Author Archives: Christina

GRISELDA STEINER’s playlet spoof
“MacTrump” in which the Thane
confronts the three witches appears in the December issue of SCENE4 arts magazine online

griselda-steiner-mac-trump

Three WITCHES, IVANKA (Trump’s daughter with Ivana), TIFFANY (Trump’s daughter with Marla Maples) and Melania (Trump’s current wife) are dressed as glamorous witches in black gowns and witch hats. They are making a witches brew in a large cauldron over a fire in a dark wood…….

Read more HERE

ARLENE GOTTFRIED’s MOMMIE
selected by TIME Magazine as one of the best photograpy books of 2016

arlene-gottfried-mommie

MOMMIE is a remarkable photographic portrait of three generations of women in the family of photographer Arlene Gottfried and an intimate story of the inevitable passage of time and aging. Pictured within, we are introduced to Gottfried’s 100 year old immigrant grandmother, fragile mother, and reluctant sister over the breathtaking course of 35 years.

An artist turning their eye on their own immediate family is a well explored theme, but Gottfried has achieved the sublime with a multi-decade long commitment to document the intimate lives of her nearest kin. Gottfried succeeds in creating a complete twentieth century portrait of four lives inextricably interwoven through relation, sickness, need, love, and the absence of her father—who passed away while Arlene was still young.

Living as many mid-century Jewish New York families did, the Gottfrieds were not wealthy and lacked any trappings of luxury. Close examination of their world on Avenue A in Manhattan’s Lower East Side reveals a dimly lit small apartment, cartons of budget saltines and groceries, chipped paint, damaged floor tiles, guarded loose change, and well worn clothes – details natural to the lives of many families of immigrants in New York.

Mommie is testament to the passage of time, changes in the generations, losing loved ones and a familial experience at once both similar and unique to all.

Source: Amazon

Link: http://time.com/4580692/best-photobooks-2016/

Film Screening:
FROM HERE TO ETERNITY
Special Guest, Donna Reed’s daughter, Mary Owen

westbeth-movie-night-dec-7-movie-night

On the anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Westbeth Movie Night’s special event features Mary Owen, daughter of Academy Award winner, Donna Reed, to introduce the movie. FREE.

FROM HERE TO ETERNITY is a 1953 drama film directed by Fred Zinnemann and based on the novel by James Jones. The picture deals with the tribulations of three U.S. Army soldiers, played by Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, and Frank Sinatra, stationed on Hawaii in the months leading up to the attack on Pearl Harbor. Deborah Kerr and Donna Reed portray the women in their lives and the supporting cast includes Ernest Borgnine, Philip Ober, Jack Warden, Mickey Shaughnessy, Claude Akins, and George Reeves.

The film won eight Academy Awards out of 13 nominations, including for Picture, Best Director (Fred Zinnemann), Adapted Screenplay, Supporting Actor (Frank Sinatra) and Supporting Actress (Donna Reed).[3] The film’s title comes originally from a quote from Rudyard Kipling’s 1892 poem “Gentlemen-Rankers”, about soldiers of the British Empire who had “lost [their] way” and were “damned from here to eternity.”

From Here to Eternity was selected in 2002 for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”

source: Wikipedia

Valentina Du Basky receives 2016
Fulbright Specialist Grant to India

Valentina Du Basky RED HORSE AND CRANE

Valentina Du Basky RED HORSE AND CRANE

The Fulbright Specialist Program provides an opportunity to Indian universities and institutions of higher learning to draw on the expertise of U.S. scholars and professionals and develop linkages with American institutions. Specialist grants focus on strengthening and supporting the development needs of institutions and broadening institutional cooperation. Fulbright Specialists work in their areas of expertise as they enhance their understanding (of the cultural and education contexts) of the host country through engagement with the host community.

For more ofthe work by Valentina DuBasky, click HERE

WRITE NOW
A Participatory Installation
December 10 – 31, 2016

write-now-poster-dec-2016

Our world seems to be in upheaval. People are looking for some way to express their concerns and hope for the future. “WRITE NOW” will give them the opportunity to express those feelings in the Westbeth Gallery.

How the show works: Upon entry into the gallery, the participant is asked to donate a $1 or more to canisters representing 5 locally-based New York charities
Planned Parenthood NY •Ali Forney Center • God’s Love We Deliver • Cabrini Immigrant Services • The Alliance for Greater NY

Visitors will use as many post- it notes as they want to express their thoughts about 2016 and their hopes for 2017.

You can draw, collage, paint, write, and sculpt.

Main Room : What Do You Want the World to Bring into 2017?

Rear Room: What Do You Want the World to Leave in 2016?


Side Room 1 : What Do You Want to Bring into 2017?

Small Side 2 Want to Leave in 2016?

We will have a “Westbeth Only Preview Night” on Dec 9th. All Westbeth residents will be invited to post their notes that evening. The Public Opening will occur on Dec 10th. The show will run through Dec 31st.

WINTER AT WESTBETH film by Rohan Spong featuring Ilse Gilbert, Dudley Williams and Edith Stephens opens Nov 15 at IFC as part of DOC NYC Festival

Edith Stephens

Edith Stephens

Dudley Williams

Dudley Williams

Ilsa Gilbert

Ilsa Gilbert

WINTER AT WESTBETH has its international premiere in competition at DOC NYC on the 16th Nov 5pm and 17th November at 10.15am at IFC Center.

The film is a year in the lives of three of the long term residents , Dudley Williams, dancer, Ilse Gilbert poet, and Edith Stephens, filmmaker. The director is Rohan Spong.

>Info on the trailer, tickets, times: Winter at Westbeth

WINTER AT WESTBETH

The film has screened a handful of times in Mr Spong’s native Australia. It received standing ovations even (!) and the first major review is here:
Winter at Westbeth review http://m.screendaily.com/5106025.article