Date: April 17, 2019 at 7PM
At: Westbeth Community Room

Join us for the 3rd Annual Miriam Chaikin Writing Award Evening, with winners Jack Dowling, prose, and Elizbeth Lash, poetry, reading from their work.

Jack Dowling was a “country” boy from New Jersey when he moved to New York City to attend Cooper Union, where he studied with Robert Gwathmey and Morris Kantor.Jack’s early work as a painter was in abstraction, but his artwork later took a new direction, with compositions inspired by photos of family and friends.
He achieved recognition by the mid-sixties, selling and exhibiting his work in both group and solo shows. A highlight was “The Dominant Woman” show at the Finch College Museum of Art (Dec. ’68/Jan. ’69), which included artists Claes Oldenburg, Willem de Kooning, and Jim Dine, among others.
In the nineties, Jack turned to writing for creative expression. His stories have been published in the Hamilton Stone Review, the Barcelona Review, A&U magazine, American Writing, and CreamDrops
– from Profiles in Art by Terry Stoller. Read more here.

Elizabeth Lash is a NYC-based attorney who has written on a variety of subjects—from art law and ex-KGB agents to women engineers and corruption in Azerbaijan. Her poetry has appeared twice before at The Five-Two, and her non-fiction articles have been published by the Center for Art Law, the Holy Cross Journal of Law and Public Policy, Transparency International, the Engineering News-Record, and GetCrafty.com, among others.

Miriam Chaikin Foundation Writing Award was established in memory of Miriam Chaikin, a longtime Westbeth resident and prolific writer. Born in Palestine, Chaikin grew up in Brooklyn, and her childhood memories and life in a close-knit Jewish community are all themes represented in her writing. She worked earlier in her career as an editor of literature for young people, and most of her books are intended for children and youth. Her works include lushly illustrated retellings of Old Testament lessons, humorous stories of the misadventures of “Molly and Yossi” (based on her childhood and that of her beloved younger brother Joseph), and collections of poetry. The last two books she completed were for adults – Jewish Wisdom for Daily Life, and Jerusalem: An Informal Autobiography of the City. For Miriam/Molly/Chickie as she was known, the written word and the book were essential to her life and wellbeing.

Thursday: May 9, 2019
6:30PM – 10:00PM

Meet at Westbeth Gallery

Residents of New York City’s historic Westbeth Center for the Arts open their homes to Festival-goers for this perennial favorite festival event. Join your fellow writers and readers in the West Village, grab a map, and wander through the hallways of the city’s oldest and largest artists’ community for intimate, salon-style readings and discussions by Festival authors, including Felicity Castagna, Inês Pedrosa, Rodrigo Rey Rosa, Pajtim Statovci, Najat El Hachmi, Wu Ming-yi, and others. This uniquely immersive literary experience concludes with a special reception in the Westbeth Gallery.

Tickets

Get Tickets: $20

Presented with the Westbeth Artists Residents Council

Show Dates:
May 11 – June 8, 2019

Opening reception
Saturday, May 11, 2019, 4-8 PM
Closing reception
Saturday, June 8, 2019, 5-7 PM

FOR SPECIAL EVENTS ASSOCIATED WITH THIS EXHIBITION, SEE BELOW

At Westbeth Gallery, 57 Bethune Street, NY, NY 10014
Gallery hours: Wednesday – Sunday 1-6 PM, or by appointment.

Robert Bunkin, Anniversary Portrait, 1977, oil on canvas, 30 x 40 inches

Westbeth Galleryis pleased to present Parent Portraits, an exhibition focusing on artists’ representations of their parents, curated by artists Robert Bunkin and Jenny Tango. The exhibition will offer works by these contemporary international artists working in diverse media, including painting, sculpture, drawing, intaglio printmaking, and embroidery:

Participating Artists:

Sigmund Abeles, Ken Aptekar, Anneli Arms, Joan Banach, Isabel Barber,
Brian Brooks, Robert Bunkin,Susanna Coffey, William Crist, Patricia Dahlman,
Harvey Dinnerstein, Elise Dodeles, Jenny Dubnau, Richard Estrin, Donna Festa,
Leonid Gervits, Dan Gheno, Susan Grabel, Amaya Gurpide,
Patrick Earl Hammie, Mark Hanson, Melanie Hickerson, Jayne Holsinger,
Sedrick Huckaby, Sara Issakharian, Karen Kaapcke, Catherine Kehoe, Brian Kreydatus,
Mel Leipzig, Beverly McIver, Marybeth McKenzie, Ron Milewicz, John Mitchell,
Arnold Mesches, Bill Murphy, Danielle Muzina, Jennifer Pochinski,
Carolyn Pyfrom, James Rauchman, Joseph Santore, Elinore Schnurr,
Ryan Schroeder, Frances Siegel, Orly Shiv, Jenny Tango, Polly Thayer,
Audrey Ushenko, Clarissa Payne Uvegi, Costa Vavagiakis, Jerome Witkin.

