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Gayle McKinney-Griffith, Dance Theater of Harlem star, dies at 74
NEW YORK, NY.- When Gayle McKinney-Griffith was an aspiring ballerina auditioning for Juilliard in the late 1960s, her excitement was tempered by a daunting realization. “When you walk into a room and you’re the only Black person there,” she later said, “you right away develop this persona that is protective but also standing strong. You’re used to thinking two things at once: ‘Yes, I’m the only Black person here,’ and ‘Yes, let’s do this.’” That attitude not only helped her gain admittance to that elite arts institution; it also carried her through a nine-year career as a founding member of Dance Theater of Harlem, the groundbreaking New York troupe that provided overdue opportunities and international acclaim to Black ballet performers. As was the case with many dancers with the company in the early years, McKinney-Griffith’s accomplishments faded over time, an ... More

Coming soon to Little Island: An arts festival with powerful backers
NEW YORK, NY.- Little Island, the $260 million park on the Hudson River that opened in 2021, was imagined as a haven for innovation in the performing arts. But the park’s cultural offerings — mostly sporadic, one-off works — have so far fallen short of those ambitions. Now Barry Diller, the billionaire media mogul who paid for the park, is setting out to deliver on the original vision, financing a robust, four-month annual performing arts festival on Little Island, the park announced Monday. He is doing so with the guidance of Scott Rudin, a film, television and theater producer who retreated from public view in 2021 amid accusations of bullying by workers in his office. Diller said in an interview that he and his family foundation were prepared to spend more than $100 million over the next two decades on programming. The festival, one of the most ambitious ... More

A master of 'Subtle Dazzle' and a quiet force in Downtown dance
NEW YORK, NY.- Carol Mullins knows the secrets of St. Mark’s Church in-the-Bowery. She knows that it’s strangely colder by the crypt of Peter Stuyvesant, who had the first chapel built on the site, now in the East Village, in 1660. She knows which architectural features predate the fire that destroyed much of the late-18th-century building in 1978. She knows the location of the hidden trapdoor that leads to the rafters of the arch above the nave. “It’s a wonderland of wood,” she said recently. “It looks like an upturned boat in there.” Mullins, 85, knows all this because just before that fire, she started designing lighting for Danspace Project, which has been presenting performances in the church since 1974. In 1982, she became the resident lighting designer, a position she still holds. At Danspace’s 50th anniversary gala Tuesday, Mullins will be among ... More

Can Marin Alsop shatter another glass ceiling?
BALTIMORE.- Marin Alsop’s conducting students were taking turns on the podium recently in a rehearsal room at Meyerhoff Symphony Hall in Baltimore. They waved their batons in front of an imaginary orchestra, practicing Igor Stravinsky’s notoriously complex “The Rite of Spring.” Some conductors teach in poetry: what a piece means, how a certain sound should feel. Alsop, who spent untold hours at Meyerhoff Hall during her 14 years as music director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, a tenure that ended in 2021, teaches in technical, tangible details. In a measure with 11 beats, she suggested using the last as a pickup to the following bar, to give the players an extra bit of clarity. She flagged trouble spots: a transition that was “usually too loud, too fast, too soon,” and a moment when the winds tend to come in just after the strings, rather ... More

David Messum Fine Art opens an exhibition of 61 paintings by Matthew Alexander
LONDON.- David Messum Fine Art presents an exhibition of 61 paintings by the British artist, Matthew Alexander, one of the most widely recognised and dynamic plein air painters working on the East coast today. Known for his dramtic land and seascapes, Matthew invites viewers to experience the world from his perspective, revealing the beauty and theatre of the Kentish and East coast. With a deep-rooted connection to his home in Kent, Matthews paintings demonstrate a profound grasp of light, colour, and emotion, influenced by both artistic tradition and personal experiences. Marking his return to the West End since 2005, this exhibition takes viewers on a visual journey from Matthew’s childhood home on the Isle of Thanet along the Southeast Coast. From the towns of Broadstairs and Margate to the tranquil vistas of the Isle of Sheppey ... More

Ippodo Gallery opens Laura de Santillana's second posthumous solo exhibition in New York
NEW YORK, NY.- Ippodo Gallery presents Laura de Santillana: Echoes of Her Gaze, Impressions of Tokyo and Kyoto in Glass, the artist’s second posthumous solo exhibition in New York. A curation of over 25 glass artworks evoking the dichotomy of Tokyo’s neon lights and subdued glow of Kyoto’s aesthetics, on view from May 8–June 6, 2024. Representing the later years of her career, this collaboration between the de Santillana Estate and Ippodo Gallery includes artworks traveling from Venice and those which exhibited exclusively in Japan. Deeply inspired by the ingenious craftsmanship of Japanese architecture, this series of glass tablets draws together the vibrant colors that de Santillana saw in Tokyo’s bustling nightlife districts with the traditional modesty of Kyoto, where she felt a natural fondness of ancient Japanese culture analogous to the grand ... More

Springfield Art Museum appoints new museum educator
SPRINGFIELD, MO.- The Springfield Art Museum announced today that Joshua Best accepted the role of museum educator. Best most recently served as museum affairs officer for audience development from 2021-2024. He joined the Springfield Art Museum as development and marketing coordinator in 2015. As museum educator and a member of the Springfield Art Museum leadership team, Best will plan and lead the Museum’s public programs as well as in-school and out-of-school tours and programs like the annual Fifth Grade Field Trips. Best and Museum curatorial staff will continue mounting the long-standing and popular All School Exhibition. Best will also manage the Museum’s volunteer docent corps. Best says, “I’ve strived to place art interpretation, accessibility, and inclusion at the core of my work for the Museum through engagement events ... More

A Herter Brothers mantel sold for $152,400 in Moran's 2-day sale
LOS ANGELES, CA.- John Moran Auctioneers presented their highly-anticipated 2-day The Traditional Collector: Featuring The Collection of Walter and Nesta Spink sale, Tuesday, April 9th & Wednesday, April 10th, 2024. Day 1 featured The Collection of Walter and Nesta Spink along with other Asian and Southeast Asian works from remarkable private collections. Day 2 offered fine and decorative art, furnishings, tableware, lighting, clocks, and more. The sale began with property from Walter and Nesta Spink, two highly respected figures in the world of art history, academia, and collecting. Walter’s scholarly focus on early Buddhist art and architecture, particularly at the UNESCO World Heritage designated Ajanta Caves in western India, reshaped our understanding of these ancient sites. Day 1 started with “The Collection of Walter and ... More