Open Arts LES | October 1-10, 2021
Open Arts is a community-wide arts open house – ten days during which our local cultural organizations invite neighbors get to know what they do and how to engage with their programs. All programs are free and many offer unique opportunities to meet and get to know the folks making art in the LES.
Open Arts LES 2021 includes:
- Free online and in person programming from theaters, museums, dance companies, and galleries
- Open Arts Outside: October 9 – Workshops, Short Performances, and Info Booths featuring local cultural organizations on the Avenue B Open Street
- The LES Arts & Culture Guide to more than 70 arts & culture organizations
Open Arts LES 2021 Schedule
subject to change*
Garden Tunes | October 1, 6-7pm
Art Loisaida Foundation , in partnership with Carmen Pabon Del Amanecer Garden & LUNGS, 117 Ave C
Live musical performance featuring Jim Flynn on Irish harp presenting Irish and American songs as part of the LUNGS Harvest Arts Festival. Artist and staff Q&A to follow performance.
Visit MOCA | October 1- 3 & October 8-10: 11-6pm | October 7: 11-9pm
Museum of Chinese in America| More Info
MOCA will offer free admission to the public to our core exhibition, With a Single Step: Stories in the Making of America and our special exhibition, Responses: Asian American Voices Resisting the Tides of Racism.
Czech and Slovak Tales with Strings | October 1- 3, various locations and times
GOH Productions, in partnership with Czechoslovak American Marionette Theatre | More Info
Internationally known Czechoslovak puppeteer, storyteller, and author Vit Horejs performs Czech & Slovak Tales with Strings, a one-man marionette show of fairy tales replete with kings, clever village maidens, witches, and spirits. Horejs’s century-old, hand-carved puppets speak in a dozen voices, dance, play violin, swim, and fly.
Oct 1, 5pm at Childrens’ Magical Garden (Norfolk Street)
Oct 2, 3pm at De Colores Community Garden, East 8th St (between Ave B & C)
Oct 3, 3pm at El Jardín del Paraíso (East 4th Street, between Ave C & D)
Explore the Museum at Eldridge Street | Friday, October 1 & Friday October 8, 10-3pm | Tours at 11am & 1pm
Museum at Eldridge Street | More Info
Free admission and docent tours. Attendees can meet with the Director of Visitor Services and Program Management to talk about the Museum.
A Day with ICP | October 2
International Center for Photography | More Info
Open Arts LES Pay by Donation Admission | 11-1pm
Donation based admission! Advanced donation tickets can be purchased online at icp.org or at the museum that Saturday morning.
Community Exhibition Tour: Gilliab Laub: Family Matters and Diana Markosian: Santa Barbara | 10am
Sign up for an early access community walking tour of ICP’s new Fall exhibitions Gilliab Laub: Family Matters and Diana Markosian: Santa Barbara. Learn more about the exhibitions through conversations led by ICP’s Managing Director of Programs, David Campany, and Sara Ickow, Senior Manager, Exhibition and Collections. Masks will be required for all participants.
Film Cameras from the ICP Collection | 11-2pm
Join ICP faculty member Kristin Holcomb to learn about analog photography! View film cameras from ICP’s school collection, and discover the analog photographic processes that produced the series of oversized photos that will be printed and on display in the museum lobby.
LES Local Business Street Photography Scavenger Hunt Photo Walk | 1-2pm
Join photographer, community activist, and Lower East Side native, Destiny Mata, for an imagemaking walking tour of the LES! In this hands-on workshop participants of all ages will learn about how to elevate their photography skills using the imagemaking device most accessible to them. Bring your SLR, DSLR camera, your smartphone, or dust off those Polaroids and Holgas!
Explore the Ukrainian Museum!| October 3, 11:30-5 pm.
Ukrainian Museum | More Info
Free admission to the galleries! Staff will be on hand every hour on the hour to introduce the museum and answer visitor questions.
Kehila Kedosha Janina Guided Tour | October 3, 11-4pm
Kehila Kedosha Janina | More Info
Free special guided tours of the landmark synagogue and museum. Discover the immigrant experience of this unique community and the devastation they experienced during the Holocaust. Explore the past, present, and future of Greek Jewish life on the Lower East Side and across New York City.
Virtual Open House | October 4, 6pm
New York Theatre Workshop | More Info
NYTW is hosting an Virtual Open House! Learn about community programs and artist gatherings for this 21/22 season! NYTW staff will share information about the upcoming season’s productions, our ticket initiatives for artists and LES residents, and the various ways audiences of all ages can engage with the theatre’s community programs. In the second half of the Virtual Open House, attendees will participate in a sample activity from NYTW’s popular Networking Nights.
