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Los Pleneros de la 21 announces The Bomba & Plena Community Workshops October 15, 2011 — June 2, 2012 11:00 a.m. — 1:45 p.m., ongoing Saturdays Julia de Burgos Center, 1680 Lexington Avenue, New York NY 10029 Los Pleneros de la 21, renowned Bomba and Plena Musical ensemble and staple East Harlem Nonprofit, is proud to announce the 23rd anniversary of the Bomba and Plena Community Workshops, New York’s only Community school dedicated to teaching Afro-Puerto Rican music, song, dance and cultural expressions. Classes, offered every Saturday are given in different age appropriate classes, for all skill levels and backgrounds. Classes run year round and welcome students from 2.5 years old to over 65.Prices vary, discounts are available. Spaces are limited, so contact LP21 today! Call 212-427-5221, or email pleneros21@gmail.com

Juancho Herrera
CD Release Party: Banda
7:00 p.m.
DROM, 85 Avenue A, New York, NY 10009
Admission: $10. Tickets available online
Singer/songwriter Juancho Herrera announces the release of his new album Banda. The album features original compositions inspired by an urban, modern vision of Latin America. The album showcases collaborations with some of the most interesting artists in the NY music scene, such as Claudia Acuña, Anat Cohen, Jason Lindner, Sofia Koutsovitis, Aquiles Baez, Sofia Tosello, Samuel Torres, and others. Based in NYC and hailing from Colombia and Venezuela, guitarist/vocalist Juancho Herrera is an artist with a career of 20 years as a frontman and sideman.

The Folk Music Society of N.Y., Inc/ N.Y. Pinewoods Folk Music Club presents
Folk Open Sing
7-10 p.m.
Info: Frank, 212-533-2139, or Laura, 718-788-7563
Ethical Culture Society, 53 Prospect Park West, Brooklyn (near 2nd St.)
Join us on the first Wednesday of each month for an open sing. Bring your voice, instruments, friends, neighbors, and children. Drop by for a couple of songs or the whole evening.

New York Foundation for the Arts announces NYFA’s BOOTSTRAP ARTS FESTIVAL We hope you will join us for The Bootstrap Arts Festival, a month long series of arts events presented by Artspire and New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) taking place at venues around New York City throughout the month of February. A complete schedule of events is available online. The NYFA Bootstrap Festival is the offspring of NYFA’s Artist as Entrepreneur initiative, a five-week long program designed to empower the artist by focusing on topics such as branding, financial strategies, contracts and corporate structures. The BOOTSTRAP FESTIVAL is comprised of graduates of the first two Bootcamps and features work in a variety of disciplines — visual arts, film, theater, dance, literary works, photography, music and other interdisciplinary forms. Both Bootstrap and Boot Camp are key elements within NYFA’s broad-based effort to provide a template for arts professionals that enables them to develop as entrepreneurs by offering support, education and resources. The most prominent tent pole initiatives within this ambitious plan are the recently launched Artspire.org and the new book, The Profitable Artist (Skyhorse Publishing/Allworth Press).

Caffè Lena presents
Bluegrass Gospel Project
8 p.m.
Caffè Lena, 47 Phila St., Saratoga Springs, NY, 518-583-0022
Cost: $16 advance / $18 at door (How to get tickets)
The Bluegrass Gospel Project has been impressing audiences since its inception in 2001. The group has been called “one of New England’s premier concert acts” (Casey Rea, Seven Days, 2005). The BGP brings together top-tier vocalists and instrumentalists (“Just try and find a better group of singers”—Robert Resnik, 2009, host of Vermont Public Radio’s “All the Traditions”) to interpret a wide range of material, from southern spirituals and Appalachian gems to contemporary songs by Brett Dennen and U2. The BGP is truly unique in that it presents a repertoire of music with a spiritual sensibility but without any religious agenda. The line-up features Gene White, Jr. on fiddle, two-time Vermont state banjo champ Dr. Steve Light, vocalist Colby Crehan, guitarist Paul Miller, Taylor Armerding, founder of the progressive bluegrass band Northern Lights, on mandolin, and Kirk Lord on upright bass.

