Penny Jones, founder of Penny Jones Puppets Early Childhood Theater, and Westbeth Icon was the subject of recent New York 1 broadcasT – “She is still going strong at 90!”

WATCH IT HERE

Where: New Ohio Theater for Young Minds
Archive Building
154 Christopher St
NYC

When: Dec 27, 2019 – Jan 4, 2020

Tickets: $25
or by Donation for Westbeth residents.
upclosefestival.com

UPCLOSE FESTIVAL – the immersive theater festival about the West Village for New Yorkers of all ages, presents

THE SOCIETY OF HISTORIC SONIC HAPPENINGS (SHSH)

Listen closely as The Society of Historic Sonic Happenings (SHSH)
– an imagined experimental wing of the famous Bell Laboratories – reveals a secret sonic history of our surroundings.
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In 1920, as Bell Labs microphones ushered in the Golden Age of Radio, SHSH discovered that sound never dies and that the world is filled with the sounds of the past. But with the right device, at the right time, in the right place – and with some help – we can tap into these eternal frequencies and engage with the invisible layers of history around us.

The Team will work directly with SHSH scientists (Rachel Confrancisco, Brit Gossett, Alec Kirazian, LaToya Lewis and Akash Seeramreddi) to preserve these rare and forgotten sounds – from the crunch of dried tobacco leaves in Sapokanikan, the earliest known name for the area now called Greenwich Village (September 23, 1447) to the squeak of a pigeon squab on the window ledge of the 10th floor of the Archive Building (April 14th, 2017) – and work to preserve them in special sonic time capsules.
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TEAM: Adrienne Kapstein (lead artist), Bhurin Sead (sound design), Hillary Verni (visual design) and researcher Paul Parkhill (co-founder of public art non-profit Place in Histor

Valerie Ghent
featured artist at
Nick Ashford’s “Nuttin’ but the Blues”

Reservations: 212.579.0222

Powerhouse recording artist VALERIE GHENT wows audiences with her emotive, evocative voice, piano chops to match, and “soul-stirring, uplifting songs full of vitality and joy.” With her bluesy, funky piano style, stunning 3 ½ octave vocal range, stellar production and engineering skills it’s no surprise that she has toured with music legends Ashford & Simpson and Debbie Harry, and worked with artists as diverse as Dr. Maya Angelou, Nina Simone, Sir Cliff Richard, Defunkt and Billy Preston.

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Susan L Berger
Two Pages Before My Yearbook Entry (Boys and Girls), 2017

White Columns Online : “Wise Child” curated by Zhoe Granger runs to 12/21/19.

Visit the Gallery and see Susan Berger’s work HERE

The theme is based on Monica Furlong of her book: Traveling In and for her thoughts on exploring a more spiritual of consciousness.

Monica Furlong states on the inside cover of Traveling In – part diary, part rambling LSD trip, “the religious man is the one who believes that life is about making some kind of journey”. Throughout Traveling In Furlong explores how a (widely) varying spectrum of Poets, Artists and Philosophers have metaphysically asked, “what is the journey and where does it take us”.

Transformation is an overarching theme throughout Furlongs’ oeuvre. Her biographies include the medieval Saint Thérèse of Lisieux and the 60’s counter culture revolutionary Alan Watts. Her book Visions & Longings: Medieval Women Mystics revolts against a biblical legacy on women. Later in Furlongs life she wrote the Wise Child trilogy – a fantasy world set in medieval Scotland. Not only does transformation take place within her books through subject matter, but on a wider level, the reader feels part of her internal transformation.

What stood out about each of the selected artworks chosen for this project was a resonance with Furlongs’ thoughts on exploring a more spiritual level of consciousness. Each work feels like an inquiry or a break “mid-journey”, not a neatly completed thesis. What I love so much about each work is the courage to Travel Inwards when most of us are constantly trying to distract ourselves with stuff, the consumerist journey through activity.

Boy with Knife photo by Arlene Gottfried, courtesy of of Daniel Cooney Fine Art

Arlene Gottfried’s Mesmerizing Photographs of New York in the 1970’s

by Miss Rosen
Feature Shoot
Nov 5, 2019

…. the ragged, jagged edges of the city didn’t frighten Gottfried. Rather, like a moth to the flame she found herself drawn to the people living on the margins, whose lives often fell between the cracks, and made it her business to create some of the most sensitive, compelling portraits of an era that has all but vanished.

“New York City street photography is genre of photography itself. How many photographs of New York have been made?” gallerist Daniel Cooney asks. “What makes Arlene’s work special is Arlene herself. We see New York as Arlene sees it. It is not the subject matter, because the subject matter is not new. It is Arlene. She was an original.”

Cooney organized Arlene Gottfried: After Dark, which was recently on view at the gallery, spotlighting the artist’s work made in some of the most legendary outposts of the late 1970s and early ‘80s. Whether hanging out at Studio 54, cruising through Times Square, kicking it at Empire Roller Disco, lounging in the ladies room at the Roseland Ballroom, or walking down Christopher Street during Gay Pride, Gottfried captures the beauty of people who persevere against the odds, defying state-sponsored oppression by simply remaining alive.

Read full article HERE