: Biodiversity in a Box
Saturday, March 20, 2021; Youtube
$5 donation recommendation;
See Mr. Davis’ Beetle Box, a wonderful illustration of the diversity of organisms that can be found just outside your door! Learn how to be a backyard scientist by using a hula hoop to observe biodiversity and create a field journal to record your findings. Super Science is hosted by special guest Ashley Gary, The Wildlife Host!
American Museum of Natural History
The Scientist Is In: The World According to Pteropods
Thursday, March 25, 2021; 2-2:45pm; Streamed on Facebook
Free
Geologist Rosie Oakes will introduce us to the world of pteropods–tiny ocean creatures that migrate more than 650 feet (200 meters) every day from the surface to the bottom of the sea. Find out about the function of these fascinating critters within the larger ocean ecosystem, as well as their daily struggles as they fight predators, currents, and pollution in order to survive, in this family-friendly presentation.
Student & Teacher Programs:
Brooklyn Museum of Art
Virtual Teacher Workshop: Art and Public Health
Tuesday, March 23, 4:30–6:30pm; Virtual
$15
How do artists promote and sustain health in their communities? This professional development workshop invites teachers to explore how the arts can be a tool for reflection and activism in supporting public health. First, examine artistic interventions across a range of historical and contemporary public health issues with Museum educator Michael Reback, to discuss how art can provide direct care and disrupt health inequities. Then, guest artist Lauraberth Lima leads a hands-on quilting activity, drawing on her interdisciplinary background in art and public health to consider the relationship between comfort, care, and artistic expression. Through group discussion and art-making geared toward virtual learning, participants will develop strategies to leverage the arts for personal and collective healing.
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Art Adventures: Virtual Spring Break Camp (Ages 5–8)
Monday, March 29–Friday, April 2, 10am–2pm; Virtual
Jump into a weeklong virtual art adventure with The Met! From painting and sculpture to mixed media and more, participants explore, experiment, play, and create their own masterpieces with teaching artists.Camp is limited to 25 children, and advance registration is required. The fee includes art materials, which we will mail to you. We cannot mail outside the U.S. at this time.
Spring Break Virtual Teen Studio—Gamify The Met (High School)
Tuesday, March 30, 1–3pm; Virtual
Unleash your creativity during a virtual game design workshop. In this three-day session, learn the basics of game design and team up with other teens to gamify The Met! No prior experience necessary. A device (computer, phone, or tablet) with an internet connection and a camera for video conferencing are required in order to participate.
Free, though advance registration is required.
Wave Hill
Family Art Project: Divine Desert Dwellers (Virtual)
Sat, Mar 13, 2021, 10AM–10:45AM
Free
Take a break from the northeast winter blues and imagine yourself among the divine desert dwellers. Study the shapes that succulents take to retain water and emulate their prickly powers with sand art.
Family Art Project: Recycling Bin Buddies (Virtual)
Sat, Mar 27, 2021, 10AM–10:45AM
Free
Have you ever thought about what happens to something once you throw it away? Where is this “away,” anyway? On World Recycling Day, learn about the different journeys objects like paper, tin cans and plastic bottles can take. Then, create your own recycling bin to help you collect these objects for later reuse or recycling.
Family Art Project: Said the River (Onsite)
Sat, Sun, Apr 17, 18, 2021, 10AM–1PM
Free
Get inspired by the words of poet Mary Oliver: “Said the River: Imagine everything you can imagine, then keep going.” What do you imagine the rivers have to say? Dialogue with the rivers by learning the art of typography and use salt and water to capture the conversations you’d have with our beloved estuary, the Hudson River.
Family Art Project: Imagined Landscapes (Onsite)
Sat, Apr 24 & Sun Apr 25, 2021, 10AM–1PM
Free
How have the landscapes in which you've spent time in shaped who you are? Imagination is one of our greatest tools for transformation. Use yours to recall landscapes that hold special meaning for you to create fantasy-filled lands. Build collage with natural and upcycled materials or create abstract landscapes through mono-printing to capture how landscape ignites your most wild imaginings.
Family Art Project: Tree-Ring Self Portraits (Onsite)
Sat, May 1 & Sun, May 2, 2021, 10AM–1PM
Free
For Arbor Day, look to the stories trees tell in their rings. As a tree grows, it produces a new ring of visible growth each year, not only telling you the tree’s own life story, but also the stories of the forest around the tree. Count the years of your own life to create a tree-ring self-portrait that speaks to your growth and the growth of the community around you.