Teaching the Hudson Valley (THV) announces CALL FOR WORKSHOP AND FIELD EXPERIENCE PROPOSALS: In Conflict & Crises—Teaching the Hudson Valley from Civil War to Civil Rights and Beyond July 24-26, 2012 FDR Home & Presidential Library, Hyde Park, NY THV is accepting proposals for activities, discussions, panels, workshops, and extended field experiences. All materials must be submitted by March 1. Workshops and field experiences should do one or more of the following: Examine ways for teachers and/or site staff to approach controversial issues. Observe the 150th anniversary of the Civil War by providing context and resources. Practice ways to teach history as ongoing and changeable, rather than a series of unrelated events. Explore how local or regional decision makers try to reconcile divergent views. . Get more information and download proposal guidelines at the website.

Caffè Lena presents
Beaucoup Blue
8 p.m.
Caffè Lena, 47 Phila St., Saratoga Springs, NY, 518-583-0022
Cost: $15 advance / $17 at door (How to get tickets)
Beaucoup Blue is the Americana Philadelphia based duo of David and Adrian Mowry. Father and son have been performing their roots based music nationally and internationally as a duo, quartet and on occasion quintet. Bridging many gaps in American music, their soulful traditional and contemporary styles mesh into an innovative and authentic sound. Although blues is a staple in their repertoire, they base their love in music from Folk, Soul, R&B, Jazz, Country and Bluegrass. All these interests and influences come out in their original song-writing in a unique way. A handsome range of instruments like six and twelve string guitars, slide guitar, round neck resonator guitar, combined with two soulful voices, encompasses a rich and honest feel, noticeably influenced by familial ties.

Kim & Reggie Harris
8:00 p.m. (doors open 7:30 p.m.)
The Peoples’ Voice Cafe, The Community Church of New York Unitarian Universalist, 40 East 35th St. (between Madison & Park), New York, NY
Admission: $15 to $18 contribution—more if you choose, less if you can’t; no one turned away.
Kim and Reggie Harris are a dynamic and superbly talented duo whose captivating stage presence and unique harmonies has earned the respect and love of audiences throughout the U.S., Canada and Europe for over 30 years. They are unique in their ability to entertain audiences of any age and background as they blend their talents as singer-songwriters, educators, interpreters of history and cultural advocates. Consummate musicians and storytellers, Kim and Reggie Harris combine a strong folk and gospel legacy with a background in classical, rock, jazz and pop music.

The World Music Institute (WMI) presents
Masters of Indian Music: Kartik Seshadri
8:00 p.m.
Peter Norton Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway @ 95th Street, New York, NY
Tickets: $30, $25 for WMI Friends; Tickets available online
Kartik Seshadri, whose performances are noted for their “expressive beauty, rich tonal sensibility and rhythmic intricacy” (Washington Post), is a world-renowned sitar virtuoso, composer, and disciple of Pandit Ravi Shankar. A child prodigy in India, he first attracted widespread attention after he began performing full-length solo recitals at the age of six. Since then he has been regarded as a musical powerhouse, performing in the world’s most prestigious festivals and venues. Accompaniment provided by Arup Chattopadhyay, an outstanding tabla player of the younger generation.

The Folk Music Society of N.Y., Inc/ N.Y. Pinewoods Folk Music Club presents Irish Traditional Music Session every Monday January 2, 9, 16, 23, 30; February 6, 2012 8-11 p.m. Landmark Tavern, 626 11th Avenue (on 46th St), Manhattan Free admission; food and drink are available. For more info 212-247-2562 Tenor banjo, harmonica and fiddle player Don Meade and friends get together every Monday night for an Irish traditional music session in the back room of this historic Hell’s Kitchen bar/restaurant. Musicians and singers welcome.

Folk Music Society of New York/New York Pinewoods Folk Music Club presents an
Sea Music Concert
3-5 p.m.
John Street Church, 44 John St. (east of Broadway and one block parallel to and south of Fulton), New York, NY
Info: 212-957-8386
Donation, $5 (child, $2), pay at the door
Members of The New York Packet (Frank Woerner, Bonnie Milner, Deirdre Murtha, Joy Bennett, Alison Kelley, Frank Hendricks, David Jones, Jan Christensen, Dan Milner, and Bob Conroy) join featured guests. Jan Christensen is a singer, songwriter, and sometime sailor whose music reflects his love of maritime history and lore. His travels afloat and ashore have taken him from the full length of his native Hudson Valley to Europe, the Great Lakes, North Africa, the Caribbean, and the West Coast—each stop casting an influence on the songs he’s written and happily shares. Jan is a long-time member of both The Hudson River Sloop Singers of the Sloop Clearwater and The New York Packet.

