Dumbo NYC

The DUMBO 1st Thursday Gallery Walk on Thursday. DUMBO 1st Thursday features area galleries and artists’ studios, open from 5:30 to 8:30, on the first Thursday of each month. There is no admission fee - participating galleries are open to the public. Gallery receptions, neighborhood dining and bars, and live music add to the evening’s festivities:

July 3, 2008 First Thursday Participants include, but are not limited to the following list. Please check with each gallery to confirm that they will be open late on Thursday.

5+5 Gallery, 111 Front St., Suite 210
Aswoon Gallery, 14 Jay St.
Brooklyn Arts Council, 111 Front St., Suite 218
Byrd Hoffman Watermill Foundation, 111 Front St.
DUMBO Arts Center, 30 Washington St.
GalleryQB, 163 Plymouth St.
Gloria Kennedy Gallery, 111 Front St., Suite 222
Henry Gregg Gallery, 111 Front St., Suite 226
Klompching Gallery, 111 Front St.
Melville House, 145 Plymouth St.
Nelson Hancock Gallery, 111 Front St., Suite 204
Pochron Studios, 20 Jay St.
Powerhouse Books & Powerhouse Arena, 37 Main St.
Pratt Institute, 111 Front St.
Rabbithole Studio, 33 Washington St.
Robert Wilson/rw Work Ltd, 111 Front St.
Safe-T Gallery, 111 Front St., Suite 214
Smack Mellon, 93 Plymouth St. @ Washington Street
Spring, 126a Front St.
Tivoli Home, 111 Front St., 1st floor
Umbrage Gallery, 111 Front St.
VII DUMBO, 28 Jay St.
Wessel + O-Connor Fine Art, 111 Front St., Suite 200

Some highlights include:

	Farmani Gallery Dan Wynn, Fashion Photographs July 3 - August 21, Wed-Sat 12-6pm, Sun 1-6pm Opening reception: July 3, 5:30-8:30PM Showcasing black and white fashion images from the late Dan Wynn. 111 Front Street, Suite 212, DUMBO Brooklyn, 718.578.4478 www.farmanigallery.com
	Pochron Studios Inevitable Failure: the impossibility of desire Thursday, July 3rd, 6-9pm The Blood Dumpster Artists Collective presents: “Inevitable Failure: the impossibility of desire”, a multimedia group show exploring the fantasized and always unattainable desires from several young artists from across the country. 20 Jay Street, 11th Floor Ste. 1100, DUMBO Brooklyn, 718.237.1332 x 305 www.pochronstudios.com (Image credit: “Rhine Stone Cowboy” Jody Jock, 20×30, glicee print, 2008.)
	Rabbitholestudio Summer Salon Show 34 Artists From tART Women’s Art Group July 3rd - August 1st Opening reception Thursday, July 3rd, 5-9pm Wed-Fri 6-8pm and by appointment through July 31 33 Washington Street, DUMBO Brooklyn, 718.852.1500 www.rabbitholestudio.com

RICE
Special Prix Fixe Paella Dinner $25- Bibb lettuce salad with crispy garlic, olive oil, sherry vinegar & a splash of salt with your choice of Seafood or Vegetable Paella & Rioja.
(81 Washington Street, Dumbo, Brooklyn)

Low Bar, The Speakeasy below RICE
$4 cocktails at Low Bar til 10pm on 1st Thursdays
(81 Washington Street, Dumbo, Brooklyn)

Superfine
Live Music, Fine Art, & Fine Dining at Superfine
(126 Front St., Dumbo, Brooklyn)

After the Water Street ‘wall’ was painted by the Concrete Alchemy group in May, looks like the wall is being readied for another new mural/street art. No word yet on when or who but we’re looking forward to some new visuals soon.

{Water Street Art Vandalized, 10June2008}
{Concrete Alchemy Street Art Displays Their Talent on Water Street, 17May2008}
{Revok, Retna, Saber Live Wall Painting on Water Street, 06Aug2007}

Please join our childrens’ book reading and signing with John Rocco
Saturday, June 28, 2008, 4PM–5PM
37 Main Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201

John Rocco, award-winning children’s book author and DUMBO resident, reads from his just-published picture book, Moonpowder. Original artwork from Moonpowder will be on view in The powerHouse Arena.

Rocco’s first picture book, Wolf! Wolf!, won the Borders Original Voices Award.

