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NOMA (cont.)

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Rothko at Pace Gallery and Ai Weiwei at Jeffrey Deitch Projects.

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8.21.16 High Museum With my wife and I's original plans to go to Plains, GA, squandered when finding out Jimmy Carter will not be performing his public Sunday church services until next month, we decided to make a day of Atlanta. First and foremost we dropped by the High and examined and enjoyed the artwork displayed for hours before driving over to the Ponce Market to check out the shops and grab a bite to eat, always a good time in Atlanta.

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An article I was inspired to write after taking notice to the amount of individuals running to their local museums and parks to “catch ‘em all.” Enjoy.

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7.1 Assignment 3: Selfies in NYC

REFLECTION ON SELF PT. II

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7.1 Assignment 3: Selfies in NYC

REFLECTION ON SELF PT. I

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6.30 HUNTER MFA PROGRAM

For our last day of class the group met at the building that houses the Hunter Master of Fine Arts Program in Tribeca at 205 Hudson Street. We had a studio visit with artist and professor Joel Carreiro, and after talking with him about his work he showed us around the facility. Similar to most of the artists we visited during this trip, the artist was more than willing to answer any questions we had for him, whether it be about his work, or the program. During our tour we were able to not only see the facilities where students create some of their work, but were able to enter some of the hard working student’s studios, as well. 

The different varieties of work that was up around the facility really interested me. One of my favorite works I saw while looking around was of a violent nature - I enjoyed it. I was able to read it and take it all in immediately, and the line work applied with a few strokes of the brush interested me. The coloration of the palette intrigued me, and the balance of the picture plane was also pleasing. As soon as I saw that our group went in to talk to this artist I was very much intrigued. Behind all this death and destruction of the artwork was a kind and generous young man. Most of the graduate students we visited were short and quick to have us out of their space - this artist was excepting and willing for us to converse, and to take in his art. Although he was not expecting a group to walk in and bombard him while he was in the middle of his work, he was quick to move things around and make room for as many students who were willing to come into his space. At one point stating, “Sorry for the mess.” It was not messy though, it was busy, had signs of hard work and looked as if he has been painting for days upon days. It was great to hear his experiences in the program and to talk a little bit about his work. I look forward to seeing more of his work, as well as Joel Carreiro’s, in the near future.     

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6.29 JUDD FOUNDATION

This afternoon we had an appointment at the Judd Foundation for a guided tour of the building where Donald Judd lived with his family, while the artist was not residing in one of his other homes in Marfa, Texas. The space was beautiful. Everything was meticulously laid out on all the floors of the building to give the precise essence of Donald Judd’s artwork, as well as some of his personal life. Although some alterations have been made from the time the artist died, I felt his curatorial touch and enjoyed the works he amassed from his art friends during his lifetime. Some of the works on view, along with Donald Judd’s art, were from artists such as Dan Flavin, John Chamberlain, Claes Oldenburg, and Marcel Duchamp. It was like a mini-museum in some aspects and just a total experience in another. It was exceptionally moving. Our tour guide did a wonderful job and it left me in awe.

After the tour I walked around SoHo before serendipitously making my way up to the West Village to enjoy some of the new buildings constructed, and currently being constructed. Making my way towards Chelsea, I decided to stop by a gallery I read about in The Village Voice, Unix Gallery at 532 W 24th Street. It was a nice show, I really liked the globs of paint the artist used to “depict the individualistic expression of emotion and a sense of self.” I had plans of checking out Pace Gallery’s “Blackness in Abstraction” show, a group exhibition, but had to make it back to the NYU dorms to meet the class before heading to Central Park to play wiffle ball. It was a lot of fun, and afterwards we enjoyed a meal at Shake Shack - delicious. 

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6.28 RED HOOK

We took a couple forms of transportation today to reach our point of interest - Red Hook. We rode the metro from Greenwich Village into Brooklyn and a couple blocks from our stop we took the B61 bus to our first destination where we met with Mike Howard. 

Working in an old warehouse with many different artists, Mike was nice enough to take us around to a few of the other studios on the same floor he works on, before taking us to his. Mike's studio is beautifully busy. His work fills up all the available wall space besides for the only window in the studio - which has a beautiful view of the harbor going into the river. Following our visit, the artist was kind enough to treat us to lunch at a local restaurant he frequents. 

After our meal of pizza, salad, tacos, and fried goods we walked a few blocks to Kentler International Drawing Space, to meet with the director/ artist. Florence Neal not only took us through every inch of her gallery space, bringing out various works from the Kentler Flatfiles, but also treated us to key lime pie by a local baker of the area and then brought us up to her and her husband’s personal residence above the Drawing Space. Not only was she willing to answer all our various questions we had, but her husband was just as generous and kind. 

After we left, I was still hungry for more and checked out a gallery of NYU that I have walked by for the past two weeks. The show is titled "Art for Every Home: Associated American Artists, 1934–2000" and is currently on view in the Grey Gallery. It was well worth the visit. They had artwork from artists in the AAA such as Thomas Hart Benton, Grant Wood, and John Steuart Curry. NYU has a few other galleries around Greenwich village and I hope to drop into more of them before I leave the area at the end of the week.

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6.27 MUSEUM OF MODERN ART

MoMA

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6.26 THE POINT

Mission: 

THE POINT Community Development Corporation is a non-profit 501 (c)(3) dedicated to youth development and the cultural and economic revitalization of the Hunts Point section of the South Bronx. We work with our neighbors to celebrate the life and art of our community, an area traditionally defined solely in terms of its poverty, crime rate, poor schools and substandard housing. We believe the area’s residents, their talents and aspirations, are THE POINT’s greatest assets.