Folk Music Society of New York/New York Pinewoods Folk Music Club presents an
Old-Time Music Jam
7:30-9:30 p.m.
Brooklyn Farmacy & Soda Fountain, 513 Henry St. (at Sackett St.) in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn
Info: alanfriend_music@mindspring.com. Donation, $5 (child, $2), pay at the door
Wanna JAM? Alan Friend is leading an old-time jam from every other Tuesday. Bring your fiddle, banjo, guitar, etc. and we’ll play old-time music at this warm, friendly venue. Acoustic instruments only—no electric ones. Buy some delicious desserts and socialize while you’re here, as well.

Los Pleneros de la 21 presents Two Shows:
Bomba, Plena & Hip Hop
10 a.m.-11:00 a.m. AND 12:00 noon-1:00 p.m.
Julia de Burgos Latino Cultural Center (106 and Lex), East Harlem, NYq For information, contact: 212-427-5221, pleneros21@gmail.com
Cost: $5
Bomba, Plena & Hip Hop RETURNING FOR THE 4TH SMASH YEAR IN A ROW with rokafella & kwikstep (full circle soul productions). LP21 invites schools, teachers, and avid learners of the rich Latino, Puerto Rican and New York City history to witness and participate in an interactive show that traces the connections between the traditional cultural expressions and urban contemporary expressions that capture a people, raise a community and celebrate our cultures! Bomba, Plena & Hip Hop is a part of our monthly In the House series, a subsidized program for students.

Caffè Lena presents
Chris Smither
6:30 and 9 p.m.
Caffè Lena, 47 Phila St., Saratoga Springs, NY, 518-583-0022
Cost: $25 advance / $27 at door (How to get tickets)

The Blarney Star Concert Series:
Jesse Smith and Ryan McGiver
9 p.m.
Glucksman Ireland House, New York University, 1 Washington Mews, New York, NY 10003
Free admission to Members of Glucksman Ireland House and to NYU students with a valid NYU I.D. card. For non-members: $15 donation at the door for the Blarney Star Concert Series.
Jesse Smith is a veteran of the Baltimore Irish music scene. Once precocious protegé of Brendan Mulvihill, years of seasoning and intensive musical studies in Ireland have made Smith one of the world’s great younger Irish fiddlers. He’ll get appropriately virtuosic accompaniment from guitarist Ryan McGiver.

Folk Music Society of New York/New York Pinewoods Folk Music Club presents an
Winter Folk Music Weekend
Friday dinner 6:30 p.m. through Sunday lunch
Hudson Valley Resort and Spa, Granite Road, Kerhonkson, NY 12446
(In the Shawangunk Mountains 15 miles west of New Paltz and 15 miles fro Ellenville
Register online
For more information, call call 212-957-8386
Enjoy days and nights of music making, jamming, singing, good conversation, puzzle solving, hiking, and walking while surrounded by beautiful scenery. This weekend, we truly make our own music, there are no formal programs.

Caffè Lena presents
Pierce and Grace Pettis
8 p.m.
Caffè Lena, 47 Phila St., Saratoga Springs, NY, 518-583-0022
Cost: $18 advance / $20 at door (How to get tickets)
Long a leader on today’s contemporary folk circuit, Alabama songwriter Pierce Pettis interweaves the personal, political, and spiritual elements of life in songs that range from delicate folk to more hard-driving blues. His songs and stories are always creative and meaningful and the care he takes with his craft is evident in the excellence of his live performances. He has also achieved success in the commercial music world with a #1 hit for Garth Brooks. It comes as no surprise that Pierce’s daughter, Grace, is gaining national attention for her own brainy, quietly spiritual folksongs. After winning the prestigious NPR Mountain Stage songwriting competition in 2009, and the Wildflower competition in 2010, in 2011 Grace took the folk world’s most coveted prize, the Kerrville New Folk award. Interestingly, Pierce won the Kerrville prize in 1987, the year Grace was born. This makes them the only father-daughter winners in the history of the competition.

The World Music Institute (WMI) presents
Havana to Brooklyn: Santería to Salsa —Pedrito Martinez Group
8:00 p.m.
Roulette, 509 Atlantic Avenue (Corner of 3rd Avenue), Downtown Brooklyn
Tickets: $25, $21 for WMI Friends; Tickets available online
After-party with DJ following show!
A thrilling night with one of Cuba’s hottest exports—singer and percussion phenomenon Pedrito Martinez! The evening begins with Pedrito playing the orisha rhythms of santería on bata drums, with special guests Román Díaz and Mauricio Herrera, and ends on the dance floor, with Pedrito and his band feverishly delivering their distinct, funky brand of salsa. With his piercing voice, virile dance moves, and unparalleled drumming skills, this Theolonius Monk Competition-winner has been hailed as “an incomparable performer” by the New York Times.

