calendario eventi  :: 

X

30/9/2003

The Bronx Culture Trolley

Hostos Art Gallery depot, New York

Is Running Local This Fall!

We are pushing very hard to let folks in on the Secret Life of the Bronx. The incredible culture and assets of our community have been hidden in plain sight for far too long. We have spoken of the Mott Haven neighborhood which is a playing a major role in this cultural and economic renaissance, and the fact that the people of the community are an organic part of the solution to a longstanding dilemma for the urban planners of New York City: How to create opportunities in underserved communities? The artists of the Bronx are making their own breaks and we're here to help let you know exactly whassup.

The Bronx Culture Trolley (BCT) provides a FREE service to cultural 'hot spots' in the South Bronx and Mott Haven. On Wednesday October 1, 2003 when you hear the Clang, Clang , Clang of the official BCT Bell) our replica of an early 20th century trolley will ease you into a comfortably unrushed tour of the artworks and performances of the folks who make up the life's blood of our city. Again, YOU are the In-Crowd that helps change the socio-economic dynamics of a neighborhood by checking it out and supporting the local talent. Once this occurs, more service related businesses like bars and restaurants open up, creating a financially viable component for a growing community. This is one element of what we mean when we talk about using the arts as a stabilizing influence in the building of a community.

The first Trolley of the new season was a rousing success. BRIO Award winner Alba Sanchez' performance of excerpts from her one-woman show The Bronx Witch Project, at Pregones Theater was superb, with people from the neighborhood joining the crowd from the Trolley. Then there was the screening of The Interview, a short film by Richard Shpuntoff (another BRIO winner) at the Bronx Museum of the Arts was a timely choice indeed during the jobless recovery our economy is enduring, and Jeffrey McDaniel just tore up the mic at the Blue Ox, where most of our First Wednesdays turn into First Thursday Mornings. The logistics of this is all hard work for us as an organization, but the payoff is huge when you see the looks on the faces of the artists and their audiences in their dance of creation and reception. We really like this stuff!

The journey begins at our Hostos Art Gallery depot, (149th St. & Grand Concourse) at 5:30pm, with an intimate reception including beverages and hors d'oeurves. At 6:00pm guests board the first of three trolley runs to begin their tour of this up and coming arts community. You'll be able to check out all kinds of talents and performances away from the "Downtown scene", where some seem more interested in marketing their wares and the fleeting notoriety of fame, than in the process of creating of works that truly challenge the mind-set of an audience, or share an enduring passion. We are driven by our passionate desire to fulfill our mission to connect you, the 'early adopters' (to use marketing lingo) with the artists and organizations who build the creative infrastructure for our communities.

Again--Da' Bronx is IN THE HOUSE!!!
_________________

Attractions scheduled for the Bronx Culture Trolley's 2003-2004 season

October 1st
* The Bronx Museum: AIM 23 (Artists In the Marketplace) offers a broad range of contemporary artistic concerns featuring the works of 36 emerging artists. This exhibition will fill and electrify the museum with dynamic intensity of homegrown contemporary art. Grace: A Project
by Whitfield Lovell presents a group of anonymous figures based on vintage studio photographs of African Americans from the Museumx{2019}s Stanley B. Burns Collection.
* Hostos Art Gallery: The 'Down-Low' in Contemporary Art presents recent works by contemporary artists around the construction of gender and sexuality within urban contexts, including hip-hop culture. These artists use discourses on identity politics to address complexities of
the "Down Low" - urban vernacular for things done secretly and/or quietly. Paradigms: a video program by various artists by guest curator by Louky Keijsers
* Pregones Theatre - Drumming To The Beat - Enjoy the talents of these awesome percussionists as they perform traditional and contemporary Afro-Carribean rhythms. The roots remain strong through the rhythms of a people.
* The Blue Ox Bar: Live Poetry Readings by poet/recording artist and Bronx BRIO winner Pedro Pacheco and published poet and NYFA Poetry Fellowship winner Willie Perdomo followed by an open mic, and an exhibition by artist Sunny Soe.
* Artist Studio Tours: Before art is art, there is a conceptualization or maybe even a vision in the artistx{2019}s mind. Then the mission becomes of translation to the artistx{2019}s hand, and a materialization of their labor in their chosen medium. Witness this process and speak to the artists first-hand when you visit the Mott Haven studios of Valerie Atkisson* (painter, figurative), Claire Barratt (motion sculpture performer), Beth Brudiuex (painter), David Giger (painter, mixed media), David Graham* (3-dimensional mixed media painter), and Tatsuya Nakatana* (experimental percussionist). * Winners of BCA individual artist grants.

Longwood Arts Project is the visual art program of the Bronx Council on the Arts with the mission to support artists and their work, especially emerging artists from underrepresented groups such as people of color and women, through exhibitions at Longwood Art Gallery @ Hostos,
professional development and technical training through the Longwood Cyber Residency Program, and public programs. Longwood Arts Project presents exhibitions of contemporary art and examines issues relevant to Bronx artists and communities.
http://www.longwoodcyber.org

Image:
Left: Derek Jackson, Untitled, 2002 from the series Thug Life, c-print, 11" x 14", courtesy the artist
Right: Karen Yasinsky, Animal Behavior, 2003 (production still), digital video with animation,
8:46 minutes, courtesy the artist

Bronx Council on the Arts (main office)
1738 Hone Avenue
Bronx, NY 10461-1486
(718)931-9500
(718)409-6445 fax

stampa

permanent link