Shop locally, help save a business - Executive Inbox | Crain’s New York Business

Shop locally, help save a business - Executive Inbox | Crain’s New York Business I am so glad someone is talking about saving small businesses. Arts organizations are businesses too and they need local patronage.

One more eco story

I just had to share this story. The piece reminded me of a work by Grimanesa Amoroso. Our organization was apart of the exhibition Weaving In and Out and her work looks similiar. I am personally amazed at how artists are stepping up on the environment issues and developing wondering eco-art that teaches all of us how to preserve this planet.

Interiors
Beautiful Window Display Made from Recycled To-Go Cups
by Kristi Bernick, 08/02/10
filed under: Art, Recycled Materials, green Interiors

Slow Commerce, The Indo Projects, Chicago, window display, eco design, sustainable design, green design, make believe, to go cups

An art initiative in the hip Chicago neighborhoods of Wicker Park and Bucktown presents a series of commissioned storefront installations by local designers. One of many displays running along N Milwaukee Ave is an installation made entirely of up-cycled to-go cups sourced from local trash cans. Slow Commerce by The Indo Projects presents “cloud-like structures” that send proactive messages into the community about how taking environmental responsibility will ensure a higher quality of life for future generations.

Slow Commerce, The Indo Projects, Chicago, window display, eco design, sustainable design, green design, make believe, to go cups

The Indo Projects creates window installations by utilizing found objects, highlighting the positive characteristics of goods that are considered “old and worn.” The cups in “Slow Commerce” are sourced from local trash cans — it took the design team three full days to collect, wash and assemble the playful structure. The act of collection puzzled passing pedestrians and nearby businesses, and this interaction generated communication about awareness of overlooked waste in the local community.

Slow Commerce is just one of many installations in the historic community that promote the arts through the “Make Believe – Reactivating Vacant Spaces in WPB” project. The installations can be viewed from the street until October 29, 2010.

Read more: Beautiful Window Display Made from Recycled To-Go Cups | Inhabitat - Green Design Will Save the World

Chicago's Art on Tracks

http://inhabitat.com/2010/08/02/art-on-track-invades-chicagos-elevated-trains-this-weekend/

I think this is a great idea. Making art more accessible by bringing it to the people. Quite exciting.

The City College of New York :: St Nicholas Park Public Exhibit

The City College of New York :: St Nicholas Park Public Exhibit

Peter Max and Annette de la Renta Receive 20th Anniversary, the Black Alumni of Pratt Awards

Peter Max and Annette de la Renta Receive 20th Anniversary, the Black Alumni of Pratt Awards I really like Peter Max and I think it's great that Black alumns at Pratt are honoring and spotlighting the work that they do which makes design, architecture and art more diversified.

AIA NY Chapter Announces Winner of Its Biennial Design Competition

AIA NY Chapter Announces Winner of Its Biennial Design Competition I like the idea that art, architecture, design and style are collaborating more and more. Everybody wins because we ourselves as humans the opportunity to be flexible and experimental which is often hard to do day to day.

Singer and Actress, Lena Horne, Dead at 92

Singer and Actress, Lena Horne, Dead at 92 The tribute to Lena Horne is a nice one. Though not linked directly to Harlem, Lena Horne was an important Black icon in America and should be remembered as a great lady who tried to break barriers and improve life for all Americans.

Female Architects in the UK

I enjoyed reading this story because it showed how women are trying to make a difference and improve the quality of their lives around the world. Sometimes, we feel that we are the only ones struggling with an issue but it's good to know that one is not alone and others think the same and fighting for their beliefs. Several industries like architecture could benefit from a woman's touch because trends show that cities are going to continue to grow larger. Taller buildings will be the norm to house people and why not include the opinions of those who are trying to raise families comfortably and more interactively.

Two Person Exhibition by Michael Joo and Damien Hirst at Haunch of Venison in Berlin

Two Person Exhibition by Michael Joo and Damien Hirst at Haunch of Venison in Berlin I like collaborations when the parties involved really push themselves to the edge. This far reaching exhibition looks at scale, color and the usage of space. Define it however you wish. Allow the works to playfully move you and rethink ideas and boundaries.

