OCTOBER 2018 ARTSNEWS by Jürgenby Lobert Artwork by Tom Fruin Fruin Artwork Tom by Summoning the Spirits by Marjorie Schick (photo credit: Gary Pollmiller) credit: Schick (photo Marjorie by Spiraling OverSpiraling the 2008 Line, Katonah Museum of Art – ArtsWestchester – Color Camera Club of Westchester – Outrageous Ornament Brick by Brick Jürgen Lobert Presents Light Painting A publication of ArtsWestchester artsw.org/artsnews This issue is sponsored by: A2 Westchester County Business Journal • ARTSNEWS OCTOBER 2018 from the from the CEO County Executive There is no better place to welcome fall than here, in Westchester County. Music fills our streets, artists set up their easels outside and the crisp weather inspires A Ton of Brick History us to create. ArtsWestchester has plenty in store for us By Janet Langsam, ArtsWestchester CEO this season. Whether you are interested in spending your Saturday afternoon at an historic site, spending your day at a museum, or taking your child to a Wednesday morning storybook class, our County has something for everyone. I feel fortunate Can it be true that, in terms of size and production, the brick industry in the to have ArtsWestchester in our County to inspire our residents to participate in the Hudson Valley was second of importance in our region to IBM? So George arts. This monthly ArtsNews publication highlights the many cultural opportunities H. Hutton told us in his book The Great Hudson River Brick Industry. We can provided for the enjoyment of residents throughout the County. October is here, so quibble with his hyperbole, but the truth is that in its day, the brick industry keep track of upcoming arts and cultural programs by browsing the articles and was a force with which to be reckoned. In Haverstraw alone, 2,500 people calendar on these pages. worked in the industry, a disparate band of migrants, children, immigrants and slaves, which supported more than 10,000 families. Even harder to believe is • spooky and festive Halloween events (page A5) that all that's left of this thriving industry is its history, which will be retold in an • newly-launched seasons at performing arts venues (page A6) exhibition at ArtsWestchester: Brick by Brick: The Erie Canal and The Building • Hispanic Heritage Month celebrations (page A8) Boom. As you travel our beautiful County, I hope you will take the time to enjoy the arts. Brick is one of the oldest of building materials, dating back to 7,500 B.C. What made the Hudson Valley, particularly Croton Point, so fertile for brickmaking Thank you, was the rich blue clay deposits that perhaps resulted from rocks being crushed George Latimer, during the Ice Age and settling in the Hudson River area. The success of the Westchester County Executive brick industry was in part due to the alignment of several things: the rich blue clay, of course, was one of them. The mid-century opening of the Erie Canal was another. It facilitated transport of heavy goods, up and down the river. Then, there were the terrible loft fires in New York City, which created a need for The work of ArtsWestchester is made possible with support from replenished building materials that, in some years, accounted for a billion bricks Westchester County Government. annually. Complicating the City's problems was a burgeoning immigration rush, a cholera epidemic and a dire need for a fresh water source (ultimately provided George Latimer Benjamin Boykin by the Croton Aqueduct). And then, there was the VerValen machine, invented County Executive Chairman, Westchester Board of Legislators in Haverstraw in 1852, revolutionizing the brick making process. WESTCHESTER BOARD OF LEGISLATORS There was a sad ending to this mighty industry. Glass, aluminum, concrete Nancy E. Barr Margaret A. Cunzio MaryJane Shimsky and imported bricks heightened the competitiveness of the market. Careless Catherine Borgia Christopher A. Johnson John G. Testa excavation caused a landslide and disaster for the village of Haverstraw. Gordon A. Burrows Michael Kaplowitz David Tubiolo Still...there are folks who remember this era with the nostalgic occupation of collecting and trading bricks. There are descendants of the families that Terry Clements Damon R. Maher Alfreda A. Williams worked in the brickyards who remember how good and how bad it was. There Kitley S. Covill Catherine Parker Lyndon Williams are artists who use brick as their sculpture material. There is Peter, a civil Virginia Perez engineer, who teaches kids about brick in Westchester classrooms. There's the BrickLayers Union, which keeps the trade alive. There are historic brick Thanks to our generous supporters buildings, like the former bank restored by ArtsWestchester. All of these remind Joseph and Sophia Abeles Foundation, Aetna Foundation, Anchin Block & Anchin, AvPorts, Bank of us of the aesthetic importance of signature brick architecture. Then of course America, Bloomingdales, Benerofe Properties, Berkeley College, The Thomas and Agnes Carvel Foundation, there's a chuckle for the faux brick...LEGOs. And yes, there's also a story to be Clarfeld Financial Advisors, Con Edison, Empire City Casino, Entergy, Ethan Allen Interiors, The Examiner, told, and ArtsWestchester is proud to be telling it. Inspiria Media, Jacob Burns Foundation, P.C., The Journal News, Key Bank, Kite Realty Group, The Liman Foundation, Macerich Co. Cross County Shopping Center, Macy's, MAXX Properties, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Peckham Industries, Inc., People’s United Bank. Pernod Ricard USA, Reckson, A Division of SL Brick by Brick opens on October 2 and remains on view through January 19, Green Realty, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, VENU Magazine, Wells Fargo Foundation, Westchester Family, 2019. For info, visit artsw.org/brickbybrick and follow #AWbricks. Westchester Magazine, Westchester Medical Center, Westfair Communications, White Plains Hospital and Wilson Elser D OF L AR EG O I B S Y L T A T Don’t miss Janet’s weekly blog UNT N CO Y O U R O S C 1683 W O . D Y E R E . S G A I Z N T N , C Y H T posts at: thisandthatbyjl.com E N STER COU /ArtsWestchester | @ArtsWestchester OCTOBER 2018 Westchester County Business Journal • ARTSNEWS A3 ARTSWESTCHESTER | 31 Mamaroneck Ave., White Plains | 914.428.4220 ArtsNews (artsw.org), your guide to arts news in brief and culture in Westchester County, NY, is published by ARTSWESTCHESTER, a Hudson River Museum A Free Week of Dance private, not-for-profit organization established Wins Excellence Award Classes in White Plains in 1965. The largest of its kind in New York State, it serves more than 150 cultural organizations, numerous school districts, and Chappaqua hundreds of artists, and audiences numbering more than one million. The goal of ArtsWestchester is to ensure the availability, accessibility, and diversity of the arts in Westchester. Michael J. Minihan Janet T. Langsam Debbie Scates Board President Chief Executive Officer Director, Marketing & Communications John R. Peckham Mary Alice Franklin Board Chairman ArtsNews Editor & Erika Reinhart Joseph P. Oates Communications Manager Sr. Designer & Creative Manager Vice Chairman Rocío De La Roca Alfredo Ponce Contributor & Graphic Designer Communications Associate Students from Museum School 25 participating in a project with Hudson River Museum (photo ArtsNews Contents courtesy of Hudson River Museum) Steffi Nossen's Advanced Ballet class (photo artsw briefs .....................................................A4 Greater Hudson Heritage Network credit Ezra Goh) halloween highlights ......................................A5 announced the Hudson River Museum Steffi Nossen School of Dance will offer (HRM) as its recipient for the 2018 a free week of dance classes at the performing arts season highlights ................A6 Award for Excellence. The award Music Conservatory of Westchester events highlights .............................................A8 recognizes the Museum’s “Museum in White Plains and the Church of Studies Partnership for Learning” Saint Mary the Virgin in Chappaqua on artist opportunities ..........................................A11 program. During this project, HRM October 15-20. The School will highlight events calendar ................................................A13 partnered with Yonkers Public School its program of classes for people of all District’s Museum School 25 during levels, ages and abilities. Core classes exhibitions and workshops .............................A20 the 2017-2018 school year to engage are available in modern, ballet, tap, students in Pre-K through second hip-hop and more, while other classes grade with multiple onsite and in- give special attention to dancers as school visits. The students participated young as one to three years old, creative Film Center Relaunches series. For twelve years, Academy in projects that enhance critical movement for pre-K children and an Award-winning director Jonathan thinking while connecting concepts in expanded boys program. Adaptive Series in Memory of Demme hosted the series at Jacob art, science, history and more. It also dance programs include classes for Jonathan Demme Burns Film Center, which ended with integrated professional development people with physical, developmental Demme’s death in April 2017. In the for teaching staff and classroom aides and intellectual disabilities, as well as series, the director of classic films that will enable them to integrate new people with Parkinson’s disease, which such as Silence of the Lambs and creative strategies in their classrooms. focuses on