Family Art Project: Casting Spells and Starting Seeds (Onsite)
Sat, May 8 & Sun, May 9, 2021, 10AM–1PM
Free
What magic can you create in the sowing of seeds? Take advantage of the last signs of spring to sow the seeds of carrots, peas, cornflowers and poppies—seeds that thrive in the magic of May. Create your own seed-starters using upcycled items that you can embellish with your magical spells of growth.
Family Art Project: Take Flight! (Onsite)
Sat, May 15 & Sun, May 16, 2021, 10AM–1PM
Free
Learn the art of flying by giving yourself wings to soar, flap, and glide. Decorate your new plumage using eco-dyes to give yourself vibrant feathers that will not be missed from your place in the sky.
Family Art Project: Unfurling Field Journals and Sonic Field Notes (Onsite)
Sat, May 22 & Sun, May 23 2021, 10AM–1PM
Free
This Biodiversity Day, what are you paying attention to? Find the diversity of plants, animals, and life that unfurls around you. Make handmade pop-out and accordion style journals to document your observations with designs that unfurl as flowers do, recording your naturalist studies.
Family Art Project: Flowing Garden Fountains (Onsite)
Sat, May 29 & Sun, May 30, 2021, 10AM–1PM
Free
Swell, wave, ebb, flow, spurt, splash—in what ways have you witnessed water move? Explore the movement of water and the many shapes it takes through creating your own personal garden fountains from clay. Sculpt hybrid forms from shapes explored using the movement of your body and your body's own unique narrative.
Winter Workspace Drop-In Mondays (Virtual)
Mon, Mar 8, 15, 2021, 12:30–1PM
For Drop-In Mondays, three Winter Workspace artists and a member of Wave Hill’s curatorial team come together for casual conversations about life and storytelling. Attendees can expect to hear about artists’ work, personal stories and experience artists' show-and-tell.
Winter Workspace Workshop: Taking Shape with Dianne Smith (Virtual)
Sun, March 14, 2021, 10AM–NOON
$40. Wave Hill Members save 10%
Take a virtual tour of artist Dianne Smith’s studio to see her current work in process, inspired by her Winter Workspace residency. Engage in a group discussion about local landscapes, both neighborhoods and garden settings like Wave Hill, then create sculptures using paper, up-cycled materials and found-at-home objects.
Lessons from Wave Hill: Cultivating Succulents Workshop (Virtual)
Sat, March 20, 2021, 1–2:30PM
$45. Wave Hill Members save 10%
Succulent plants make ideal houseplants if you understand their basic needs. In this workshop with Wave Hill Gardener Harnek Singh, you will become acquainted with the conditions necessary for a healthy and thriving indoor succulent collection. Learn Wave Hill-tested methods, such as soil mixes, pest control, propagation and best times to pot.
Art Workshop: Sketching Succulents (Virtual)
Sun, Mar 21, 2021, 1–4PM
$40. Wave Hill Members save 10%
Gather your pencils, markers, chalk pastels, charcoal or pens, and join artist Wennie Huang for a hands-on experience capturing curves and contours from Wave Hill’s collection of succulent plants. Work from
Horticultural Lecture: Uprooted: The Untold Story of Japanese American Influence on American Gardens (Virtual)
Wed, Mar 24, 2021, 4–5:30PM
$20, Wave Hill. Members save 10%
No garden today is untouched by the legacy of Japan’s gardening culture, not only in terms of the plants themselves, but especially the hard graft of Japanese immigrants who put down roots in the United States and built successful nurseries and cut-flower farms here. A horticulturist and writer who is interested in the narratives of people and their plants, Eric Hsu brings alive a collection of stories that resonate with our universal love of plants and those passionate about them.
Winter Workspace Open Studios (Virtual)
Thu, Mar 25, 2021, 12:30—2PM
Free
Organized over Zoom, each artist hosts their own breakout room, giving visitors a unique and intimate opportunity to learn more about each artist’s practice.
Art Workshop Series: Photography and Memory (Virtual)
Wednesdays, April 7, 14, 21, 2021, 10AM–1PM
$170. Wave Hill Members save 10%
While many use photography as a diary to document experiences, this series focuses on memory and how photography of the present can be used to elicit feelings or ideas of the past. Can a visual record of something “outside” evoke internal states of being? Join photographer Benjamin Swett for a lecture and peer review.