FALLing For Art & Poetry| October 5, 7-10pm
Theater For The New City |Back lobby Gallery: 155 1st Ave. NYC 10009 | More Info
7-9pm: of Showcase Multi- talented discussing how their different art forms influence and inspire each other as
they present their works, be it painting, music, collage and poetry, prose, illustration, art and performance art
9-10pm: Reception follows- food and libation for you to enjoy. Meet the artists.
Artists: Aziza, Izzy Church, Lissa Moira, Jonathan Fox-Powers, Paige Cutrona, Bina Sharif & Richard West.
Explore The Tenement Museum | October 7, 5pm, 5:30pm, 6pm
The Tenement Museum | More Info
Free, 30-minute guided tours of the museum. Explore the museum’s historically restored apartments and learn about the real Lower East Side families who lived here in the 19th and 20th centuries, and connect to the past and present of migration history in the neighborhood.
Chen Dance Center Open Rehearsal | October 8, 1-2:30pm
Chen Dance Center | More Info
Outdoor rehearsal of the company and opportunity to speak with staff and artists at Extra Place (1st Street between 2nd Ave & Bowery).
Stoop Performances | October 9, 4:30pm
KGB Bar and The Red Room, 85 East 4th Street
Jazz and punk music, spoken word and Bellydance, with an MC providing a verbal history of the historic building.
Open Arts Outside | Saturday, October 9, 2-4pm
Avenue B between 8th & 9th Sts
FREE
Get to know more about local cultural organizations through workshops, performances, art activities and more!
with Artists Alliance Inc., Arts for Art, Chen Dance Center, The Design Trust, Earth Celebrations, East Village Community Coalition, Educational Alliance Art School, FABnyc, Loisaida Inc., Museum at Eldridge Street, New York Theatre Workshop, Ping Chong and Company, Swiss Institute, Performance Project @ University Settlement, Superhero Clubhouse LES Fellows, and Village Preservation.
Performances
2pm | Chen Dance Center
Dance excerpts by H.T Chen & Dancers: A Lantern Procession and the Bian Dance Celebration Dance
3-3:30pm | Arts for Art
Demonstration workshop featuring the Creative Vision Ensemble Youth Band
3:30-4pm | Superhero Clubhouse LES Fellows
An original piece created by current, past, and lifelong residents of the Lower East Side that celebrates life in the neighborhood and invites the community to participate in imagining a just, resilient future in the midst of the climate crisis.
Activities
“FinTech for the Precariat” | Artists Alliance Inc.
A new interactive work by AAI alumnus Ricardo Miranda Zúñiga entitled “FinTech for the Precariat.”
A photobooth for your sneakers | Loisaida Center
Photographer Ebony Cawthorne will be setting up a photo booth for your sneakers, connecting to her work as a filmmaker and her documentary Tied Together.
Draping Constellation Making | Swiss Institute
Create “draping constellation” objects inspired by the Rosemary Mayer exhibit on view at Swiss Institute.
2-3:30pm
Outdoor Drawing Workshop for Adults with Alec Pimienta | Educational Alliance Art School | RSVP
Learn to see your city from a new, fresh perspective! Take inspiration from the East Village streets, historic buildings, and Tompkins Square Park. No previous drawing experience is needed.
3-4pm
Culinary Anthropology & Community Storytelling | Ping Chong and Company
Meet Ping Chong and Company artist Jaime Sunwoo and her mentor, celebrated director/choreographer/media artist Ping Chong, for a casual conversation about the significance of SPAM (the canned meat) in Asian American communities, in the context of Ms. Sunwoo’s new play in development Specially Processed American Me.
Get to Know…
Design Trust
Talk to us about our “Opening the Edge” and “Lighting the Edge” initiatives at Lillian Wald Houses.
Earth Celebrations
Join in Earth Celebrations’ upcoming programs, workshops and pageant, all of which engage the LES community in creating visual art, costumes, and performances for the 5th annual ECOLOGICAL CITY – Art & Climate Solutions Action project.
East Village Community Coalition
Check out what EVCC is up to, including the WhatsOpenEv! — an online map of open small business in the neighborhood!
FABnyc
Get information on how to join the Lower East Side Community Culture Council — applications open soon! — and other FABnyc programs
Museum at Eldridge Street
Deepen your knowledge of a LES icon of resilience, the history of 19th century Jewish community, and upcoming tours and programs.
New York Theatre Workshop
Learn about NYTW’s upcoming productions and their Mind the Gap intergenerational theatre program for teens and elders.
The Performance Project at University Settlement
Find out about a range of creative programs for emerging local artists and upcoming SHARE events!
Village Preservation
Enjoy some Village-related art activities and learn more about advocacy for preservation in our neighborhood!
Participating Organizations – 2020
