Weekday Sketchers Holiday Lights in Bay Ridge Thursday

It’s that Most Wonderful Time of the Year again, when merrymakers throughout the city festoon their houses with holiday lights and all manner of decorations. Many of these displays are worthy of a Hollywood premier, making a visit to view this spectacle a must. 

The Bay Ridge neighborhood, just a stone’s throw away from Dyker Heights, offers up a quieter but still dazzling display along Colonial Road, Narrows Avenue, and Shore Road, among houses and mansions of all sizes. 

A GREAT BIG THANK YOU goes to our host for this event is Roni Henning, Master printmaker, watercolorist, and friend of NYC Urban Sketcher Meryl Greenblatt. She has graciously opened up her studio in Bay Ridge for us to use as a starting point. We’ll meet up, sketch the neighborhood while it is still light out, then return for a pizza dinner (or bring your own food) and a throw down. Once the sun sets, we can head back out and view the lights in all their glory.

For more information about the holiday lights of Bay Ridge, click here https://brooklynreporter.com/2018/12/bay-ridge-holiday-lights-dazzle-like-dyker/

DATE: THURSDAY DECEMBER 14th, 2023

STARTING TIME: 1:00 PM

LOCATION:

RONI HENNING STUDIO

79-08 RIDGE BLVD

BAY RIDGE

TRANSPORTATION: 

By subway: R train to 77th Street Station. Walk east (away from 4th Avenue) two blocks and turn left toward 79th Street. House is on southwest corner of 79th Street and Ridge Blvd. Entrance to studio is on left side of house. 

By car: GPS will take you there. There is plenty of free parking. 

NOTES:

• Please RSVP directly to Raylie Dunkel at Rayliedunkel1@gmail.com. or Meryl Greenblatt at merylrgreenblatt@gmail.com
• Looking for us? Call Raylie at 201-273-0445
• We are meeting after lunch so have a bite before you join us
• Bathrooms and water are available at Roni's Studio
• While sketching please be aware of the foot and road traffic.  Be aware of property lines.
• It will likely be crowded in the streets, be aware of your surroundings, keep your supplies close to you and watch your bags
• We will meet at Roni’s Studio at 1:00 PM. We’ll then head into the neighborhood to sketch, and meet back at Roni’s place at 4:00 PM.
• Dinner is optional.  We are planning on ordering some pizza and sharing the costs. You are welcome to bring your own food.
• Bring a dessert or drinks to share. 

NJ sketchers at Morris Museum

Join us to sketch at Morris Museum

Flames, trains, and automata!

A day of flame working demos, a big model train exhibit, and musical mechanical automation.

NJ artist Paul J. Stankard’s revolutionary approach to flameworking and realistic botanical representations has elevated the humble paperweight to fine art.

As part of the Flame to Flower exhibit the Corning Museum of Glass will be presenting live presentations of glassworking.

The Mega Model Train Exhibit 

The nearly 300-square-foot train set is an ever-changing work of art surrounded by incredibly detailed and whimsical scenes. 

The Guinness Collection of Music and Automata

The 750 piece collection spans a miniature music box that fits into an 18-karat gold ring to the enormous Poppers “Rex” Orchestrion, which plays a whole orchestra of instruments and is powered by a complex pneumatic system that is over 100 years old. 

When: Friday, December 15th

Time: 11:00am

Where: The Morris Museum

6 Normandy Heights Road
Morristown, NJ 07960

Adults $10

Seniors $8

Plan to use dry materials (you may be able to use watercolor)

Lunch - Bring your food and drink. There is a seating area we can gather in.

There are no fees to participate in the urban sketching event . All drawing skill levels are welcome.

SUNDAY, December 10, 2023: Westchester Sketchers at the Neuberger Museum, SUNY Purchase

 

The Neuberger Museum of Art, located at the heart of SUNY Purchase College, is a vital cultural resource of modern, contemporary, and African art for Westchester County, NY, and beyond.  From the mid-century American and African art that form the collection's core to the presentation of contemporary art, the museum continues the commitment of founding patron Roy R. Neuberger (1903-2010) by championing the art of our time.

Current exhibits include:

Dennis Oppenheim: The Assembly Line

Throughout his long career, Dennis Oppenheim explored a myriad of art practices: conceptual art, land art, body art, performance, and public art. Contemporary to other major American artists who grew out of the minimalist school that emerged in the late sixties, by the 1980s he had begun creating immersive sculptures.

The Assembly Line (with By-Products from a Mechanical Trance) is part of Oppenheim’s “Factory Series,” in which elaborate systems of industrial imagery become metaphors for men­tal activity, giving physical form to creative impulses and other cerebral processes. His work encompasses both the compulsive manufacture of notions and the cathartic alchemy of inspiration when ideas become artwork and transfer the artist’s meaning to another’s mind.