Story Sundays at the Glen Sanders Mansion
Socks Without Partners and Other Love Stories
Lorraine Hartin-Gelardi and Karen Pillsworth
5-8 p.m.
Glen Sanders Mansion, 1 Glen Avenue, Scotia, NY
Make Reservations NOW: (518) 384-1700 or sc@katedudding.com
Cost: $31 (includes entertainment, 3 course dinner, tax and tip) per person
Bring someone new and you save $3 (only one discount/person).
Lorraine Hartin-Gelardi and Karen Pillsworth will use their storytelling palette to paint a picture of love in all its many splendors. You’ll be surprised where love can be found.

Caffè Lena presents
Archie Fisher
7 p.m.
Caffè Lena, 47 Phila St., Saratoga Springs, NY, 518-583-0022
Cost: $18 advance / $20 at door (How to get tickets)
One of Scotland’s foremost troubadours, Archie Fisher presents haunting ballads that evoke the wild, rough beauty of the Scottish border country. A superb guitarist and songwriter with a rich, supple voice, he is known both as a much-honored folk music master and as a BBC Radio host. In recognition for his contributions to Scottish folk music, Fisher was inducted into the Scots Traditional Music Hall of Fame and in 2006 was awarded an MBE (Member of the British Empire), a prestigious honor bestowed by Queen Elizabeth. He is also known throughout the country as the host of BBC Radio Scotland’s award-winning Travelling Folk show, which he presented for over 25 years from 1983 until this past April.

The World Music Institute (WMI) presents
Naked Fiddle: Kevin Burke
7:30 p.m.
Leonard Nimoy Thalia @ Peter Norton Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway at 95th Street, New York, NY
Tickets: $30, $25 for WMI Friends; Tickets available online
Kevin Burke, one of the grand masters of Irish fiddling, has been at the forefront of Celtic traditional music for over 35 years. Specializing in the intricately ornamental Sligo style, he is well known to international audiences for his work with the seminal Bothy Band, Micheal O Domhnaill, Patrick Street, and the Celtic Fiddle Festival. “Many people have forgotten that this kind of music used to be played mainly solo… so I thought it would be interesting to let people hear the ‘naked’ fiddle once more.” His program features acoustic music and stories.

Caffè Lena presents
Sloan Wainwright
With Opener Heather Maloney
8 p.m.
Caffè Lena, 47 Phila St., Saratoga Springs, NY, 518-583-0022
Cost: $18 advance / $20 at door (How to get tickets)
Sloan Wainwright’s family tree (brother Loudon Wainwright, sister-in-law Kate McGarrigle, nephew Rufus Wainwright, nieces Martha Wainwright and Lucy Wainwright Roche) reads like a Who’s Who of contemporary folk music. Her own special gift is her dramatic voice: warm and smoky and smooth, it makes her earthy, ominous lyrics seem all the more intense. She has an easy command of pop, folk, jazz and blues – all held together by the melodious tone of her rich contralto. Sloan has written numerous musical compositions for theater and dance and teaches at many of the best-known master songwriter series and workshops, including The Swannanoa Gathering, Summersongs and Wintersongs. Since her head-first dive into the indie music world in November of 2009, opener Heather Maloney has taken her poetic and powerful folk-rock songs to more than 200 stages a year and has gotten the attention of top artists in the field. Her rich and playful singing style has an organic elegance that's hard to get out of your head.

Caffè Lena presents
The Dance Flurry’s Folk Oasis
10 a.m. - 11 p.m.
Caffè Lena, 47 Phila St., Saratoga Springs, NY, 518-583-0022
Caffè Lena teams up with Dance Flurry organizers to provide a foot-rest and refueling spot for tired dancers. The public at large is welcome, too. We’;ll have hot meals, delicious desserts, and loads of great music. Check our website for updates to this preliminary listing of featured artists as the date draws near.
* Bernstein Bard Trio
* Windborne Trio
* Low and Lonesome
* Bare Necessities featuring Jacqueline Schwab
* Pete Sutherland and Baby
* Notorious Folk
* Taina Asili and Gaetano Vaccaro
* Yiddishkeit Klezmer Ensemble
* Moonshine Holler

Folk Music Society of New York/New York Pinewoods Folk Music Club presents
Shanty Sing
2-5 p.m.
Noble Gallery, Building D, Snug Harbor Cultural Center, 1000 Richmond Terrace, Staten Island, NY
For further info, contact Bob Conroy at RConroy421@aol.com or 347-267-9394
Refreshments will be available, including beer and wine for sale.
We are co-sponsoring the Shanty Sing on the 3rd Sunday of every month, or the William Main Doerflinger Memorial Sea Shanty Sessions at the Noble Maritime Collection (to give the official title).