Beverly McIver, Cardrew III, 2015, Oil on canvas, 36 x 36 in. (91.44 x 91.44 cm), courtesy of Betty Cuningham Gallery.

Among the most significant and intimate relationships we all share, parents are defined here as biological or adoptive, but not “spiritual” or metaphorical.

Sigmund Abeles, Artist’s Mother, Henrietta Banner Abeles, 1971, plaster, 10 ½ x 10 ½ x 10 inches

This subject has rarely been the theme of an art exhibition. Many artists have depicted their mothers and fathers as a kind of search for their own identity or as a tribute to their nurturers and first patrons. We often have conflicted relationships with our parents and this complexity can motivate the work. Interpretations of this subject run the gamut from highly charged narratives to straightforward realism, with humor and affection along the way. All of the works are extremely personal expressions of the artist’s relationship.

Jenny Tango, Mom and Dad Napping, 1947, pencil on paper, 9 x 12 inches

The exhibition offers works by a cross-section of younger and older artists of diverse backgrounds, including works by Arnold Mesches (d. 2016) and Polly Thayer (d. 2006). The exhibition contextualizes these contemporary works with a visual timeline of historic artists’ portraits of their parents, including such masters as Dürer, Rembrandt,
Whistler, Cassatt, Picasso, Motley, Neel, Freud and Hockney. Additional historic images submitted by participating artists will be posted over the course of the exhibition.

WHEN: Wednesday May 15, 2019 at 7PM
WHERE: Westbeth Community Room. FREE
WHY: Returning by popular demand, STORIES AROUND THE TABLE #4, is a performance and reading by writers detailing the lives of women.

WHO:

KAREN LUDWIG – actor, director, and teacher
NANCY GABOR – director and leader of the popular workshop Never Too Old to Play
JOAN HALL – collagist and poet
SHAMI CHAIKIN – OBIE award winning actor
DAWN D’ARCY – musician, writer, and grandmother to Etta
DALE SOALES – actor featured in Orange is the New Black for the past 6 years
JOYCE AARON – OBIE award winning actor
CHRISTINA MAILE – landscape architect

Thursday May 16, 2019 at 7PM
Westbeth Community Room

David Del Tredici, American composer and long time resident of Westbeth

The Pulitzer Prize winner in Music and a former Guggenheim and Woodrow Wilson fellow, Del Tredici is considered a pioneer of the Neo-Romantic movement. He has also been described by the Los Angeles Times as “one of our most flamboyant outsider composers”

Del Tredici draws on literature for his song cycles including Lewis Carroll (particularly Alice in Wonderland), but he has also been inspired by contemporary American poets, especially Westbeth Icon, Edward Field.

Del Tredici has also created works celebrating “gayness”, acknowledging that many great composers were gay and that “it’s something to be celebrated”. A reviewer has noted that themes in his work examine “tormented relationships, personal transformations, and the joys and sorrows of gay life”. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and has held additional residencies at Yaddo, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, and the MacDowell Colony.

Westbeth Icon Series celebrates the life and work of senior artists who continue to work and who inspire others by their passion and dedication.

The evening consists of a filmed interview, live performances of Del Tredici’s work, and remarkes by the composer himself.

This is a special, not to be missed evening!

When: Friday May 10 at 7PM
Where: Westbeth Community Room
FREE SCREENING

A 2010 British documentary film, directed by street artist Banksy. It tells the story of Thierry Guetta, a French immigrant in Los Angeles, and his obsession with street art. The film charts Guetta’s constant documenting of his every waking moment on film, from a chance encounter with his cousin, the artist Invader, to his introduction to a host of street artists with a focus on Shepard Fairey and Banksy, whose anonymity is preserved by obscuring his face and altering his voice, to Guetta’s eventual fame as a street artist himself. It is narrated by Rhys Ifans. The music is by Geoff Barrow. It includes Richard Hawley’s “Tonight The Streets Are Ours”.

The film premiered at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival on 24 January 2010, and it was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

Since its release, there has been extensive debate over whether the documentary is genuine or a mockumentary, although Banksy answered “Yes” when asked if the film is real.

Sponsored by Westbeth Artists Residents Council

OUR 36TH YEAR OF BARGAINS GALORE

Friday, Saturday, Sunday
May 17, 18, 19, 2019
11AM – 5PM

Westbeth Flea Market, For countless years, has been a mecca for finding the unique and the beautiful at incredible prices. We also have become the best place to purchase beautiful original affordable art, donated by artists or the families of artists.

Westbeth is a home to the arts, to artists – painters, dancers, actors, writers, sculptors, musicians and more. What they donate to the Westbeth Flea Market are the things they have found to be amusing, beautiful, useful, and astonishing.

COLLECT LIKE AN ARTIST!

Proceeds of our sales go to maintaining gardens and street trees, sponsoring Westbeth projects, and low cost classes open to the public, such as the popular Feldenkrais class.