THE POINT offers a multi-faceted approach to asset-based community development. It’s programming falls within three main headings - Youth Development, Arts and Culture and Community Development - all aimed at the comprehensive revitalization of Hunts Point.

Theory of Change

In 2008, THE POINT affirmed its Theory of Change to be: "People in the community create the community in which they want to live." THE POINT's Theory of Change is the guiding principle behind all of its programs and projects.

Referenced from thepoint.org

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6.26 HUNTS POINT AVE & GILBERT PLACE

Pigeon playing in running fire hydrant.

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6.26 Assignment 2: Why Murals?

HEROES OF HUNTS POINT

I was discussing our class’s second assignment with my close buddy and he was quick to give me a location to check out. He used to work in Hunts Point, a neighborhood in the Bronx, at the Hunts Point Alliance. He became familiar with the neighborhood while working there and began to really enjoy the murals he walked by during his daily commute from the Upper East Side. He showed me some of the work available to view online and I became very interested. 

I was originally going to further document a piece I saw in Greenwhich Village the other day, but decided to take the plunge and head north on the 6 line to Longwood Ave. Mike gave me some simple directions for when I got off the stop and when I thought I was going the wrong direction I called him up and he directed me specifically where to go.

As I walked by a long row of apartment buildings along Hunts Point Ave, I was instructed to turn around and view the mural - there it was “Hunts Point Heroes.” So magnificently large and beautiful. I instantly loved the mural, and enjoyed the positive feel of it. The artwork was a collaborative project and utilized students of the school from across the street, Hyde Leadership Charter School. The lead artist was Crystal Bruno, the assistant artist was Joel Bergner, and the youth artists were Nathalie Chavez, Monica Alexander, Isaac Gonzalez, Gabriella Orengo, Shanice Rivera, Charlie Rodriquez, and Crystal Rodriguez. 

I spent some time in the area and was able to speak to a couple people from the neighborhood about the work. My first interview was with Al. He approached me while I was enjoying the work and immediately told me about its purpose and that it was meant to bring the neighborhood together. He said that Hunts Point used to be a bad place when he was growing up in the 70′s and 80′s, and that when a great leader was raised there and helped build the community back up they would shortly there after leave and the area would fall into disrepair again. He told me about the five individuals who had their portraits on the front of the gate, and that they represented some of the best people in the neighborhood and that they are consistently giving back. “Everyone is coming back together,” he told me. I asked “Was it a hard time for a while?” He replied with saying, “Yeah, it was really hard, but we’re starting to live in harmony now.”

He gave me some background information on more of the individuals he knew in the neighborhood that are working to bring everyone together, to make the area a better place to live, and brought me over to the new coffee shop in Hunts Point, Birch Coffee Powered by StartUp Box. The coffee shop is the first specialty shop in the neighborhood and was invited to set up a franchise there on behalf of Startup Box, founded by Hunts Point resident and “Hunts Point Hero” Majora Carter. I asked the barista about the mural and said he liked the positivity of it.

Three muralists I have enjoyed for some time, and was even able to enjoy one of their pieces in Hunts Point, are Diego Rivera, Thomas Hart Benton, and Banksy.

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6.25 THE MET PT. III

My third visit to the Met this trip was a special one. My buddy from grade school has never been to the Met, so we made a day of it. He was excited to check out the American Art and I was thrilled to show him. We started off in the Greek and Roman Art wing before going up to the second floor to show him the Pergamon exhibit - he really enjoyed it. Afterwards we walked through the European Paintings, 1250 -1800 wing before spending a good amount of time in the American Wing. We were hungry after browsing for a couple hours and went around the corner from the museum to grab a couple slices to refuel. 

We came back to go through some of the other wings we weren’t able to go through initially. The first place we went after coming back was the Egyptian Art wing. Then we pursued to the first floor of the American wing to check out some on the interior furnishings, where we stumbled upon there expansive open storage. The Met never ceases to amaze me. Still so much more to see.

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6.24 FAMILY FUN DAY IN NYC

Today my mom and my older sister came down from Orange County to visit, and check out the American Museum of Natural History. But after my mom started asking me about seeing some paintings I knew I had to take her to the Met. 

Before the fam arrived in the city I made my way up to the New York Historical Society, which is one building south of the American Museum of Natural History, with the intention of viewing my favorite series of Thomas Coles - The Course of Empire. I was so excited. I used my one day pass we were given, and in addition to my admission I received a ticket for New York Story. So, after checking all the exhibits on the first floor I sat in the auditorium and watched the short screening - it was really great! I was super excited at this point to go through the permanent collection and check out my main mans master work. To my chagrin, the permanent collection was closed, and will be closed until 2017! I did another walk through, taking it all in, and headed over to the American Museum of Natural History. 

It was great to see some of my family, and it was awesome to see there interest in the Museum. My sister and I could barely keep up with my mom. We just let her lead the way, and was enjoying watching her enjoyment, “ooh that’s so pretty . . . look at the giraffes!” “Aw, look at the monkeys, aren’t they cute?” After we had a beautiful lunch I told my mom that we had to go to the Met. In a very touristy moment, we took a pedicab through the west side of Central Park over to the east side. It was really enjoyable, and our guy was very knowledgeable about the park. When we entered the Met, the first place we went to was the Greek and Roman Art section, and then I took the both of them to the European Sculpture section before breezing through the American and European Paintings section. Unfortunately, we did not have the time to sit and take more of it in - due to them trying to leave before running into rush hour. They had a great time though, and it was great to spend some time with them in the places I feel at home, when not at home.