Caffè Lena presents
Genticorum
7 p.m.
Caffè Lena, 47 Phila St., Saratoga Springs, NY, 518-583-0022
Cost: $18/$12 for Dance Flurry
For years Caffè Lena has been the spot for weary dancers to enjoy one last musical hurrah before departing town. Known as the Official Dance Flurry Decompression, this is a chance to enjoy a concert in an intimate setting with one of the Flurry’s best acts. This year we’re thrilled to welcome the marvelous Quebecois string trio Genticorum. Comprised of Alexandre de Grosbois-Garand (wooden flute, electric bass, vocals), Pascal Gemme (fiddle, feet, vocals) and Yann Falquet (guitar, feet, vocals), Genticorum has become a fixture on the international world, trad, folk and Celtic music circuit. The trio’s first three albums met with critical acclaim in Canada, the United States and Great Britain, assuring the band a brilliant future. Known for its energy and its stage presence (and often mistaken for a larger ensemble), Genticorum has given more than 700 concerts of traditional Quebecois music in no fewer than 15 countries – and is showing no sign of slowing down: this is a band in high demand.

Folk Music Society of New York/New York Pinewoods Folk Music Club presents an
Old-Time Music Jam
7:30-9:30 p.m.
Brooklyn Farmacy & Soda Fountain, 513 Henry St. (at Sackett St.) in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn
Info: alanfriend_music@mindspring.com. Donation, $5 (child, $2), pay at the door
Wanna JAM? Alan Friend is leading an old-time jam from every other Tuesday. Bring your fiddle, banjo, guitar, etc. and we’ll play old-time music at this warm, friendly venue. Acoustic instruments only—no electric ones. Buy some delicious desserts and socialize while you’re here, as well.

The World Music Institute (WMI) presents
Hungarian Folk: The Routes and Roots of Bartók—Muzsikás with András Schiff, Piano
7:30 p.m.
Zankel Hall @ Carnegie Hall, 57th Street and 7th Avenue, New York, NY
Tickets: $34, $40; $30.50, $36 for WMI Friends
For tickets, please contact the box office at (212) 545-7536 x1 or visit us in person at 4 West 43rd Street. For online sales, visit carnegiehall.org.
Artist-in-residence András Schiff joins Muzsikás—perhaps the world’s most admired Hungarian folk-music ensemble and the first group to popularize their country’s traditional music.

Tantshoyz Featuring featuring dance leader Avia Moore (Yiddish Dance Party/Workshop)
presented by The Center for Traditional Music and Dance’s An-sky Institute for Jewish Culture
8 p.m
At the Sixth Street Synagogue, 325 East Sixth Street between 1st and 2nd Avenues, Manhattan’s East Village
Admission: $15
Learn the traditional Jewish dances of Eastern Europe. Beginners are welcome!

Caffè Lena presents
Beppe Gambetta
8 p.m.
Caffè Lena, 47 Phila St., Saratoga Springs, NY, 518-583-0022
Cost: $18 advance / $20 at door (How to get tickets)
Italy’s charming and personable Beppe Gambetta has received worldwide acclaim as one of Europe’s foremost guitarists. Still living in his birthplace of Genova, Italy, Beppe seamlessly bridges the shores of Italy and America, creating a musical fusion where emigration songs and folk ballads, steel string guitars and vintage harp guitars not only co-exist but weave a deep dialog. As the founder of Red Wine, Europe’s premiere bluegrass band, Beppe has worked with some great heroes of the U.S.-Canadian folk scene, such as Gene Parsons, Doc Watson, and Norman Blake, as well as headlined prestigious festivals such as Merlefest in North Carolina and the Four Corners Festival in Colorado. His newest CD, Rendez-vous, is a good example of Beppe’s cross-pollinated style, featuring duet tunes with singer-songwriter Patty Larkin, newgrass masters Missy Raines and Jim Hurst, and jazz bassist Riccardo Barbera.

