One day on my run through Prospect Park I found a sign at the Parkside entrance announcing a free performance of Don Juan by Moliere in the Park. A few days later, I received a text from a friend telling me that she had secured a couple seats for the sold out show. I went last Friday to the Lefrak Rink where they had built the stage and stadium seating for a brilliant production. Watch out Delacorte–looks like top public theater has moved into my neighborhood!
Every summer the Trust for Governors Island invites cultural organizations to host artists and events in its historic buildings previously occupied by military officers. Yesterday I stumbled upon a concert being performed by the duo of Shu-Wei Tseng on cello and Yu-Ting Cheng on clarinet in building 17, which was hosting the Taiwanese American Arts Council.
After the concert they invited the artists in residence to speak about the projects they had displayed throughout the old house.
They even had a little reception afterwords with chips and Guac!
My mother gave me this signed print by Minnesota artist Paul S. Kramer (1919-2012). It is of the Minnesota Boat Club, a St. Paul rowing club, which dates back to 1870 and claims to be Minnesota’s oldest athletic institution. Their boathouse on Raspberry Island was built in 1910 and can be rented for weddings or other events.
Kramer’s original 1998 painting is oil on canvas, measures 28″ x 37″ and is part of the Dan Shogren and Susan Meyer collection. Shogren and Meyer’s collection focuses on twentieth century American art and has been featured at The Minneapolis Institute of Art. A beautiful survey of Kramer’s art titled Other Realities was published by Julie L’Enfant, who taught at the St. Paul College of Visual Arts before it closed in 2013.
Kramer grew up on a farm, first in North Dakota and then South St. Paul. After serving in Europe during WWII, he studied art in France then returned to St. Paul, where he took classes at the St. Paul School of Art with Clement Haupers. Next, he attended the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and spent more time in Europe, before returning to teach and become Director of Exhibitions at the St. Paul Gallery and School of Art, which is now the Minnesota Museum of American Art.
The museum struggled financially in the 1990s and early 2000s but seems to be thriving at its current home in the 1889-1890 Pioneer and Endicott buildings designed by Cass Gilbert and James Knox Taylor. The museum is also free and hopefully can be part of a revitalized downtown St. Paul cultural scene!
Every summer, tourists wait for hours at the chance to see Shakespeare in Central Park’s Delacorte Theater. Fortunately, The Public Theater also brings their show on the road with performances in the outer boroughs. Last evening, I was lucky to see As You Like It in Sunset Park.
In the background, the eponymous phenomena shined over New York Harbor, and as I was leaving I caught the local Chinese ladies in their evening dance around the flagpole.
In celebration of the World Cup and the city where every country has a neighborhood fanbase, NYC has created a passport encouraging the exploration of immigrant communities in all five boroughs.
There are 12 stamps to collect from NYC artists. At Brooklyn Public Library Central I received the stamp designed by Aya Karpinska. She is Polish, but Poland sadly did not qualify, so she is cheering for Spain!
Paul Mason Fotsch 