Cultural Centre sights in New York City
- Sort by:
- Popular
-
A
Lincoln Center
The 16-acre Lincoln Center complex includes a dozen large performance spaces built in the 1960s, which controversially replaced a group of tenements called San Juan Hill, where exterior shots for the movie West Side Story were filmed. The latest controversy has been a massive redesign, by New York ‘starchitects’ Diller Scofidio + Renfro, which began in 2007 as a way to usher in Lincoln Center’s 50th anniversary celebration. That milestone came and went in 2009 and, though much of the work has been finished, construction still dragged on at the time of writing. Still, some of the new additions are worth taking a look at, including Alice Tully Hall and its modern-glass faca…
reviewed
-
B
Brooklyn Academy of Music
The oldest concert center in the USA, the Brooklyn Academy of Music is known for edgier, more modern dance and music shows than its Manhattan counterparts, particularly during the autumn Next Wave festival. (Folks like Ingmar Bergman and Sufjan Stevens have staged shows here.) The complex contains a 2109-seat opera house, an 874-seat theatre and the four-screen Rose Cinemas, which screen indie and foreign films. At 8pm on weekend nights, the upstairs BAMCafe stages an interesting lineup of free live shows.
reviewed
-
C
Japan Society
Founded in 1907 by a group of NYC businesspeople with a deep admiration for Japan, this nonprofit society has played a large role in strengthening American– Japanese relations. It expanded into a full arts and cultural center with a little help from philanthropist John D Rockefeller III, who had a strong interest in Japan. Today its main draw can be found in its galleries, which highlight Japanese art through shows like its recent ‘Serizawa: Master of Japanese Textile Design,’ and in its theater, which hosts a range of films and dance, music and theatrical performances. Those who want to dig deeper can browse through the 14,000 volumes of the research library or attend o…
reviewed
-
D
Tibet House
With the Dalai Lama as the patron of its board, this nonprofit cultural space is dedicated to presenting Tibet’s ancient traditions through art exhibits, a research library and various publications, while programs on offer include educational workshops, open meditations, retreat weekends and docent-led tours to Tibet, Nepal and Bhutan. Exhibits here tend to attract a diverse and passionate crowd, and have recently ranged from ‘Modern Buddhist Visions by Pema Namdol Thaye, ’ with traditional Tibetan tangka painting and sculpture, to ‘Masterpieces of Contemporary Buddhist and Hindu Tantric Art, ’ featuring works from a special collection.
reviewed
-
E
Dwyer Cultural Center
The brand-new, $3-million, 7000-sq-ft Dwyer is the latest player in a new cultural renaissance here. The permanent home to a previously traveling exhibit, ‘Harlem Is…, ’ featuring large-scale portraits and video montages, this is also the new uptown destination for jazz and blues concerts, dance performances, artist talks, film screenings and rotating exhibits, like the inaugural ‘Harlem Sewn Up 2009: Quilted Reflections of a Community.’
reviewed
-
F
David Rubenstein Atrium
One of the most exciting new additions to the sprawling Lincoln Center has been that of the David Rubenstein Atrium, a modern public space offering a lounge area (with free wi-fi), a cafe, an information desk, a ticket vendor offering day-of discount tickets to Lincoln Center performances and a roster of Thursday-eve free performances, ranging from jazz and chamber music to opera and ballet. Still to come are a public roof lawn and a Street of the Arts.
reviewed
-
G
Bronx Academy of Arts & Dance
Rough-at-the-edges Hunts Point, in southeastern Bronx, is starting to eke out some life. Here, the stunning Bronx Academy of Arts & Dance hosts some interesting festivals – ‘BAAD! Ass Women Festival’ in March and ‘Out Like That!’ in June, with gay, lesbian and transgender artworks and plays.
reviewed
-
H
National Arts Club
This club, founded in 1898 to promote public interest in the arts, boasts a beautiful, vaulted, stained-glass ceiling above the wooden bar in its picture-lined front parlor. Calvert Vaux, who was one of the creators of Central Park, designed the building, originally the private residence of Samuel J Tilden, governor of New York and failed presidential candidate in 1876. The club holds art exhibitions, ranging from sculpture to photography, that are sometimes open to the public from 1pm to 5pm (check the website for schedules). Other events include sketch classes, jazz lunches and French lessons.
reviewed
-
I
Flushing Council on Culture & the Arts
Built in 1862, this Romanesque Revival building hosts year-round art shows and jazz concerts. The council can also advise on some of the jazz greats who lived in the area: Louis Armstrong, Lena Horne, Ella Fitzgerald, John Coltrane, Billie Holiday, Count Basie, Charles Mingus and others.
reviewed
-
Everything Goes Book Café & Neighborhood Stage
For coffee, books or political talks – or later on, live music – the lively Everything Goes Book Café & Neighborhood Stage, near the Chamber of Commerce, has become something of the center of a growing, Berkeley-style arts community.
reviewed
Advertisement
