Thursday, August 4, 6–9pm: Uptown Bounce | Diva Night 

Celebrate East Harlem at the top of Museum Mile with the Museum of the City of New York and El Museo del Barrio. On the final night in this series of free summer block parties, pay homage to your favorite divas, from Madonna to Rihanna! Dance to songs from these icons and more, played by DJ Chauncey D. Catch drag performances from La Diva Ciccone and Octavia Anye, and don't miss our exhibitions! Enjoy cocktails and snacks from East Harlem Bottling Co. Info

Thursday, August 4: Amplify Art Crawl at Queens Botanical Garden

Join curator Cecilia Andrea tonight for an evening art crawl of our latest outdoor exhibit, AMPLIFY: @AnkhLave Garden Project with work by five fellows who created art installations throughout the grounds.  Info. Come for an interactive tour with the artists, hands-on arts activities, music, and a garden bar (alcoholic and non-alcohol available for purchase). Register 

Friday, August 5: Summer Sway with DJ Stormin’ Norman and special guest DJ Kamala at The Shed

Originally hailing from East London, Stormin’ Norman is now a resident of Harlem. In the ’90s, he was part of a groundbreaking DJ collective that brought "The Thunderstorm Mix" on WBLS 107.5FM in NYC. This introduced live mixing to daytime radio, setting a new precedent in national radio and the future of music as we know it today.

For over 20 years, he’s played major New York clubs, exclusive and elite private events, sports events, TV, fashion shows, and world tours. He is a resident DJ at Red Rooster in Harlem and a regular DJ for Summer Stage Festivals in NYC. He is widely known throughout the tri-state area as the DJ, founder, and executive producer of Harlem’s most anticipated summer festival, The Sundae Sermon Music Festival.
Admission to Summer Sway, which continues through August 27, is free. RSVPs are encouraged; entry is first come, first served. Info

The Shed, 545 West 30^th Street, New York, NY 

Echoes in Harlem: The Artist Gardener at West 132^nd Street Community Garden

Curated by artist and co-founder of the program, Natsuki Takauji, the exhibition takes as a starting point the theme of tangible or intangible traces left in the Harlem community through personal or historical experiences. Through site-specific

artworks created for this exhibition by Morgen Christie, Sarah E.Brook, Linda Ganjian, and Yvonne Shortt, it explores the bridges between now and then using personal or communal points of view that resonate with the West Harlem Community Garden or  the Harlem community at large. A series of public events including an art workshop and sound and video performances are planned for the duration of the exhibition, through October 1^st. Info: @theartistgardnernyc

West 132nd Street Community Garden, 108-114 W 132nd Street, New York, NY

Three from Hyperallergic:

Through August 19: Azikiwe Mohammed: Forever Is Twice As Long From The Ground

For Azikiwe Mohammed, the last two years have proven the limits of working for change from within the system. In his immersive new exhibition, the mixed-media artist carves out space for people of color to exist autonomously. Gorgeous paintings on wooden boards appear on the wall and are folded into standing human forms across Anna Zorina Gallery, with LED fixtures illuminating their technicolor palettes. Dreamy and defiant, Forever Is Twice As Long From The Ground aims to radicalize rather than lead to despair.

Anna Zorina Gallery, 532 West 24th Street, New York, NY Info

Through August 20: Vincent Namatjira, Kaylene Whiskey, and Tiger Yaltangki: Iwantja Rock n Roll

Fort Gansevoort’s curreb=nt exhibition brings together three artists from Iwantja Arts, one of 11 Indigenous-owned Aboriginal arts centers on Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara lands. Following their online exhibition last year, Namatjira, Whiskey, and Yatangki blend brightly colored Indulkana symbolism with British and American iconography, referencing Western influence in Australia and the joys of spoofing the oppressor. Above: Vincent Namatjira, Elizabeth and Vincent (on Country), 2021

Fort Gansevoort, 5 Ninth Avenue, New York, NY Info

Honor Titus: Spotlight at FLAG

FLAG Art Foundation’s current Spotlight show features mixed-media works by painter and musician Honor Titus. Balancing a love of elegance with class consciousness, Titus strives for beauty in increasingly tenuous social conditions. Portraits substitute faces for flowers, heightening style over identity, or otherwise convey highly personalized scenes of love and friendship. Interchanging intimacy and anonymity, Titus’s work focuses on fractured personal relations, 

Flag Art Foundation, 545 West 25th Street #9, New York, NY Info