Ann Schaumburger, After the Storm, 2017, via A.I.R Gallery
Hey art crawlers! The first of the month coincides with First Thursday this month, and DUMBO is awash in fantastic shows. Here’s the rundown of what you’ll see tomorrow as the ‘nabe’s galleries stay open til 8 to welcome you in! First Thursday kicks off at 6pm!
Made in NY Media Center(30 John Street) artists and curators will be in attendance, along with free wine and beer, as Made in MY Media Center presents “Light Year 35: Digital Fairy Tales: Chinese Stories.” This is the third installment of the Digital Fairy Tales series, which has appeared in multiple cities since 2016. The purpose of the series is to present archetypal material from different cultures and ask artists to respond in search of cultural commonalities.
C.A.N.V.A.S Gallery (145 Front Street) presents “Ultra Violet Pilot,” a unique take on art with visuals that are meant to stimulate your third eye under black light visual. The featured artist is the legendary “Rammer” Martinez who will be debuting his 2018 collection as well as a rare live painting for DUMBO’s First Thursday Gallery Walk and showcasing his legendary “Ramography.”
A.I.R. Gallery (155 Plymouth Street) presents “New Work,” an exhibition of paintings by artist Ann Schaumburger, “Slow Motion,” an exhibition of new sculptures by Fellowship Artist Megan Pahmier, and “What the Lips Can’t Say,” an exhibition of new fiber works by Fellowship Artist Daniela Puliti. (more…)
Readings by Eileen G’Sell, Niel Rosenthalis, Jess Feldman, Jess Rizkallah & Glenn Shaheen @ Berl’s Brooklyn Poetry Shop (141 Front Street), 7pm, FREE, more infoContemporary Collage Workshop @ New Forms Group for Creative Development (20 Jay Street), 1pm, First of 4 sessions, altogether $225, Designed for both the novice and the experienced collagist, we will explore such issues as: words and images in collage, the altered book collage, the narrative sequence, collage in children’s books, and surrealist and dada approaches (from the dream collage to the iconoclastic). More info
Thursday 1/11
We Are Legion: Anything Goes! @ Forgotten Works Studio (46 Bridge Street), 8pm, $15-$25, Join us for a night filled with all kinds of crazy shenanigans ranging from onesie burlesque to space age boas and beyond! You never know what we’ll bring out next, because at We Are Legion…anything goes! Buy TixOpening Reception: Lisa M. Robinson’s Terrestra @ Klompching Gallery (89 Water Street), 6pm, FREE, Terrestra is seven years in the making, and continues the artist’s deep-seated reverence for the natural landscape. These outstanding new photographs follow in the footsteps of Robinson’s critically acclaimed Snowbound and Oceana series, where she began her conceptual and artistic exploration of the landscape, in relation to the ebb and flow of climatic change and man’s relationship to it. More infoTriangle Arts Association Open Studios @ Triangle Arts Association (20 Jay Street), 5pm, FREE, Meet Triangle Arts’ four artists-in-residence at this intimate open studios for their DUMBO neighbors. Stop by after work, see the work, talk directly with artists, and have a snack! More infoTriangle + Black Lunch Table Wikipedia Edit-a-thon @ Triangle Arts Association (20 Jay Street, #317 and #318), 6pm, FREE, The Black Lunch Table (BLT) project will host an edit-a-thon focusing on important but underrepresented New York area visual artists of the African Diaspora during Triangle Arts Association Open Studios. A training session will be held at the beginning, but help is available throughout the event. Please bring your laptop and feel free to bring a friend! RSVPReadings by Sam Solomon, Tara Skurtu & Michael Robbins @ Berl’s Brooklyn Poetry Shop (141 Front Street), 7pm, FREE, more infoBook Launch: Say My Name by Allegra Huston — in conversation w/ Joan Juliet Buck @ POWERHOUSE @ the Archway (28 Adams Street), 7pm, FREE, Allegra Huston, author of the bestselling memoir, Love Child, makes an impressive debut as a novelist with an evocative and erotic exploration of love, passion, and empowerment, RSVP
Friday 1/12
Civics League for Disability Rights One Year Anniversary @ 25 Elm Place, 1pm, FREE, We here at Civics League feel the fierce urgency to fight the regressive policy choices that threaten our rights, our health, and our independence. Now is the time for our community to proceed with vigorous and positive actions for change. More infoBook Launch: Anthology of Emo Vol. 1 by Tom Mullen @ POWERHOUSE @ the Archway (28 Adams Street), 7pm, FREE, Panel guests include: Norman Brannon – Texas is the Reason, Chris Leo – The Van Pelt, William Kheun – Rainer Maria & more TBA!, RSVPReadings by Anastacia-Renee, Tommy Pico, T’ai Freedom Ford & Derrick Weston Brown @ Berl’s Brooklyn Poetry Shop (141 Front Street), 7pm, FREE, more info
