DIARY: Creative Long Weekend
Every three-day weekend counts and the continuing cold snap might tempt us to stay in. But consider hitting some exhibitions instead. This idea, thanks to MAD Museum (above), inspired a look at what’s happening around town.
Museum of Arts & Design [MAD Museum] is offering a range of shows and activities across the long weekend:
• Explore the creative rewards of collaborative learning and working in Craft Front & Center: Conversation Pieces.
• Make an improvised drawing inspired by the lace and openwork textiles on display in The MAD Drawing Room (above).
• Take the wheel of Barbie’s hot pink Ultra ‘Vette for a playful photo-op in Barbie®: A Cultural Icon.
• Honor the brave creative spirit of OUT of the Jewelry Box's queer artists, whose work opened doors for everyone to confidently express themselves.
Check the MAD website for upcoming special programs including a Design Happy Hour on January 30 and a Crafting Valentine’s Day Cards workshop on February 11.
Museum of Arts and Design, 2 Columbus Circle, New York, NY Info
If you’ve always wanted to learn the Renaissance technique of egg tempera painting, this is your chance to try. In conjunction with the Sienna exhibition, The Metropolitan Museum of Art is offering a two-day workshop:
Saturday, January 18
The Met Fifth Avenue
Studio Classroom, Ruth and Harold D. Uris Center for Education
Participants visit the exhibition Siena: The Rise of Painting, 1300–1350, sketch works from the exhibition, make gesso, and prepare a panel for painting.
Sunday, January 19
The Met Cloisters
Gallery 7, Cuxa Cloister
Participants learn how to make egg tempera paint and utilize early Renaissance painting techniques to create an original work.
Presented in conjunction with the exhibition Siena: The Rise of Painting, 1300–1350.
Fee: $225. Materials and admission to both sessions are included. Attendance at both sessions is required. Please note: Space is limited; advance registration is required. Registration closes on Friday, January 17, 2025, or when registration is full.
Directions are available through links above
This just in from The Whitney: Time is running out to see the Whitney’s unforgettable Edges of Ailey. Closing February 9, this once-in-a-lifetime exhibition honors Alvin Ailey’s visionary legacy with immersive video installations, works by more than eighty artists, live performances by AILEY, and never-before-seen personal archives.
Artists exhibited among Ailey include Jean-Michel Basquiat, Romare Bearden, Faith Ringgold, Alma Thomas, Jacob Lawrence, Rashid Johnson, Kevin Beasley, Kara Walker, and many others. A recent acquisition of Eldren Bailey and new works by Karon Davis, Jennifer Packer, Mickalene Thomas, and Lynette Yiadom-Boakye will be presented for the first time in honor of this landmark exhibition.
This weekend, LifeDance IV The Emperor…The Old Woman Persists experiments with the form and structure of monologues, characters, scenes, and imaginings from the past forty years of Jawole Willa Jo Zollar’s work with Urban Bush Women. It is directed by Niegel Smith and performed by Zollar and Tendayi Kuumba. See the schedule here.
New: Admission is now free for visitors aged 25 and under. Info
Whitney Museum of American Art, 99 Gansevoort Street, New York, NY Info
While you’re downtown, consider a guided tour of the Judd House on Spring Street. But make it for Friday or Saturday as it is closed Sundays and Mondays. Guided visits to 101 Spring Street offer visitors direct engagement with Donald Judd’s living and working space in downtown New York. Led by artist guides, the visits allow for direct engagement with Judd’s installed spaces throughout the historic cast-iron building.
Guided visits are approximately 75 minutes in duration. Visits begin promptly as scheduled. Doors open 15 minutes prior to scheduled visit times. Late arrivals cannot be accommodated once the visit commences. The entrance to 101 Spring Street is located on the Mercer Street side of the building. Tickets
Judd Foundation, 101 Spring Street, New York, NY Info