JUDITH JAMISON AND ALVIN AILEY AMERICAN DANCE THEATER APPOINT ROBERT BATTLE AS NEW ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

This is exciting and so wise of Ms. Jamison to pass the torch now and offer continuity and sustainable to this fabulous company for generations to come.

Judith Jamison today announced that her mantle as Artistic Director of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater will pass to Robert Battle, a fast-rising choreographer who has created ballets for the Ailey company and Ailey II since 1999 and has served as an artist-in-residence with The Ailey School. Mr. Battle, 37, will be the third person to head the company since its founding by Alvin Ailey in 1958. He will serve side-by-side with Ms. Jamison as Artistic Director Designate from now until July 1, 2011, when she takes Emerita status and he assumes his full responsibilities.

Judith Jamison stated, "We are enormously fortunate in being able to secure the leadership of Robert Battle. Combining an intimate knowledge of the Ailey company with an independent perspective, he is without question the creative force of the future."

Joan H. Weill, Chairman of the Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation, commented, "Robert's decade-long relationship with Ailey has given me confidence that he is a great choice to lead the company at this moment. It is exciting to know that his fresh point of view and powerful new ideas will now become part of the ever-enduring, ever-evolving legacy of Alvin Ailey, carrying our spirit forward in the years ahead."

Bruce Gordon, chairman of the Succession Planning Committee for the Board of Trustees, commented, "We feel certain that our audiences throughout the United States and around the world will embrace the evolution of the Ailey company under Robert Battle's direction. They will know their profound emotional bond with this company is being not just honored but renewed."

According to Executive Director Sharon Gersten Luckman, "Alvin Ailey and Judith Jamison built a world-renowned institution around a singular artistic vision. Under Robert Battle's artistic leadership, we can be sure that the vision will remain strong and true. I look forward to working with him to keep this institution flourishing for years to come."

Accepting his appointment as Artistic Director Designate, Robert Battle stated, "I don't know whether to call this the proudest moment of my life or the most humbling. With the help of Judith Jamison and the great, great dancers in this company, I hope to be worthy of this tremendous responsibility that I've been given, and to honor it in the only way Alvin Ailey would have accepted: by keeping it new, alive and moving forward."

"In seeking a new artistic leader for the company, it was important to find someone who has his own vision, his own experience," Judith Jamison explained. "Robert has his own company and is a maverick in his choreography. He's edgy and forward-thinking, very talented and savvy-a lovely, intelligent person who in many ways reminds me of Alvin. He also has a worldview and is capable of taking this company in new directions, while at the same time understanding our traditions. Choosing Robert Battle is the giant leap I want to take to ensure that this company stays vibrant in the future."

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About Robert Battle

Honored by the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in 2005 as one of the "Masters of African-American Choreography," Robert Battle was born in Miami, Florida, in 1974 and was educated at the New World School of the Arts and The Juilliard School. Upon his graduation from Juilliard in 1994, he joined the David Parsons company as a dancer, and in 1998 he began setting his own work on the company, which now has performed his choreography nationally and internationally. Upon leaving Parsons in 2001, Robert Battle founded his own group, Battleworks Dance Company, which made its premiere in 2002 at the World Dance Alliance's Global Assembly in Düsseldorf, Germany, where it was the U.S. representative to the festival. Battleworks has subsequently performed extensively at venues including the Joyce Theater, Dance Theater Workshop, American Dance Festival and Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival.

Robert Battle began his association with Ailey in 1999, when he was commissioned to create Mood Indigo for the popular young Ailey II company under the leadership of its long-time Artistic Director Sylvia Waters. He first worked with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in 2003 when he created Juba for the company and choreographed side-by-side with Judith Jamison and Rennie Harris for Love Stories, which had its world premiere in 2004. The most recent work by Mr. Battle to enter the company's repertoire is In/Side, performed during the December 2009 New York season to popular and critical acclaim. Mr. Battle has also conducted workshops for The Ailey School as an artist-in-residence in 2006 and 2008.

Other companies that have commissioned new works from Mr. Battle or restaged his ballets include Hubbard Street Repertory Ensemble, River North Dance Company, Koresh Dance Company, Introdans, PARADIGM, Jeanne Ruddy Dance, and Ballet Memphis, among others.

