An Artful Summer

How I Spent My 2017 Summer Vacation

By Tricia Smith, President

 

Last summer was all about going back to my homeland to celebrate my birthday with my family. This summer was all about staying home and visiting arts institutions. I’ve been known to attend Mostly Mozart or other music performances at Lincoln Center or visit the Museum of Natural History to learn about the landscapes and ecosystems of places like ¡Cuba!, but the past few months also saw me in a few different venues.

I visited the ICP Museum for the first time in preparation for our new photography program. The Magnum Manifesto exhibit was awesome and inspiring. I’ve been spending more and more time at the Bronx Museum of the Arts. Most recently I visited Bronx-born Puerto Rican cartoonist and educator Ivan Velez’s Bronx Haiku exhibit. His comic and activist drawings epitomize his desire to make positive change in his community. Closer to home, the Chihuly exhibit at the New York Botanical Garden married my love of nature, color, and contrast. My first time back to NYBG in over a decade reminded me to be more vigilant in taking advantage of the wonders nearby that so many people come from far and wide to see.

 

Part II of the Magnum Manifesto exhibit at ICP Museum shows a world fragmenting, with a focus on subcultures, minorities, and outsiders			Ivan Velez: Bronx Haiku at Bronx Museum of the Arts
Chihuly – Red Reeds on Logs at NY Botanical Garden		Chihuly – Garden Fiori inside NY Botaical Garden’s Enid A. Haupt Conservatory		Chihuly – Float Boat in the Native Plant Garden at NY Botanical Garden