Saturday 1/13
Screening of A Primer in Sky Socialism @ Issue Project Room (22 Boreum Place), 8pm, $15, Premiered at the Museum of Modern Art in May 2013, A Primer in Sky Socialism continues Ken Jacobs’ exploration into 3D filmmaking, renewing his fascination with the histories and technologies of the moving image, a theme that has preoccupied his work for over 50 years. Shot on the Brooklyn Bridge with a view of the fireworks, this long-form film privileges the experiential over narrative drive. Buy tixOpening Reception: Rudy Shepherd’s Everything in the Universe is My Brother and Theresa Ganz’s Wave Room @ Smack Mellon (92 Plymouth Street), 6pm, FREE, more infoIntroduction to Copperplate Calligraphy @ 47 Bergen Street, 11am, $99, Learn the fine art of writing beautifully by applying specific tools and rules – no matter what your handwriting looks like. Take some time to collect your thoughts, and learn to write beautifully and with intention. Buy tixMatthew Schott’s Super Fun Adventurtastic Variety Show! @ Chaos Studios (247 Water Street), 7pm, $5, Come out to see Stand-Up! Scripted Comedy! Big Surprises! And a special preview of a theatrical experience unlike any to come before or since! More info
Sunday 1/14
Short Hair Don’t Care Runway Event @ Dumbo Loft (155 Water Street), 2:30pm, $20-$75, A Firece Hair Runway Show featuring a generation of hairstylists who are changing the game with the latest short hair trends.This event will give SHORT coifed beauties of ALL shades and textures a platform to celebrate the freedom & empowerment of short tresses. Buy tix1 Day Workout: Engaging Light @ BKC (33 Washington Street), 11am, $84-$120, This class challenges students to observe, perceive and manipulate light and shadow to help make unique photographs that inspire the imagination, Buy tix
Monday 1/15
Crash Course: Camera Basics @ BKC (33 Washington Street) 6:30pm, $52.50-$75, Camera Basics is an efficient, one-shot introduction to digital photography, and a good place to explore the fundamentals of your camera. Buy tixThe Next Step Food and Wine Charity Event @ 26 Bridge (26 Bridge Street), 7:30pm, $99-$125, The Next Step, a project of Israel Medical Fund, aides and supports adults and children in Israel that suffer from limb-loss; wounded soldiers, terror victims and cancer patients, by providing them high-end prosthetics, technical and emotional support. Buy Tix
Tuesday 1/16
Belladona* Presents Sophie Seita (Translator Of Uljana Wolf’s Subsisters) & Others @ Berl’s Brooklyn Poetry Shop (141 Front Street), 7PM, FREE, more info
Welcome to the inaugural Hometown Headlines post, a new bi-weekly news roundup at Dumbo NYC!
This week, it seems that Dumbo will be having a green Christmas. On Monday, members of Community Board 2’s Parks Committee gave the ok on plans to redesign Bridge Park 2. The park is currently almost entirely concrete. The plan is to un-pave paradise and turn the park into a verdant playground with artwork throughout.
Speaking of municipal improvements, Brooklyn Heights Assemblywoman Jo Anne Simon, the self-styled “Queen of Gowanus,” says that the plan to bury the Gowanus Expressway — creating an underground tunnel from 3rd Avenue to the Harbor, and connecting from there to the BQE — is nearly complete.
The fact that the wheels are turning on that tunnel might be welcome news, since the Brooklyn-Queens Connector (BQX), the proposed streetcar that will run from Astoria to Sunset Park with stops in Vinegar Hill, Dumbo and Brooklyn Heights, is already behind schedule.
If you’re in search of an evening to take in some cool art displays, check out the Dumbo First Thursday Gallery Walk.
Dumbo’s art galleries are open to the public later than usual on the first Thursday of every month from 6 to 9 p.m. The galleries have special events and receptions for participants on the walk, and area restaurants and bars offer deals and discounts.
The event allows Dumbo to show off its arts community, an important part of Dumbo for decades. Artists began to move in after the deindustrialization of the area in the 1970s, and even after the neighborhood’s transformation in the past decade or so, many still continue to work or live in the area.