In addition to his activities as a company leader and choreographer, Robert Battle regularly conducts residencies at universities throughout the United States and teaches master classes in New York and abroad. Among the honors he has received is the prestigious Statue award of the Princess Grace Foundation-USA, which he accepted in 2007.

The Roof of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Sprouts a Bamboo Forest

The Met is preparing for another rooftop installation. This environmental work might help show the possibilities of rooftops across the city. Painting tops white is good but greening them and using them as open spaces would relieve congestion and improve quality of life. Read the full story below.

by Bridgette Meinhold, 04/26/10

The New York Times tells us that the roof of the Metropolitan Museum of Art is currently bursting forth with a beautiful new installation made completely out of bamboo. Designed by identical twin artists the Starn Brothers, “Big Bambú: You Can’t, You Don’t, and You Won’t Stop” is a growing scaffolding-like exhibit that starts tomorrow. Doug and Mike Starn have been working with rock climbers to lash bamboo poles together to create a jungle of bamboo on top of the museum, which will continue to grow and develop all through the summer.

Doug and Mike, who may be more well known for their photography, have been working on their own bamboo installation in their studio, which was the impetus for this new installation at the Met. The growing scaffolding of bamboo is a carefully planned sculpture that was designed with the help of an architect as well as approval from the NYC Building Department and other city agencies. It’s a combination of art, sculpture and architecture, that the artists compare to “the arteries in your body or in the city subway system.” Bamboo was chosen because it is light weight, strong, can withstand inclement weather.

The installation will consist of 5,000 poles of bamboo sourced from a farm in Georgia and a century-old plantation in South Carolina, and they will be lashed together with 50 miles worth of colorful nylon rope. Visitors to the museum may even have a chance to walk around on the scaffolding, assuming they are fit and wearing proper footwear. From the roof, the typical views of the Manhattan skyline are obscured, but the scaffolding, which will reach 50 feet high during the summer, will give visitors a bird’s eye view or maybe even the feeling that they’re part of a high rise construction project. When the installation is taken down in October, the artists plan on reusing the bamboo in some form or another.

+ Doug + Mike Starn on the Roof: Big Bambú

+ Starn Studio

Via NYTimes.com

Great story from Inhabitat

I have to share this story. A South African designer Heath Nash unveiled a colorful, eclectic chandelier made almost entirely from recycled PET bottles at this year’s Milan Design Week. Dubbed Bottleformball, the brilliantly-hued recycled creation is crafted from multicolored pieces of salvaged bottles attached to a hand-made wire structure. We love how the artfully arranged bottle pieces look almost like colored ceramics when illuminated from within.

Apollo Theater Exhibit in Washington D.C. Shows Jackson's Hat

Apollo Theater Exhibit in Washington D.C. Shows Jackson's Hat
I am so proud of the Apollo Theater for organizing this exhibition. There is so much history in the Apollo. And there is nothing like getting a tour from Billy Mitchell the official historian of the Apollo. He mixes stories, songs and contagious energy during your experience. Sharing the love around the country will keep so many spirits alive.

Colorful, Ethereal Sculptures by David Altmejd at Xavier Hufkens

Colorful, Ethereal Sculptures by David Altmejd at Xavier Hufkens

Very inventive show using recyclable materials in playful ways. Contemporary art should reflect the issues, problems and virtues of their day. Addressing our environment and a respect for it is one of those issues. How we repurpose man made materials for other uses to extend the life and not hurt our environment needs to be encouraged. There is alot to be learned. It might help us to create new materials that are more organic and reacquaint people to land and life.

New-York Historical Society and El Museo del Barrio Join Forces for Nueva York

New-York Historical Society and El Museo del Barrio Join Forces for Nueva York

I think this partnership is very interesting. The US realizes that we have a huge immigrant population that we know very little about. The Latino population is taken for granted and ignored until there is an election. We have a big gubernatorial race in NY and I have a feeling that important announcements will be made but more important how do we begin a meaningful dialogue with the Latino community which is very diverse and spans so many stories. I would like to see that happen.

Legendary Village, Clerkenwell, Celebrates Its Design Heritage in May

Legendary Village, Clerkenwell, Celebrates Its Design Heritage in May