Tags archives: arts

  • We are a little sad that next week will be our last week of the program and of course, summer is also winding down. We are fortunate and thankful that we can provide this program for NYC public school students. It was great getting to know many of our students. They were eager for the opportunity to learn from professional artists and find out more about careers in the arts. LOCATION: Bayard Rustin Education Complex, 351 West 18th Street, Room 341, New York, NY. CONTACT: Barry Komitor (347) 661- 2469 The program will offer some workshops that will be ongoing while others will be one-offs. Each week we'll post the schedule for the various workshops that will take place on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Mondays will be open arts day where students can work on music, visual arts and fashion design in an open, fun learning environment. Collaborations are encouraged! Special guest artists and speakers will also join us on Mondays. Our main teaching artists for 2022 are Barry Komitor (music) and Beláxis Buil (visual art, fashion). We are planning to have many guest artist teachers and speakers this year as well. Week 6: August 8th - August 12th Monday, August 8th - 12:00PM - 3:30PM - Open Arts  Open Arts happens each week and gives students the opportunity to choose what they want to work on. Our teachers and special guest teachers will offer guidance and assistance. *This weeks special guest artist speaker is fashion designer Gabe Pa[...]
  • Dance Dancers Performance Art Virtual Education and the Arts Higher education has significantly trailed behind other industries in moving forward into digitally focused learning. One factor contributing to this could be that pre-pandemic, colleges were assigning less than 5% of their budgets to IT spending. We have been somewhat pushed to reimagine learning methods in response to the temporary closure of schools over potions of the past two years, however, with distance learning being the only option available in many cases. And now there is increasingly widespread belief that remote learning could endure; just this past April, The New York Times discussed how the remote programs developed to manage the crisis are now poised to remain. While remote programs have been successful in certain respects though, how does the idea of ongoing virtual learning stand to affect the arts? Performing arts programs in particular rely heavily upon physical presence and contact, which has prompted many schools and students to find innovative ways to avoid disruption. While transition in other areas is easy enough, with teachers conducting lectures over Zoom and similar programs, the practical learning aspects of performing arts present more challenges. But because it does seem probable that some digital and remote learning practices will remain in place, we’ve examined the advantages and disadvantages of online learning within the film and performing arts sector. Pros One appeali[...]
  • Tina La Porta opens her first solo exhibition, Side Effects in South Florida on September 29th in the FAR Gallery at FATVillage Projects. The presentation is a candid oeuvre on La Porta's encounter with mental illness and her skilled approach to creating a pharmaceutical, candy-like frenzy to the viewer's eye and psyche. Far Gallery is a long corridor of two walls facing North and South to the main entrance, making the task for any curator or artist challenging to organize works within the space without it becoming predictable. Nonetheless, La Porta and curators Vee Carallo and Leah Brown strategized the area by assembling the wall sculptures in a non-linear format, concentrating on colors, geometric designs within the works and by the story of each prescription pill. Although La Porta is open about her way of life and how her functionality depends on the suppression her pills provide, she also comments in Indian Summer (2003) on the comfortable accessibility people have to order any prescription online. With its deceiving romantic shades of pink and old rose, Indian Summer 2003 exudes an ill feeling to a morning-after pill, direct from India without any proper instructions or what damaging side effects one is to expect from it. From La Porta's grueling process to crush each pill, comes the construction of a larger disk or shape resembling a small tablet filled with an array of smaller capsules sprinkled in vibrant colors and delicious enough to want to bite. The scu[...]
  • Art for Progress’ after school music enrichment program at Hudson High School for Learning Technologies was especially inspiring this spring semester because of a dynamic group of multi-talented, and eager students. The program was reinstated this spring thanks to the efforts of principal Nancy Amling. The program had been inactive for the fall semester because a lack of funding, Ms. Amling was influenced in her decision to restart the program by an exceptional young student and musician named Terelle. Terelle’s enthusiasm and hunger for new knowledge were the ultimate catalyst for the formation of the program. Tarelle wanted to learn about how music works beyond the shapes he was learning on the guitar. Hudson HS currently offers a beginning guitar class as a part of the school’s regular curriculum. The class is focused on the mechanics of playing the instrument, but like most beginning guitar classes, it did not address the underlying music theory necessary for students who to build their skills beyond the basic guitar vocabulary. The group of students that comprise the AFP after school program at Hudson range from 9th-12th graders, and are led by Terelle.  He expressed a desire to learn some more universal musical concepts in order to set up a foundation upon which to develop their musicality. They were made up of aspiring singers, guitarists, pianists, and bass players of varying levels of experience. We explored the construction of scales, chord building and common[...]