The entrance to the Gallery is at 1 East 53rd Street
The Dragon that guards the door of the gallery.
I came across this little gallery full of Public School K-12 art when walking around the Upper East Side for my walking project, “MywalkinManhattan.com” This small gallery space in the lobby of 1 East 53rd Street has a revolving exhibition of works from students in schools all over New York City.
The revolving art at the Studio in a School Gallery is unique.
The Littlest Learners 2024 exhibition.
The art gallery revolves its art at different times of the year and you get to see the students creativity. There are paintings, sculptures and paperwork objects. It is amazing to see the talent the students have at all ages.
“These kids have talent “Littlest Learners Exhibition 2024”
“Littlest Learners Exhibition” gallery work. Like a Picasso.
“The Littlest Learners” exhibition
The best part of the gallery is that it is free. Just don’t try to go past the security guards at the desk and you will be fine. Take time to look at the over-hanging paper sculptures. They are very unique. Almost like a surrealist kite.
The “Littlest Learners” exhibition was wonderful. It was like visiting a modern art gallery of contemporary works. The 2024 exhibition was colorful, creative and delightful.
What is also nice is that it is free and only takes about 45 minutes to get through the whole gallery so it is a nice place to visit on a rainy day or on lunch hour.
Congratulations to the student artists.
History of the Studio in a School:
Studio in a School fosters the creative and intellectual development of New York City youth through quality visual arts program, directed by arts professionals. The organizer also collaborates with and develops the ability of those who provide or support arts programming and creative development for youth both in and outside of schools.
Studio in a School serves young people by integrating the visual arts into teaching and learning and provides professional development for artists and teachers.
In 1977, during a financial crisis in New York City, public school arts education budgets were dramatically cut. In response, Agnes Gund, philanthropist and President Emerita of The Museum of Modern Art, founded Studio in a School.
Today, under Ms. Gund’s leadership, together with the support of many, our programs continue to thrive, bringing visual arts education taught by professional artists to students in New York City and beyond. We fulfill out mission through two divisions: the NYC Schools Program, offering programs for students in Pre-K through high school and the Studio Institute, which shares professional learning, partnership programs, arts internships and research grants in local and national forums.
It’s such a nice little gallery of student artwork.
Disclaimer: This information was taken from the Studio in a School website and I give them full credit for the information.
I love Fort Tryon Park in Upper Manhattan. It is one of the most beautiful parks in New York City. It is a park of rolling hills, stone paths that hug the hills, interesting garden that are ablaze when in season, shady tree sitting areas and is home to many playgrounds and the Cloisters Museum which is part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It has so much to offer a visitor coming into Manhattan from exploring the woods that line the path to looking at interesting art at the museum. This 67 acre park is one of the interesting and complex in New York City.
A city view of the beauty of the park by the Hudson River
The view from The Cloisters by the Hudson River
When you enter the park from Inwood by Broadway, you enter through Ann Loftus Park which is named after a local community leader and is one of the popular parks with kids and families in the area. In the summer months, the fountains and water fixtures are going strong and the kids run around them while the parents lie under shade trees talking to one another.
When taking the path from Ann Loftus Park and winding up the hills of woods and rock formations is the Hudson River looming in the distance with spectacular views of the Palisades and the large cliffs of Fort Lee, NJ on the other side.
The bathrooms in Ann Loftus Playground
The history of the park
Anne Susan Cahill Loftus biography:
At the top of hill like a crown jewel is the Medieval Galleries of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Cloisters Museum. Filled with all the Met’s collections of Religious and Medieval art set into themes of old churches, stained glass windows, flowered courtyards and vistas of the river, it is the perfect place to wonder around.
As you pass the Cloisters and walk further in to the park, there is still so much more to see and do. The Linden Terrace overlooks the Hudson River with its large shade trees over head and its stone benches to sit and just look in the distance or read a book. This was the site of the original Fort Tryon and is the highest location in the park.
Linden Terrace is a nice place to relax and read a book
The flowers by the Linden Terrace
Further down in the other entrance of the park is Heather Garden, a large path of flowers , bushes and trees with benches lining it. The garden was the Olmstead Brothers when the park was taking shape and is a beautiful place to walk in the Spring and Summer months when the park is in full bloom.
The stairs leading to the Linden Terrace
The plaque for Fort Tryon
The anniversary plaque
The Stan Michels Promenade
The Heather Garden in the front
The Heather Garden was recently remodeled to follow the original design by the Olmstead Brothers.
The Heather Gardens
The Heather Gardens in full bloom
The Gardens facing the George Washington Bridge
The Gardens in full view
There is even a terrace restaurant in the middle of the park, the New Leaf Cafe (See review on TripAdvisor-Closed in 2018) which sits off to the side of the Corbin Circle on the other side of the park. The food is over-rated and very expensive. The last time I ate there the menu was pretty standard. It is a great to take out of towners who want a view of something. It is not worth the trip. The views are nice and in the summer months it is pretty but the food and service are standard.