On Moonpowder:

“Using spreads combined with comic-style panels, Rocco creates a hint of a graphic novel for the youngest readers. This original fantasy melds high adventure with a retro 1940s look in a long narrative perfect for older preschoolers and early elementary children. Readers will linger over the pictures and cheer for the businesslike but heroic Eli, who discovers tha sometimes things can just fix themselves.”
—School Library Journal

powerhousearena.com/Moonpowder.html

Previously: {Event: Wolf! Wolf! Book Release Party at Pomme 3/2/07}

(Photo by Rosalie O’Connor, courtesy of musictheatregroup.org)

The Music Theatre Group is launching a monthly performance series at 10 Jay Street, entitled HEAR/SEE. HEAR/SEE composer and songwriter Peter Whitehead will perform live on self-made and traditional instruments, found objects, and toys through words and music. June 26, 27, and 28 at 8:00 PM at MTG 10 Jay Street in DUMBO. Tickets can be purchased through smarttix.com or by calling 212.868.4444. $15 general admission.

Be there to see how Whitehead is redefining musical performance and composition through his songs and the unique instruments he makes from eclectic objects. For more, go to musictheatregroup.org.

Safe-T-Gallery launching their new show, “Brooklyn au Natural” tonight. Nine artists will be showing a wide range of work, all inspired, depicting or incorporating elements from the natural world.

What: Brooklyn au Natural
When: Opening Reception: Thursday, June 19, 6 - 8 PM. Show runs from June 19 to July 20th 2008
Where: Safe-T-Gallery, 111 Front Street, Suite 214, Brooklyn, NY 11201

The artists featured: Tim Connor, Juliette Conroy, Ana Delgado, Asya Dodina & Slava Polishchuk, Hugh Kearney, Mary Pinto, Fumiko Toda, and April Vollmer.

More info at safetgallery.com/BrooklynAuNatural/BrooklynauNaturalWriteUp.html

1) Holy Holes: Absolute Stalls

(Dylan Mortimer, Amen Bitch, 2008. Limited edition available at DAC)

What: Opening Reception for: HOLY HOLES: ABSOLUTE STALLS
When: Sat, June 14, 2008, 6 - 9 PM (Exhibition runs from June 14 - August 3, 2008)
Where: Dumbo Arts Center, 30 Washington Street

Opening Night Performances:
Drag a performance and installation by Gearoid Dolan a.k.a. screaMachine, 8:00 PM
Strong Body, a performance by Angela Freiberger, 8:30 PM
Saint Agnieska, Patroness of the Waterfront, an outdoor apparition by Kimberly Simpson, 9:00 PM
Curator’s Talk: Sunday, July 27th, 2008, 6 - 7 PM
Hours: Wednesday - Sunday, 12 - 6pm or by appointment
Holy Holes: Absolute Stalls is a multimedia exhibition exploring different viewpoints on the relationship between religion, power and economics.This show looks at religion from a humorous, poetic and critical perspective, subverting traditional expectations and inviting the viewer to interact, transform, or reflect on the relationship between religious rituals and consumerist everyday practices. (more info)

Artists: Brent Wahl, Dylan Mortimer, Grady Gerbracht, Hadassa Goldvicht, Jenny Marketou, Joseph Bennett, Adriana Varella, Angela Freiberger, Gearóid Dolan, Tobaron Waxman, Kimberly Simpson, Karin Giusti, Marcia X, Meirav Leshem, Kwabena Slaughter, and Neil Beloufa.

2) There Is No Synonym For Hope

(Image Credit: Jeff Kao)

What: Opening Reception for: THERE IS NO SYNONYM FOR HOPE
When: Sat, June 14, 2008, 5 - 8 PM (Exhibition runs from June 14 - July 27, 2008)
Where: Smack Mellon, 92 Plymouth Street @ Washington Street, Brooklyn, NY

THERE IS NO SYNONYM FOR HOPE: Co-curated by Lauren Schell Dickens and Julie McKim

Smack Mellon is pleased to present There is No Synonym for Hope. Each summer Smack Mellon selects guest curators to organize a show of emerging artists in our gallery space. This season’s curators Lauren Schell Dickens and Julie McKim have put together a thematic show featuring the work of fifteen international artists.

What: Reception and Book Signing: Barflies by The Snorri Bros.
When: Thursday, June 12 from 7–10pm
Where: The powerHouse Arena, 37 Main Street, Brooklyn

In 1993 in Reykjavík, Iceland, a bar named Kaffibarinn Frikki & Dýrið opened its doors to the public. It was a small place on two floors, in a modest old corrugated iron house on a side street near Reykjavík’s main shopping drag. In its first year, the electric atmosphere at this bar became the source of legends, and Kaffibarinn (as it was commonly known) became the epicenter of Iceland’s Gen-X. The people portrayed in Barflies are the Kaffibarinn regulars, the people who made up the scene: “Bartenders, musicians, actors, actresses, writers, models, entrepreneurs, photographers, computer geeks, students, filmmakers, artists, and some just plain old barflies with nothing much to report.” The pictures in the book originally appeared in an exhibition in Reykjavík in April of 1994, to favorable reviews. They have scarcely seen the light of day since then, until now.

