Lydia Lunch performs, speaking about misogyny and today’s pessimistic world. Photo: Angelica Hill
Last Thursday, artistMartynka Wawrzyniak hosted “A Night of Experimental Jazz & Lydia Lunch” at the Park Church Co-Op (129 Russell Street) to support her McGolrick Park community art installation, Ziemia. Ziemia, when finished, will consist of a large ceramic orb made from soil from across the globe and placed in a carefully cultivated meadow in McGolrick Park, adjacent to Russell Street between Nassau Ave and Driggs Ave.
The Park Church Co-Op was dimly lit, the stage awash with red and blue light. Meditative electronic new-age music played as the image of Jesus on the crucifix centered on the back wall looked over the scene. It may not seem like the most likely venue for a night of experimental jazz, but Pastor Amy Kienzle remarked that this event was part of the church’s larger event series that supports community art. And with Wawrzyniak being such an enthusiastic member of the church she felt it was important to support. She added that the church “believes in art and it being spiritually beneficial.” Continue reading →
Yesterday, Greenpoint residents gathered in Transmitter Park, McCarren Park and on rooftops and sidewalks to witness the solar eclipse. People crafted eclipse viewers and camera obscuras out of junked up booze boxes, shoeboxes, cereal boxes and discarded Amazon parcels. Hopefully no one burned their retinas. Here are some scenes from around the ‘hood:
Photo by Johnny CirilloPhoto by Johnny CirilloPhoto by Johnny CirilloPhoto by Johnny CirilloPhoto by Johnny Cirillo
Are you shackled to your phone and ready to take a break from the internet and social media—or at least put your digital presence on pause? This Saturday, guided by mindfulness practitioner Sara Overton, you will be connected with flowers, grasses and trees while playfully awakening your capacity to be one with nature. Overton is currently developing the art project Awake in the Wild Experience with Mark Coleman, author of Awake in the Wild.
What: Become More Mindful in Transmitter When:Saturday, August 5, 10am – 12 noon Where:Transmitter Park RSVP:Email [email protected]. Due to the nature of the practice, space is very limited and admission is by registration
“Hekate,” Susan Pullman Brooks. Private commission, found objects. Wood, metal, bone, glass, leather.
Creative minds make connections that most of us never make, and this is never truer than with sculptor Susan Pullman Brooks’ show, Sacred Luminosity, which opens this Friday, April 14th at Gallery AWA (61 Greenpoint Ave. #306). The exhibit explores the connections between the goddesses of Vedic Pantheon of India and Celtic deities. Brooks has a keen artistic vision, creating art that reflect the cycles of life and death and in forgotten remnants of culture. Brooks is extremely familiar with Indian culture not only because she has spent a lot of time in India, but also because her husband Douglas Brooks, a professor of religion at Rochester University, has devoted decades of his life studying Sanskrit and the Hindu faith. Continue reading →
Visitors at Kingsland Wildflowers, photo by Megan PenmannFestival Attendees
North Brooklyn community residents came out to 520 Kingsland Ave. for the first annual Kingsland Wildflowers Festival on a gorgeous Saturday afternoon in Greenpoint this past weekend. The event marked the public inauguration of the new green roof that will serve as a wildlife refuge and community space for educational programming.
Patrick Sampson and Spiff Wiegland
Attendees enjoyed free food and beer from New York’s first organic beer maker, Smart Beer and musicians entertained the crowd of friends and family. The littlest Greenpointers (and future conservationists) danced, enjoyed educational activities, face painting and frolicking in the rooftop meadow. This new green space is an oasis in this industrial area that was at one time a rich ecological habitat. “That’s what this project is all about, greening Greenpoint,” said property owner Tony Argento.
With your help, McGolrick Park could look like this.
When you think of Urban Oasis, McGolrick Park might not come immediately to mind. Although it is much more quiet (and less trampled) than it’s more promiscuous sister (McCarren… ’cause everyone’s been there), it’s not exactly teeming with wildlife.
But the NYC Audubon society is taking action to create a native plant garden for songbirds and other winged species in the park this Spring. They will also be starting an initiative to monitor the park’s biodiversity before and after planting. Continue reading →
Peter T, our health and wellness reporter, will be participating in this exclusive Greenpoint natural spa event he found on craiglist, and taking place on the banks of the Newtown Creek. It’s such a gem I am reposting it in its entirety:
Urban Organics™-The Survival Spa
Enjoy a total immersion health and wellness spa experience on the banks of the humble and gritty Newtown Creek, a narrow waterway separating Brooklyn from Queens, in New York City. Steeped in history and a century of environmental abuse the creek is a symbol of opportunity and a place for urban, nature enrichment. Come with us as we harvest the bounty that the placid shores of the Newtown creek yields. Learn how to reuse, recycle, and repurpose many of the things found along the way into useful, effective solutions for everyday health and wellness needs. Continue reading →
Last weekend Jon and I went all the way to Breezy Point in a failed attempt to see a snowy owl. This is what we saw, which was cool but, “I want to see a f’ing owl.” (If we ever have a nature television show that will be the tagline. “Yeah that Siberian Tiger is cool, but I want to see an f’ing owl!”)
We can all use a little out of the city time, fresh air time. But sometimes photographs or artworks of those serene places will have to do. Featured Valentine’s Market vendor Tamara Garvey creates original art, prints, cards, and fabric, all made from whimsical and nature-based pen-and-ink illustrations. She told us about her love of the forest. Continue reading →