A Special Look: Louis Michel Eilshemius

The largest body of work by a single artist in the Neuberger Museum of Art’s collection is by Louis Michel Eilshemius, who is represented by more than a hundred paintings, watercolors, and drawings.

This exhibit features a focused group of works created by the artist between 1874 and 1909 that reflect his academic training and interest in the longstanding European tradition of landscape painting.  Like many of his predecessors from the nineteenth century, Eilshemius traveled throughout Europe and made several journeys to distant countries.  His works were created both “en plein air,” and in his studio after images from his sketchbook.

From Your Collection: Latin American, Caribbean, and Latinx Voices

This exhibition showcases the work of fifteen leading artists from across the Americas.   It features a selection of paintings, works on paper, photographs, and sculptures that have been donated to, or purchased by, the Neuberger Museum of Art over the last decade. Many of these works tie to global contemporary debates, while also referencing specific realities through a variety of voices in order to better understand the global nature of the world we live in, and explore the multiple voices at the base of fruitful contemporary debates that challenge it.

DETAILS:

DATE: SUNDAY, December 10, 2023.

Start time: 12:00 Noon
  

LOCATION: Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase College https://neuberger.org
State University of New York, 735 Anderson Hill Road, Purchase, NY 10577. Phone: 914-251-6100 

DIRECTIONS: https://www.purchase.edu/admissions/travel-and-transportation/#Directions

PARKING Information:
Museum visitors should park in the West 1 Visitor Parking Lot. From the main entrance to the Purchase College campus, turn left and continue on the West Loop for approximately one mile; the entrance to the West 1 parking lot will be on your right.

Use the pay station located near The Performing Arts Center (located near the ADA-accessible handicap parking spaces) to obtain your parking receipt. Select the duration of your stay and follow the on-screen instructions to obtain your printed receipt. Be sure to place the receipt face up on your vehicle’s dashboard.

The Museum is located on the Southwest side of the Main Campus Plaza.  Please walk up the stairs, near Parking West 1, and continue to walk straight, following the signs to the Neuberger Museum of Art. 

LUNCH: Due to our later start, we will not break for lunch.  Please bring a snack/lunch to have if you get hungry. There are no food options at the Museum Store.  However, there are options on campus.

SHOW and TELL: 3:00 PM. We will share our drawings and tell stories. This is the social part of our day and is not to be missed.

NOTES: 

• Admission is currently FREE for all visitors.
• Stools will be available from the Museum.
• During your visit, please remember these rules for the exhibit areas:
• No food or beverages 
• No flash photography
• No pens or markers (you may use pencils to write/draw)

Please RSVP to Cathy Gutterman at cathygutterman@verizon.net

Looking for us? 

Call/text: Cathy at (914) 625-0766 or Marianne at (914) 355-6507

SATURDAY: Sketch Outdoors in December?!?!

 

OUTDOORS!

I am astounded.  It looks like it's going to be warm enough to sketch outdoors.  In case you don't consider temperatures in the low 50s to be suitable, we have an indoor plan too.

OUTDOORS

We will be sketching at the southwest corner of central park.  We'll be meeting at the Maine National Monument, which honors the American sailors lost when the Navy vessel, the U.S.S. Maine, exploded in 1898 and sank in Havana harbor in Cuba.  The monument is located at the Merchants' Gate entrance to Central Park, at Columbus Circle.

INDOORS

We will sketch at the monument for a while .  You can decide if you want to stay outdoors and sketch in the park, or if you'd prefer to be indoors at the Warner Center on the other side of Columbus Circle.  There's lots to sketch at the Center -  stores, restaurants, and people rushing about shopping.  The basement has a Whole Foods and a cafeteria.

For outdoor sketchers we are within easy walking distance of an example of each of the three types of bridges found in Central Park - brick, stone or cast iron.  Lots to see and sketch, people walking, kids playing, lovers strolling,  dogs running around, as well as the park's permanent residents, the squirrels and birds.  Central Park is a joy for sketching - every vista pleases the eye.

DETAILS:

WHAT:  We’re sketching ​o​utdoors in the southwest corner of Central Park

WHEN:  We’ll meet at 10:00 AM ​S​ATURDAY, ​December ​9th, 2023- ​a​t the Maine National Monument in Columbus Circle (Eighth Avenue and West 59th Street)

WHERE:  See the map below,

HOW:  

-   By Subway:  

There are two sets of trains you can use:

• ​59th St - Columbus Circle - A, C, B, D, and the #1

By Car:  Parking is difficult 

LUNCH:  12:00 PM  - ​Bring your own, or purchase from local vendors and stores.  My hope is that we can eat together outdoors.  We'll make a plan to meet the indoor people.  (I'm being an optimist. If it's colder than expected we'll all be together drawing in the Warner Center.)