The New Leaf Cafe in Fort Tyron Park (Closed in 2018)
The park has so much to offer in all months of the year especially in the Spring and Summer.
The entrance to Fort Tryon Park
Cabrini Woods Nature Sanctuary in the front of the park
The Cabrini Sanctuary in the Spring 2024
History of Fort Tryon Park:
The area was known by the local Lenape Indians as Chquaesgeck and by the Dutch settlers as Lange Bergh (Long Hill). During the Revolutionary War, the Battle of Fort Washington was fought on this site. The park is built on a high formation of Manhattan schist with igneous intrusions and glacial striations from the last Ice Age (Wiki).
The gardens in the Fort Tryon Park
John D. Rockefeller Jr. bought up most the land in 1917, which by that point had been old estates, to create Fort Tryon Park. He hired the Olmstead Brothers firm, under the direction of Fredrick Law Olmstead Jr., the son of the designer of Central Park, to design the park and James W. Dawson to create a planting plan. Mr. Rockefeller also bought the collection of Medieval art from sculptor George Gray Barnard and it was the cornerstone of The Cloisters Museum which was built in 1939 (Wiki).
The Fort Tryon gardens in full bloom
The stairs in the park
Through the years the park has seen its ups and downs especially in the 1970’s and 80’s with the decline of finances in New York City. There were extensive renovations when finances got better in the late 90’s and parts of the park were fully renovated. The Fort Tyron Park Trust, a non-profit organization was founded in 1998 to help maintain the park (Wiki).
When I walked through the park on the recent Great Saunter walk in 2025, they rerouted us through the park when the Riverwalk was closed for renovation. The park was in full bloom and it was the most spectacular day for a visit.
The entrance of the park on that sunny afternoon
The beautiful colorful tulips at the entrance of the park
The colorful gardens were in full bloom
Everyone was routed through the park on the way to Inwood Park for our rest stop. What I found strange was that the park was so beautiful in full bloom and people were not stopping to relax and just enjoy the views. The gardens were amazing and so colorful.
I stopped to look at the beautiful rock garden
I thought this was so clever. One of the volunteers made this sign up which was so funny!
We walked through the park on our way through the park on the way to Inwood Park.
I recently spent my afternoon at the Senate House and Museum in Kingston, NY taking a tour of the museum and the House next door. The Senate House itself had just finished its renovation and the gardens were in full bloom in 2023. It was a quiet afternoon, and I was the only patron for most of the afternoon. The grounds were full of beautiful foliage and flowers, so it was nice to walk around the grounds.
The Senate House story board
The Senate House had just reopened in 2023 after almost a four year renovation and because of the closure during COVID. The grounds are very pretty and well-landscaped and the outside has had a lot done to the gardens. The house was built for merchant Abraham Van Gaasbeek and his family. It stayed in the family for generations.
The Senate House at 296 Fair Street
We were able to tour the inside of the house and see the renovations that the State of New York made on this important structure. The home has been renovated by the state but the tour guide told us not with the historical integrity it should have had. It was not to the total interpretation of the life in the house. Still, it told the story about the people that lived there.
The Senate House Kitchen
Here you see the beehive oven, the working fireplace and many household items including waffle makers, cookie molds and candle making tools. The daily household tasks would be time consuming.
The Dining Space
The bedroom
In the original part of the house, the dining space and bedroom would be in a one room section of the home and as the family got larger, the house was added on to on both sides.
The Parlor
The Parlor was the fanciest room in the house with the best furnishings, decorations and a place of social interactions with guests. This rooms was for adult use at that time.
The Meeting Room for the leaders in change.
This was the room where plans by the patriots were made that changed the course of New York and the rest of the country. Now that the Senate House home is open again, you get a feel for what these people must have went through in developing the country during the Revolutionary War years.
When I visited the Senate House at the holidays for the “Snowflake Festival”, it was still closed for renovation but the grounds were open for touring, music and for a visit with Santa. It was a magical night on the grounds of the historical site and people had a nice time that evening. The grounds and the other buildings were decked out for the holidays.
The Senate House decked out for the Christmas holidays at the “Kingston Snowflake Festival” in 2022
The Senate House property decorated for the Kingston Snowflake Festival in 2022
Santa’s visit at the Senate House property in 2022
The history of the Kingston Stockade section of the city.
The main part of the park is the Senate House Museum, which is broken into three sections. The right side of the museum is the history of the City of Kingston and the matching artifacts. There is a description of manufacturing, merchant class and its military prominence. Here I learned about the growth of Kingston and its founding, its strategic spot on the Hudson River in the early colony, its role as diplomats to the Native Americans, which was not so pleasant and its growth after the war.