Proceeds also go to city, national and international charities, particularly disaster relief. Our recent charitable donations include Gods Love We Deliver, Puerto Rico Relief, Palestinian Children’s Aid, NY Times Neediest Cases, World Wildlife Fund, and many more.

Read more about the Beautification Committee which sponsors the Flea Market HERE

Where: Westbeth Community Room
155 Bank St, enter through courtyard

When: Thursday May 23, 2019 at 7PM

Writer, Director, Teacher and Performer, Steve Clorfeine will read from his latest book, Simple Geography. Over a period of 8 months, Steve create a collage journal of written notes and cut up images on alternating pages.”Occasionally one informed the other, but the image sometimes created its own story.”
Steve has published his writings in Parabola, and Contact Quarterly. His four books of poetry have been published by Station Hill Press, and Codhill Press.
He studied with Barbara Dilley – a member of Merce Cunningham’s company, and writing with Alan Ginsberg, Ted Berrigan, and Diane Di Prima.
He has taught at SUNY in New Paltz, Naropa University, Amsterdam Theater School, and the Dance Therapy Institute of Switzewrland.

Brenda Bufalino‘s latest book, Song of the Split Elm, re-creates and imagines the life of her great grandmother who lived on the Penobscot reservation on Indian Island in 1853… “Madeline was born singing. She sang melodies like chants, like forecasts, like conversations with flowers and birds.” Madeline’s father Jeremiah, a Calvinist preacher, lived in fear of his daughter’s unique voice and spirit, which could not be contained. Madeline’s Penobscot mother, Hannah, wove her baskets in silence far from Jeremiah’s hope for her redemption”.
Brenda is leading exponent and innovator in the tap world, performing, lecturing, teaching master classes and workshops throughout the United States, and the world.
​She has appeared as a guest soloist atCarnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, The Apollo Theater, The Brooklyn Academy of Music, The Smithsonian Institute and the Kennedy Center.
Ms. Bufalino created The American Tap Dance Orchestra. They have appeared on PBS “Great Performances/Tap Dance in America,” “A Night of Tap At The Apollo Theater,” “The International Festival of the Arts in Central Park,” and seasons at “The Joyce Theater,”and “Dance Theater Workshop.”
A writer of essays and numerous articles, Ms. Bufalino also wrote the forward and afterword for the reissue of “Jazz Dance.”

Exhibition Dates: June 15th – July 6th, 2019

Gallery Hours: Wednesday – Sunday 1:00 – 6:00PM

Where: Westbeth Gallery 55 Bethune St between Washington and West Sts.

SPECIAL EVENT
Ze’eva Cohen and Avri Ohana in conversation with Terry Stoller, founder of Westbeth ‘s Oral History Project

Wednesday June 26the 7PM – 8PM
ADMISSION FREE

Avri Ohana is a multi-style artist whose new body of work presents paintings inspired by his love for classical music, opera and jazz. In following his intuitive response to music, Ohana finds a new sense of freedom as he lets unexpected elements surface in his work. This fresh approach yields mostly abstract paintings, while some are inspired by nature and some by opera. The delicate balance and nuance between color, shape, and form is his interest. What is important to Ohana is not how a painting is defined or classified, but if it is breathing and alive.

A retrospective of dancer and choreographer Ze’eva Cohen’s long career in dance containing photographs of her work taken by major dance photographers, as well as posters and videos. Two of her dances, Rainwood and Island, include projections of paintings by Ohana and will be screened continuously during the exhibit.

AVRI OHANA was born in Casablanca, Morocco and immigrated to Israel at the age of 12, where he was raised and educated in a kibbutz. As a young man, Ohana was an early member of Ein Hod, Israel’s first artist village, and it was there that he started to develop his artistic voice. His main influences during his formative years were the European Dadaist Marcel Janco, Dan Hoffner the director of Bezalel Art School in Jerusalem, the optical and kinetic artist Yaakov Agam in Paris, and primarily – the painter Eric Brauer of the Vienna School of Fantastic Realism. Ohana’s exhibitions include solo and group shows in Israel, Europe and the United States. Presently, Avri Ohana lives and works in New York City.

ZE’EVA COHEN is a dancer, choreographer, and dance professor emerita at Princeton University, where she founded and directed the dance program for forty years. Cohen grew up in Tel Aviv Israel. She traveled to New York in 1963 to study at the Juilliard School and perform with the Anna Sokolow Dance Company. A founding member of NY Dance Theater Workshop in the late 60’s, she was later known for her groundbreaking solo repertory performances. As choreographer, she worked with her NY dance group and with national and international dance companies, including Boston Ballet, Alvin Ailey Repertory, Inbal and Batsheva dance companies of Israel. In 2015 – her documentary film, Ze’eva Cohen Creating a Life in Dance, was featured in the Dance Camera Festivals both in NY and LA.