Gingerbread Bake-Off 2024 November 24, 2024
Posted by judylobo in Zoo.Tags: Art exhibit, Gingerbread five borough bakeoff, Museum of the City if NY, NYC, photography
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Once again, the Museum of the City of NY brings us the five Borough Gingerbread Bake-Off. I have come to adore these creations even though I am not a gingerbread fan. I am always amazed by the detail and loving presentations from these fabulous local bakers. The Museum invites bakers from across the five boroughs to create gingerbread displays on the theme of “Iconic New York”—creating distinctive buildings, places, or things that represent their neighborhood, community, or borough. This fun exhibition is on through December 25th. The Museum is open seven days a week.
Byzantine Bembe’ October 13, 2024
Posted by judylobo in Zoo.Tags: art, Art exhibit, Byzantine Bembe, diaspora, Manny Vega, mosaic, murals, Museum of the City if NY, NYC, photography
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The Museum of the City of New York is filled with wonderful exhibits year round and I make it a habit of going several times a year. This last visit introduced me to the colorful, musical, artistic world of Manny Vega. He is an American painter, illustrator, printmaker, muralist, mosaicist, set and costume designer. His work portrays the history and traditions of the African Diaspora that exist in the United States, the Caribbean, and Latin America. His mosaics and murals adorn street walls, subway stations, cultural centers, and business facades throughout East Harlem. Many of these works celebrate important figures—particularly women—in the history of the Puerto Rican and Latinx communities. His style has been dubbed “Byzantine Hip-Hop” for his uncompromising technical command that encompasses ancient Mediterranean mosaic-making and the electrifying lines of hyper-detailed Sharpie pen-and-ink drawings. As part of the Museum’s centennial year celebration, Byzantine Bembé: New York by Manny Vega explores his visual storytelling as it interweaves community stories with themes that range from African deities to urban mythologies. Deeply rooted in an idiosyncratic understanding of the diaspora experience, which in his case includes communities in El Bronx, El Barrio, and Bahia, Brazil, Vega’s worldview is colorful, danceable, passionately spiritual, complex, yet accessible. The show marks the Museum’s commitment to its thriving neighborhood as it looks ahead to its next one hundred years. Vega has been their artist in residence for this calendar year. This beautiful exhibit is on through December 8, 2024.
The Great Five Boro NYC Bake-off November 20, 2022
Posted by judylobo in Zoo.Tags: art, Five Boro NYC Bake-off, Gingerbread, Museum of the City if NY, NYC, photography
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The Museum of the City of New York has begun a great tradition with the Five Boro Gingerbread Bake-off. Bakers from each of the five boroughs were tasked with creating a gingerbread display from their neighborhood home borough. I was very excited to see that not only was my neighborhood represented for Manhattan but my actual building was featured as well (directly across for the Flatiron building). Other than the overwhelming smell of gingerbread it was a fun experience. It is on display until January 8th. 
Analog City – NYC B.C. (Before Computers) July 10, 2022
Posted by judylobo in Zoo.Tags: Analog, art, art exhibitions, Museum of the City if NY, NYC, photography
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Ever wonder how anything got done before computers? I went to see this new exhibit at the Museum of the City of NY with a friend who is 25 years my junior. I recollected more than she did and we had lots of laughs, shared stories and generally recalled most of the treasures in this exhibit. Analog City: NYC B.C. (Before Computers) uncovers the array of tools, technologies, and lost professions that supported New York City as it exploded into a global metropolis in the pre-digital era. Focusing on the period between the 1870s and the 1970s, Analog City examines the technologies that enabled the city to reach its position as the “capital of the world” in an age before the speed and capacity of today’s digital technologies. Set against a contemporary backdrop of 24-hour news cycles and high-speed trading—in which questions about privacy, truth, and the impact of social media are increasingly pressing—the exhibition uncovers this bygone era of paper files and pneumatic tubes, of note cards and telephone directories, and examines how New York thrived as a center of finance, news, research, and real estate in an era before personal computers and the internet’. This exhibit is on thru the end of the year. Check it out and enjoy!
Who’s Pulling Your Strings? August 22, 2021
Posted by judylobo in Zoo.Tags: art, Museum of the City if NY, NYC, photography, Puppets
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Of all the things I missed during the COVID NYC shutdown – visiting museums was at the top of the list. Now that we are open again (with many restrictions) I am on a museum tear. This Museum Hack site says there are 145 NYC museums – guess I have lots of new places to explore. This new exhibit at the Museum of the City of NY is all about puppetry. Puppetry is a form of theater or performance that involves the manipulation of puppets – inanimate objects, often resembling some type of human or animal figure, that are animated or manipulated by a human called a puppeteer. I have always found puppets to be fun, instructive and occasionally scary. I encourage you to check out the whole museum – it is one of my favorites.