The DUMBO 1st Thursday Gallery Walk on Thursday: DUMBO 1st Thursday features area galleries and artists’ studios, open from 5:30 to 8:30, on the first Thursday of each month. There is no admission fee - participating galleries are open to the public. Gallery receptions, neighborhood dining and bars, and live music add to the evening’s festivities:

June 5, 2008 First Thursday Participants include, but are not limited to the following list. Please check with each gallery to confirm that they will be open late on Thursday.

5+5 Gallery, 111 Front St., Suite 210
Aswoon Gallery, 14 Jay St.
Brooklyn Arts Council, 111 Front St., Suite 218
Byrd Hoffman Watermill Foundation, 111 Front St.
DUMBO Arts Center, 30 Washington St.
GalleryQB, 163 Plymouth St.
Gloria Kennedy Gallery, 111 Front St., Suite 222
Henry Gregg Gallery, 111 Front St., Suite 226
Klompching Gallery, 111 Front St.
Melville House, 145 Plymouth St.
Nelson Hancock Gallery, 111 Front St., Suite 204
Oil Drum Art, 111 Front St.
Pochron Studios, 20 Jay St.
Powerhouse Books & Powerhouse Arena, 37 Main St.
Pratt Institute, 111 Front St.
Rabbithole Studio, 33 Washington St.
Robert Wilson/rw Work Ltd, 111 Front St.
Safe-T Gallery, 111 Front St., Suite 214
Smack Mellon, 93 Plymouth St. @ Washington Street
Spring, 126a Front St.
Tivoli Home, 111 Front St., 1st floor
Umbrage Gallery, 111 Front St.
VII DUMBO, 28 Jay St.
Wessel + O-Connor Fine Art, 111 Front St., Suite 200

FRAME DANCES A performance installation
Installation and Choreography by Susan Marshall
Music by Peter Whitehead
8 Performances ONLY, May 28 – June 1 2008
10 Jay Street in DUMBO

DATES AND DETAILS

Wednesday, May 28, 6:30pm***
Thursday, May 29, 6:30pm, 9:30 pm
Friday, May 30, 6:30pm, 9:30 pm
Saturday, May 31, 3pm, 6:30 pm
Sunday, June 1, 3pm

Tickets: $15, available through Smart-Tix. Call 212.868.4444 or visit www.smarttix.com.
Contact: Diana Basmajian, dianab@musictheatregroup.org

Details after the jump.
Read the rest of this entry »

125 years ago, at 2pm on May 24, 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge officially opened. New York City is celebrating the bridge’s birthday with a week of events. With Dumbo situated at the foot of the bridge, the Dumbo Improvement District, with support from the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs and NYC Department Of Transportation organized and unveiled a permanent public art project and upgrade to the Brooklyn Bridge pedestrian walkway at Washington and Prospect Streets today at 2pm. The permanent installation features fiber optic and LED lighting and art (consistent with their environmental efforts), a map and signage under the bridge, and metal signs and directional compass on the sidewalks.

Dumbo Improvement District Executive Director Tucker Reed, NYC Department of Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, and Lisa Kim, Director, Percent for Art Program were in Dumbo to unveil these walkway improvements. Marty Markowitz said, “With these beautiful new signs and lights, visitors will have an easier time locating the Bridge’s pedestrian walkway and breathtaking views, as well as the wonders of Dumbo, the epicenter of ‘hip’ in Brooklyn.” As many Dumbo residents can attest, visitors and tourists to the area used to be confused about where to go for the Bridge, or directions to the park, Brooklyn Heights, or a neighboring community. Not only will these signs help guide them back to Brooklyn Bridge or Manhattan, but also liven up the previously dark underpass with unique and interesting lighting.

Coinciding with the public art lighting, the 2008 celebration will kick off with a public birthday party on Thursday, May 22nd at the Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park DUMBO, featuring live music by the Brooklyn Philharmonic, Grucci fireworks, and the unveiling of special bridge lighting that will illuminate the bridge from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. through Memorial Day. (More at nyc.gov)

The signage and public art lighting installation was created by Emphasis Design, Tillet Lighting Design and KT3D, and is entitled “This Way.”

{Dumbo Improvement District 2007 Initiatives, 04Mar2007}
{Brooklyn Bridge Lighting Flickr Set}