Art Workshop Series: Spiky and Supple: Succulents in Watercolor and Gouache (Virtual)
Thu, Apr 8, 15, 22, 29, 2021, 10AM–1PM
$160. Wave Hill Members save 10%
Explore a variety of watercolor techniques and gouache effects while capturing the distinct personalities of your favorite succulents. Focus in on the details then interpret the spiky and supple characteristics inspired by Wave Hill’s collection of succulents. Wennie Huang guides participants with weekly online demonstrations focused on color-mixing, working wet-on-wet, layering, and applying dynamic brushwork to capture the colors, details, and character of these uniquely modern plants.
Spring Birding (Onsite)
Sun, Apr 11, May 9, 2021, 9:30–11AM
$15. Wave Hill Members save 10%
Monthly bird walks with naturalist and seasoned NYC Audubon guide Gabriel Willow return to Wave Hill this spring! Welcome migratory birds back to the garden and look for the ones passing through on the way to their summer breeding grounds. Birders of all levels welcome. Ages 10 and older welcome with an adult. Inclement weather cancels. NYC Audubon members enjoy free admission to the grounds with registration.
Horticultural Lecture: Wild at Dixter (Virtual)
Wed, Mar 24, 2021, 4–5:30PM
$20, Wave Hill. Members save 10%
Can gardens be designed and managed to support biodiversity while maintaining their aesthetics? Fergus Garrett, Head Gardener of Great Dixter House & Gardens in East Sussex, shares a new approach to gardening at this influential Arts and Crafts garden, where mosaic habitats are woven into the landscape to enhance wildlife habitats.
Forest Bathing: Connecting to Our Earth, Our Trees and Ourselves (Onsite)
Sat, Apr 24, 2021, 10AM–NOON
$30. Wave Hill Members save 10%
Forest bathing boosts your immune system and cardiovascular strength, reduces stress and improves cognitive functioning while deepening your relationship to nature. Contemplate the earth and the trees, and your connections to these elements, as certified forest therapists Gerti Schoen, Nancy Kopans and Cindy Olsen guide you on a reflective walk through Wave Hill’s gardens and trails.
Garden Walk: Great Trees of Wave Hill (Virtual)
Fri, Apr 30, 2021, NOON–12:30PM
Free
In honor of Arbor Day, join us online for a virtual garden walk spotlighting some of Wave Hill’s great trees. The gardens of Wave Hill include some of the largest and most unusual trees in all of New York City. A few even pre-date the establishment of Wave Hill as an estate in the 1840s. Enjoy a virtual stroll through the gardens as Assistant Director of Horticulture Steven Conaway visits some of our most notable trees, sharing stories along the way.
Clean up the Hudson: Join the Sweep! (Riverdale Park)
Sun, May 2, 2021, 1–3PM
Free
Join the crusade for a trash-free Hudson River! Wave Hill is partnering with the environmental advocacy organization Riverkeeper for the 10th annual Riverkeeper Sweep, a volunteer day of service for the Hudson River and its tributaries, with over 100 locations from Brooklyn to the Adirondacks. Wave Hill invites our Members and the local community to take action with us to clean up trash in the Alder Brook section of Riverdale Park. This site is appropriate for children ages 10 and older with proper adult supervisision.
Garden Walk: Great Trees of Wave Hill (Onsite)
Sun, May 2, 2021, 1–2PM
$10. Wave Hill Members save 10%
The gardens of Wave Hill include some of the largest and most unusual trees in all of New York City. A few even predate the establishment of Wave Hill as an estate in the 1840s. In honor of Arbor Weekend, join a Wave Hill Garden Guide on a stroll through the gardens to visit some of our most notable trees.
Community Yoga (Onsite)
Sun, May 9, May 16, May 23, 2021, 10–11AM
Free
Sample Yoga in the Garden with Susie Caramanica. This class returns live on the lawns of Wave Hill overlooking the Hudson River and surrounded by idyllic seasonal blooms. All levels welcome.
Garden Highlights Walk (Onsite)
Sun, May 9, May 16, 2021, 2–2:45PM
Free
Join a knowledgeable Wave Hill Garden Guide on a tour of favorite garden areas and seasonal highlights.
Walks with the Gardeners: The Alpine House, Terrace and Wall (Onsite)
Thu, May 13, 2021, 10AM–1PM
$15. Wave Hill Members save 10%
Spring is a time of floral abundance in and around the Alpine House, when every nook and cranny seems to be in bloom. Guided by Wave Hill gardener Susannah Strazzera, discover the creative ways that diminutive alpine plants are grown for display in pots, sand beds, handmade troughs and even in
Press
For media inquiries please contact CIG Communications Chair Sheryl Victor Levy at svlevy@mcny.org or reached at 917-747-5920.