Heartbeat Opera takes a 400-year-old art form out of its box – 6-inch heels required. Join the cast and crew of Heartbeat’s annual drag opera extravaganza – this year titled, “Dragus Maximus.” Artists, writers, producers and performers of the young opera company are encouraged to examine traditional boundaries and flex their creative muscles, all to excite new and old opera audiences alike.
When Lenore Grossman developed an illness which required hiring a trainer, Rafael Colón answered the call. Through time, Lenore came to realize where his true passions were. “Rafael saw himself as a lover of art,” Grossman says, “but I saw him as an artist.” Watch as this Marine-turned-artist bends the rules of what constitutes a canvas and finds support in unexpected places.
In 2018, The Studio Museum in Harlem closed its longtime home to begin construction on a new building. In the absence of a permanent gallery, the museum launched in Harlem, a site-specific series that brings art directly to the community through displays in public spaces, libraries and parks. Conceptual artist Chloë Bass guides St. Nicholas Park on a wayfinding journey.
Anthony Roth Costanzo didn’t want to have the standard “park-and-bark” opera concert, so he took the paradigm and flipped it – literally. In this immersive concert, Costanzo places audiences in moving chairs and tours them through fluid stations featuring music, dance, video and art as the compositions of Glass and Handel echo through St. John the Divine.
Placekeeping can take many forms. For the young organizers of New York's Chinatown community, it's an act of resistance. As higher rents and unfamiliar businesses made their way into their neighborhood, locals turned to community gatherings, art and education in a shared solidarity to stay. "How We Stay" sees this change through the lens of Wing on Wo & Co and the Chinatown Art Brigade.
On November 5, 2020, a massive black and white mural was revealed overlooking the FDR highway. The work was designed by 105-year-old Cuban artist Carmen Herrera and was painted by students of Publicolor, an after school youth development program.