Caffè Lena presents
Cavanaugh & Kavanaugh
7 p.m.
Caffè Lena, 47 Phila St., Saratoga Springs, NY, 518-583-0022
Cost: $12 advance / $14 at door (How to get tickets)
This husband and wife duo, who just happen to share the same last name in pronunciation if not spelling, are treasured members of the Capital District music scene. They are talented multi-instrumentalists (banjo, guitar, piano, mandolin, dulcimer, limberjack) who share a commitment to music as a way of life. Much of their repertoire draws from the Irish and Southern Old Time tradition, which they share with warmth and humor in coffeehouses, schools, libraries and festivals. A perfect choice for the whole family.

The Arts Center of the Capital Region presents
BOOKMARKS: CIRCLING THE DARK; CHOOSING LIGHT: MOMENTS OF TRANSFORMATION
Curated by Donna Miller 7:00 p.m.
The Arts of the Capital Region, 265 River Street, Troy, NY 12180
Cost: Free
The Memoir Project invites submissions for Bookmarks, a series of group readings featuring writing that is grounded broadly in personal experience. Experienced writers, as well as those whose work has not previously been published or read publicly, are encouraged to submit work. This evening’s reading will explore transformation. Our life stories are filled with moments of grief or insight and inspired by grace and joy. Take us along for the journey that transformed your life story. Poetry and prose are welcomed. Participants in last year’s Grace reading are cordially invited to return and new voices are especially encouraged to submit. Readings will be approximately 1,000 words each, but submissions may exceed this limitation. When the theme and time constraints are established for the reading, your work can be edited for a perfect fit! Submisson deadline: January 1, 2012.

MASS MoCA presents the exhibition:
The Workers: Precarity/Invisibility/Mobility
Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, 1040 MASS MoCA Way, North Adams, MA 01247
Museum Hours: Every day from 10 a.m-6 p.m.
Call 518.463.4478 for more details
Admission: Adults, $15; Students, $10; Children, 6-16: $10; Children under 6: Free. Members are always Free
For information, call 413/662-2111
The timing, and the place, could not be more fitting: Once the site of a bustling factory itself — whose closure in the face of intense international competition left nearly a third of its community out of work — MASS MoCA is perhaps uniquely positioned to present this timely show. The history of North Adams’ workers mirrors that of many in the United States and abroad today who have lost a way of life to the perennial hunt for cheaper labor, even while the low-wage workers who replaced them have just begun to organize for more rights and better working conditions. The exhibition will include nearly 40 works by 25 emerging and established international artists including Claire Beckett, Osman Bozkurt, Camel Collective, Mircea Cantor, Almudena Carracedo and Robert Bahar, Susan Collis, Vicky Funari and Sergio De La Torre, Jason Dodge, Sam Durant, Harun Farocki, Yevgeniy Fiks, Anthony Hernandez, Oded Hirsch, Hugo Hopping, Emily Jacir, Laboratorio 060 with York Chang, Mary Lum, Yoshua Okon, Adrian Paci, Jaume Pitarch, Oliver Ressler, Stephanie Rothenberg, Tyler Rowland, Allan Sekula, and Santiago Sierra.

May 29, 2011 —April 14, 2012

Albany Institute of History & Art presents the exhibition:
Kids Stuff: Great Toys from Our Childhood
Albany Institute of History & Art, 125 Washington Avenue, Albany, NY 12210
Museum Hours: Wednesday–Saturday: 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. and Sunday: Noon–5:00 p.m.
Call 518.463.4478 for more details
Admission: Adults: $10; Seniors: $8; Students w/ID: $8; Children 6-12: $6; Children under 6: Free. Members are always Free
Slinkys, Wooly Willys, Whee-los, Magic Eight Balls, Magic Yo-Yos, Etch-A-Sketch®, Spirographs, Colorforms, Matchbox® Cars, PEZ Dispensers, LEGO®s, Erector sets, Lionel Trains, Tonkas, Hot Wheels, Frisbee®s, G.I. Joes, Barbie dolls, Tinker Toys, Lincoln Logs, and Mr. Potato Head brought hours of fun and entertainment to kids throughout the 1950s and 60s. Many of these toys from the past still appear on store shelves today, holding their own against the onslaught of computerized games and robotic pets. Kid Stuff, an interactive exhibition based on the book by David Hoffman, takes us back to the age of tailfins and vinyl records with more than 40 vintage toys, which reveal a fascinating look at invention and innovation, social history and industrial growth, play and entertainment. Visitors of all ages will be able to see vintage toys with original packaging and promotional material and have the opportunity to play and interact with contemporary versions. Additional materials such as photos of toy factory interiors, images of children at play, video presentations, and interpretive texts explore the toys’ invention and evolution, how they work, and their significance in American culture. The exhibition was designed by Amy Reichert of Architecture+Design with graphic design and art direction by Winstanley Associates. Kid Stuff will occupy nearly 5,000 square feet in the second floor galleries at the Albany Institute.

