ADVENTURES IN THE ARTS
From the summer of 2006 and throughout the summer of 2007 the Adventures in the Arts series brought artists from all disciplines into community gardens around New York City. By spotlighting artists in these spaces, the program performed the dual roll of highlighting garden spaces and showcasing artists and their work. I was responsible for creating, producing, organizing and curating this program, with the support and resources from GreenThumb, which is the largest community gardening program in the United States.
Of the 8 shows produced since the kickoff date:
Kickoff Event – September 2006
Harvest Fair – September 2006
Holiday Film Screening – January 2007
GreenThumb GrowTogether March 2007
Shades of Light and Dark – April 2007
Summer Solstice Arts Festival – June 2007
Beats that Bind Us – August 2007
Art on Dean – August 2007
the three best shows are highlighted in this portfolio.
Shades of Light and Dark
In the month of April, 2007, the La Plaza Cultural Garden in the East Village of NYC hosted Shades of Light and Dark, an art exhibition. The 6 artists pictured here came together to transform the garden with their work.
The garden was also the last stop on a walking garden tour, a part of the National Gardening Month activities, sponsored every year by the New York City Department of Parks.
The Shades of Light and Dark art exhibition featured a diverse group of artists. Mr. Chi Chui Lee created a piece made from a desk salvaged from the street minutes away from the exhibition. The work spoke very softly in its location under the garden gazebo, and referred to his humble beginnings in Hong Kong, were he lived before emigrating to the States.
Throughout the garden, Alexandra Zevin hung her sugar eggs, molded from raw sugar. During the day, the eggs shone a crisp white in the garden, and at night they lit up the space with a warm luminescent glow. Other artist contributions included African art sculptures, a video piece inspired by the eggs, and an interactive installation made of cement slabs with grass cutouts.
The show opened on April 28th, 2007.
Summer Solstice Arts Festival
On June 21st, the longest day of the year, the West 132nd St. Garden in Harlem NY hosted the first Summer Solstice Arts Festival. The annual Summer Solstice organized every year by GreenThumb was recreated under my vision and direction. We created an Arts Festival, with over 26 artists of ranging disciplines, an educational workshop about container gardening, food, live entertainment and fun activities for the kids.
The street adjacent to the garden was closed off for the day to welcome the neighborhood into the garden. On stage was an exciting program including Egyptian belly dancers, and the Latin sounds from Santos and the Romantic 4 Plus. Filling the streets were art and craft artisans, a video installation, and an interactive artwork made from pumpkins growing in a garden nearby.
The show kicked off on June 21st, 2007.
Art on Dean
The Art on Dean art expose was a working collaboration with the Walt L. Shemal Garden in Brooklyn, GreenThumb and other local art organizations. Over 18 artists brought their paintings, sculptures, fashion and music to the garden on a warm day in August.
The local artists revelled in the opportunity to showcase their work in a beautiful relaxed setting, while browsing around, meeting other artists and enjoying the sweet sounds of the jazz band.
There was lots of art, food, and entertainment. It was a day to be creative and to celebrate the wealth of talent within the community. Art on Dean 2007 is sure to become an annual event, growing in participation every year.
The show opened on August 25th, 2007.
On April 25th and 26th we were happy to present the Fusion Performance Art Workshop. Lectures and performances geared at the creation of a platform for young artists to develop their ideas using performance art, no matter which discipline they prefer, weather it is traditional Chinese painting and calligraphy or new media art.
