Not much was working between the city and the community when John Lindsay became mayor of New York in 1965. He wanted the city to be known as “fun city.” Yet, it was a tough lift at the time, even for the popular Lindsay. Working for the Mayor in the early 70s, I […]
When I think of Romare Bearden, I can actually reproduce in my mind colorful depictions of African American factory workers going about their laborious routines. I am less familiar with the artist’s abstract works, which are at the root of his vision. Now, in part through a $45,000 grant from National Endowment for the Arts […]
Last week, wandering through Neuberger Museum of Art, I was transported to the Greenwich Village and Lower East Side of my youth. Graphic and sculptural interpretations of Campbell Soup cans, bathrobes, lipsticks and other ordinary objects were suddenly appearing in galleries as high ticket items. The movement that started in the fifties seemed to flourish and expand […]
There is something so very elegant about Henri Matisse. He can take a line and magically turn it into a portrait so recognizable that only a few strokes of his pen are necessary. This French master was known to have said: “If I trust my drawing hand it is because in training it to serve […]
Some people believe that healing is an art. Others insist it is a science. I prefer to think about healing as both an art and a science. Intellectually, I take for granted the science part. Yet, perceptually, I continue to be fascinated by the impact of the arts on wellness. One can look at leading […]
A feisty man with a wide-brimmed hat breezed into my office one day in 1978 at the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. He walked with a cane while playing a harmonica to my staff’s delight. That is how I first met Mark di Suvero, the sculptor whose work will be on view at […]
Happily we drove to, and then trekked to, the Katonah Museum (KMA). We were on a mission to check out the Arts and Craft Beer Fest and a Caramoor concert. Approaching the site, we were greeted by a giant yellow “thing.” Yes it was a sculpture, but it was also a huge yellow personae leaping […]
It’s the year of the woman, or so they tell me. And to prove it, fashion has been elevated to an art at no less an arbiter of taste than The Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met). Trolling its recent haute couture exhibition, I remembered in a hot flash why I gave up fashion as […]
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