October 1, 2011 —March 4, 2012

Albany Institute of History & Art presents the exhibition:
Temple of Fancy: Pease’s Great Variety Store
Albany Institute of History & Art, 125 Washington Avenue, Albany, NY 12210
Museum Hours: Wednesday–Saturday: 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. and Sunday: Noon–5:00 p.m.
Call 518.463.4478 for more details
Admission: Adults: $10; Seniors: $8; Students w/ID: $8; Children 6-12: $6; Children under 6: Free. Members are always Free
Before F. W. Woolworths’, or Whitney’s, or even Macy’s department store in Albany, there was Pease Great Variety Store located in the Temple of Fancy at 518 Broadway. From the 1840s to the 1860s Pease’s store was something of an upscale “Five and Dime,” where Albany families could purchase fancy goods, toys, household items, children’s books, and games. The building still stands at the corner of Broadway and Pine Street. Richard H. Pease, and later Harry E. Pease, were proprietors of the store and also noted printers. They printed the first Christmas card in America in 1851 (only one of which exists at the Manchester Metropolitan Museum in England) and they also produced the hand-colored lithographs of fruit for Ebenezer Emmons’ Agriculture of New York published between 1846 and 1854. The exhibit will draw from the collections of the Albany Institute and include photographs, prints, children’s books, card games, and puzzles.

November 19, 2011 —March 25, 2012

Outsider Folk Art Gallery presents
RAW EDGES: Jim Bloom and Purvis Young
Opening Reception December 2, 2011, 5:30-7:30 p.m.
Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.
Outsider Folk Art Gallery, 201 Washington Street, Suite 504, Reading, PA 19601 (GoggleWorks Center for the Arts)
The Outsider Folk Art Gallery, located on the fifth floor of the Goggleworks Center for the Arts, is pleased to host a new exhibition showcasing artwork from the George and Sue Viener Collection of Folk, Self-Taught, and Visionary Art. The exhibit includes paintings, drawings, and mixed media works on wood, paper, and other materials and is curated by Emily A. Branch, Gallery Director, who joined the Outsider Folk Art Gallery in 2011. The exhibit will feature work by Jim Bloom (b. 1965) and the late Purvis Young. Both Bloom and Young represent the largest holdings in the Viener collection totaling close to four-thousand active works. This exhibit parallels themes and techniques of each artist, both of whom never met, creating works that are diaries of their physical and psychological environments. Both artists also used uncommon art materials in the traditional sense, often choosing whatever materials they could find or create. This exhibit has been in the thoughts of the Viener’s for many years and is now coming to fruition as the gallery is due to close in 2012.

December 2, 2011—February 17, 2002

El Museo del Barrio presents
VOCES Y VISIONES: Gran Caribe
Rocío Aranda-Alvarado, Curator
Las Galerias, El Museo del Barrio, 1230 Fifth Avenue at 104th Street, New York, NY 10029
This exhibition features works that explore the vast diversity and complexity of the Caribbean basin, as an accompaniment to El Museo’s upcoming exhibition, Caribbean: Crossroads of the World, presented in collaboration with Studio Museum in Harlem and Queens Museum of Art. The Caribbean has been both a subject and a source for visual expression prior to its relationship with Europe. This history, marked by a constant flow of people, objects, ideas, and images into and out of the region, has affected artistic development and practices in the Caribbean basin as well as in its counterparts in the Diaspora. This installation of Permanent Collection objects takes a narrative approach to some of the themes developed in the larger exhibition, exploring the connections between personal experiences and visual expressions. The works seen here explore the human need to move from one place to another, the urge to make epic narratives from personal stories, and the desire to share one’s love for a homeland with others. As the title implies, the islands, the coastlines and the waters that unite them are all part of this study. The exhibition explores four related themes that focus on the connections between spirituality and daily life, the shifting of people into and out of urban spaces, the persistence of abstraction as a visual language, and the constant presence of the water. Among the featured works is a large-scale painting on hand-made paper by Puerto Rican artist Rossana Martinez. This work considers islands: small, golden, irregularly shaped forms that cover the rich cobalt blue of an endless sea. Other featured objects include a selection of Haitian paintings, featuring a work by Prefet Duffaut; Puerto Rican and Guatemalan masks; sculptures by Charles Juhasz -Alvarado and Federico Ruiz; photographs by Ana Mendieta and a trio of En Foco artists, Charles Biasiny Rivera, Roger Cabán and Felipe Dante; and a costume worn by Coco Fusco in a performance as Queen Isabella, created by Pepón Osorio.

