Women are an interesting lot. Like Sinatra sang in South Pacific, “There is nothing like a dame.” His was a sexualized version of what it means to be a woman. In truth however, there is nothing like a dame… or, more precisely speaking, nothing like a woman. Call the species what you will… women are […]
Twenty five years ago, the City of Peekskill announced a new vision. It would boost its revitalization effort by becoming an artistic outpost. At the time, Peekskill hadn’t yet met Livia Straus who, with her husband Marc, established the Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art in Peekskill. Livia, a force of nature herself, proceeded to pepper the Peekskill landscape […]
In many ways, it’s been all about the people – five decades of forward-thinking arts advocates, civic and business leaders, arts patrons, individual artists, volunteers and arts professionals – coming together to create a one-of-a-kind organization: ArtsWestchester. It began as a conversation among volunteers in a living room in 1965. Now it is a nationally recognized private arts council, the […]
Touring Ridge Hill, an oasis on a hill in Yonkers, is a shopper’s delight. But it also has some hidden treasures (besides H&M, Lord & Taylor and The Limited). Smack dab in the middle of this elegant island of retail is a Tom Otterness playground for children. It’s huge feet have little people in between […]
Many years ago I gave up painting. I became an administrator…a manager…a person whose livelihood was more consistent for a mother of three. I comforted myself with the notion that I would be helping other artists. I even went so far as to delude myself with the fiction that I would be painting on […]
The influential artist Marcel Duchamp once said “I don’t believe in art. I believe in artists.” Although Duchamp was only half right, he made an important distinction between art and artists. Here at ArtsWestchester, we too believe in artists. They are an essential force in any creative community. Many venerable artists and philosophers have tried to explain the value […]
Ann Ladd is known around our digs as the Queen of Collage. That’s because she trolls her White Plains neighborhood for what she calls “bits and pieces” that she turns into works of art. Recently, her work was on view at my local Chappaqua Library, in a show curated by artist Larry D’Amico who keeps […]
Many refer to America as a nation of immigrants. It is after all a country shaped by generations of people who have come here from somewhere else. Some have come seeking opportunity. Some have come seeking freedom. Some to study. Some to escape. Some against their will. It is an ever expanding diaspora phenomenon as […]
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