AFTERNOON:  1:00 PM  Back to sketching.

SHOW AND TELL:  3:00 PM  Location to be determined. This is the social part of our day where we will share our sketches, tell stories, and probably talk about art supplies.

NOTE:

-  Bring a stool - it gives you more options.  

​click to enlarge

Can't find us?  

Call or Text Mark - 973-809-9128

There are no fees or attendance taken. 

All drawing skill levels are welcome

​

Wednesday, December 6, 2023: Westchester Sketchers at Cast Hall

Join us as we return to the Institute for Classical  Architecture and Art's Cast Hall

Cast Hall

Long ago, before the Met Museum was the major institution that it is now and could afford the real statures that we now see in the Greek and Roman Galleries, they displayed plaster casts of the original statures.  Once the real statures replaced the plaster casts, the casts went into storage and were largely forgotten. Then the Met donated them to the ICAA, who restored them and put them on display in ... Cast Hall.  

But wait!  That's not all!

The building that houses the ICAA, The General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen, is an artifact by itself,  with a Lock Museum, a multi-level library with a stained glass ceiling, beautiful hallways, railings and an incredible sculpture of an arm (you have to see it for yourself).  When you get tired of drawing the statures walk into the hallway and sketch this building that is a true hidden gem of NYC. 

DATE:  WEDNESDAY December 6, 2023

STARTING TIME: 10:30 AM

LOCATION:  The INSTITUTE FOR CLASSICAL ARCHITECTURE and ART 

                       The MECHANICS AND TRADESMAN BUILDING

                        20 West 44th Street, NYC

TRANSPORTATION: B, D, F, M to 42nd Street/Bryant Park Station or 7 to 5th Ave Station. 

                    

NOTES

• Please RSVP directly to Cathy Gutterman at cathygutterman@verizon.net 
• Looking for us? Call Cathy at 914-625-0766 or Marianne at 914-355-6507. 
• Water and bathrooms are available 
• Bring your lunch or purchase it from the local food outlets
• You can work in wet media

Weekday Sketchers Celebrate the Season

Tis the Season! Let's Get Started!

The holiday season is magical in New York City.  So much to do and see it's hard to know where to begin.  The Weekend Sketchers have sketched the big tree at Rockefeller center this week, so now it's time to  capture the rest of the city's celebration.

This week on December 7th, the Weekday Sketchers will visit the Museum of the City of New York to sketch the NYC specific gingerbread houses.  Then we will travel to Bay Ridge Brooklyn on December 14th to sketch the Over-the-Top Christmas lights.  We will finish  December on the 20th at the Museum of Natural History to sketch the wonderful Origami Tree and see the special exhibits with 20 guest passes compliments of Muriel Applebaum.

Christmas week is up to you. Sketch your own decoration for whichever holiday you are celebrating. Sketch your meals, sketch your kids opening presents, sketch your loved ones sitting around your table!

Endless possibiltles!

But Wait!  The season's not over.....first week in January the magnificent tree at the Met Museum is still up for us to sketch.  

Watch for announcements for all of these activities on the Blog and Facebook. Also check the new calendar on the blog site for all th sketch information each month.  

Let's get started.  The  Museum of the City of New York has put up a show created by fellow New Yorkers highlighting their efforts in Gingerbread!  For more information and to watch a short video about these artists, click here: https://www.mcny.org/exhibition/gingerbread-nyc-great-borough-bake-0

DATE: THURSDAY DECEMBER 7, 2023

STARTING TIME: 10:30 AM

LOCATION: MUSEUM OF THE CITY OF New York

                        1220 FIFTH AVE AT 103RD STREET

TRANSPORTATION: 6 TRAIN TO 103 St. Walk 3 blocks west to Fifth Ave,  2 ir 3 train to 110th Street.  Walk one block east to 5th Ave then south to the museum

NOTES

• Please RSVP directly to Raylie Dunkel at Rayliedunkel1@gmail.com
• Looking for us?  Call or text Raylie at 201-273-0445
• There is an entrance fee of $20 for adults and $16 for Seniors HOWEVER, the AAM card is accepted You can also use many other NYC specific discount cards ( Library discounts, city passes, etc) 
• You can use a stool
• Be prepared to work in dry materials
• Water, bathrooms and limited food service is available on site
• Please be aware that some of the dates for sketching over the next few weeks will be on Thursdays as well as Wednesdays. Please make sure to check each week's announcements.