December 20, 2011 —December 9, 2012

The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts with the support from the Consulate General of Bulgaria and the Center for Traditional Music and Dance is pleased to invite you to the opening of
Voices & Images From Bulgaria: 1966–1979
by Martin Koenig
Opening Reception with live music and refreshments: Wednesday, January 11th, 6:30-8:00 p.m.
Special Film Presentation & Talk: Thursday, January 12th, 6:00-7:30 p.m.
16 mm color film with synch sound of Bulgarian village dancing shot in 1979
Shelby Cullom Davis Museum, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, 40 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York City
Free to the public.Please use Plaza entrance
Forty-five years ago, ethnographer and cultural specialist Martin Koenig embarked on a trip to Bulgaria armed with a letter of introduction from Margaret Mead. In this initial trip and on several subsequent visits, he worked in villages throughout the country filming, recording and photographing the lively yet endangered aspects of traditional culture. These historic, black and white photographs portray villagers, especially musicians and dancers, and their traditional way of life that has since been transformed by modernization and globalization. Please visit www.balkanechoes.com to learn more about this project. January 12, 2012 —February 28, 2012

The Folklife Center at Crandall Public Library presents
Odetta — The Queen of Folk
Monday-Wednesday 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., Thursday-Friday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m to 5 p.m.
Folklife Gallery, Crandall Public Library, 251 Glen Street, Glens Falls, NY 12801
Free to the public.
For more information, call 518-792-6508
This exhibition of original paintings, prints, and drawings by Stephen Alcorn celebrates the life and times of Odetta Holmes (1930–2008), and is occasioned by the publication of the critically acclaimed picture book titled Odetta—The Queen of Folk, conceived and illustrated by Stephen Alcorn; poem by Samantha Thornhill; and published by Scholastic Press. Produced by the Folklife Center at Crandall Public Library, this exhibition is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts Folk Arts Program, with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.

January 15, 2012 —June 15, 2012

The Strong National Museum of Play presents a
New Whimsical Art Trail
Saturday, February 18, 1-4 p.m. Meet the artists, learn about their craft, and purchase art
The Strong National Museum of Play, One Manhattan Square, Rochester, NY 14607, 585-263-2700
Museum Hours: Monday–Thursday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 5 p.m.
Admission Fees: General Admission: Adults $13, Seniors $12, Children (2–15) $11, Children younger than two free, Museum members free.
Pick up a trail guide and discover amazing glass flowers, imaginative playscapes, vividly colored African animals, and teeny tiny puppets and soft sculptures when you take the Whimsical Art Trail at the National Museum of Play. The continuing series of displays offers fresh and original works by contemporary artists on view at various locations throughout the museum galleries. Among the participating artists along the trail: Nancy Gong , a notable Rochester glass works artist, who says her creations are inspired by the temperament of her Asian background. As she describes it, her curving, graceful steel and glass flowers fuse “line, color, texture, balance, and the silent beauty of glass and metal.” Ingrid Hess , an illustrator and designer, uses flattened, simplified shapes to create bright and happy monkeys, hippos, zebras, and other African animals. She says that the simplicity of her work comes from her Amish/Mennonite roots and the bright colors and patterns are inspired by art from Costa Rico, her childhood home. David Carlson, a Southern California native, has watched the famous orange grove landscapes killed off and replaced with suburban neighborhoods. These themes fuel the creativity of his ongoing body of work called “Play-Scapes,” imaginative scenes created from old toys, small motors and gears, wood, wire, clay, and objects headed for the trash. Amy Brand, the artist behind Sweet Pea Felts, creates one-of-a-kind art toys using earth-friendly wool. Brand brings her puppets and soft sculptures to life through needle and wet felting and says she strives to create playful toys that provide a connection to the natural world. Whimsical Art Trail displays are included with general museum admission fees.

February 18, 2012 —May 20, 2012

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