The first floor exhibitions on early life in Kingston
The history of the City of Kingston is described with the Native American settlements and the trade with the Dutch, the unsettling relationships that the two groups had with each other, the War years, the growth of industry and trade in early New York and manufacturing in the area.
The Native American exhibition
Early manufacturing and life in Kingston
The Artist’s sign
The Vanderlyn Exhibition of artist John Vanderlyn’s art
Artist John Vanderlyn’s works are featured on this part of the museum.
The left side of the museum is dedicated to the locally born artist, John Vanderlyn. His paintings line the walls of the museum of the artist at different stages of his career. His work was ahead of its time for the area, and it was noted in the collection that he forced himself to commission portraits to survive. His works advanced for the time because of his studying abroad now line the walls of the best museums in the country.
The exhibition of John Vanderlyn’s portraits
Artist John Vanderlyn’s bio in the museum
Members of the extended Vanderlyn family portraits
The second floor holds the furniture that is not historically correct with the Senate House and comes from different time periods. There is furniture, beds and chairs, spinning wheels, chamber pots and all sorts of accessories for the home and their uses in everyday life. Vintage furnishings with explanations on their use are a big part of the exhibit.
Artifacts from the past are displayed here
The everyday items used to spin material and create clothing
The Loughran House next door houses more of the furniture of the house and has a new exhibition “Back to the Future: The Evolution of Senate House”. This houses artifacts from the house.
The Senate House property during the “Kingston Snowflake Festival” in 2022
The Senate House property during Christmas 2024
The Senate House property during Christmas 2024
History of the Senate House:
(From Wiki/Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation pamphlet)
Amidst the turmoil of a British military invasion in the fall of 1777, the elected representations of rebellious New Yorkers met in Kingston to form a new state government. While convened in Kingston in September and October, New York’s first Senate met in the simple stone house of merchant Abraham Van Gaasbeek.
Here they adopted a system comprising of a senate, assembly, governor and judiciary that still exists today. Every one of the assembled delegates risked his life and property by being so openly disloyal to the Crown. Indeed, all were forced to flee for their lives when the British attacked and burned Kingston on October 16th.
While convened in Kingston in September and October, New York’s first Senate met in the simple stone house of Abraham Van Gaasbeek, a prosperous merchant trader who had suffered financial losses as a result of the war and personal losses in the recent deaths of his wife, Sara, his daughter and infant granddaughter. It was Sara’s grandfather, Wessel Ten Broeck, who built the original section of the house in 1676.
At first called Wiltwyck, Kingston was the third “city” established in the Dutch Colony of New Netherland. Planned and developed by the Dutch Governor Peter Stuyvesant in 1656, the town was renamed Kingston after the colony was seized by the English in 1664.
Wessel Ten Broeck’s one room Dutch style house was enlarged by succeeding owners in the 18th century. Each change reflected the increasing fortunes of the Ten Broeck/Van Gaasbeek family and demonstrated a gradual acceptance of English styles and customs over the persistent influence of the early Dutch. Kingston at the time of the American Revolution was still a noticeably “Dutch” town and most of its citizens supported the American cause. British Major General John Vaughan justified his destruction of the city because it was a “nursery for almost every villain in the country.”
In 1887, to recognize Senate House’s role in the formation of New York State, New York State acquired the property, which quickly became a vital community museum. A two-story Museum Building was constructed in 1927 to house and display the site’s burgeoning collection. Among its treasures are: major works by John Vanderlyn and other members of the Vanderlyn family of Kingston. The museum also includes the site’s popular new exhibit: “Kingston Stockage: New Netherlands’ Third City,” discussing Kingston’s early history.
(New York State Park History)
The Kingston Stockade: The City’s formation from the beginning
The front of the Japan Society on 333 West 47th Street.
I recently visited the Japan Society for the ‘Japan Cuts’ film festival 2019 to see four films as part of the festival. I had visited the Society years ago for a ‘Monsters’ exhibition which coincided with the dropping of the Atom Bomb. It was told to me during the tour of the exhibition that the Godzilla movies were the Japanese reaction to the dropping of the bombs and the effects of nuclear was on nature.
The inside lobby of the Japan Society
This time around it was a little more upbeat. I went to see new films by Japanese directors who are looking at contemporary culture a little more differently that film makers of the past. I was most impressed with “Dance with Me”, a light weight musical that reminded me of 1960’s musicals that came out in the United States and “Whole” about Japanese who come from mixed backgrounds and their role in society. It was nice to sit back and watch the films and participate in the Q & A’s.
My favorite scene from “Dance with Me” “Happy Valley”
It was also nice to walk around the building to see the indoor gardens and pools that are located in the lobby area of the building. The building does have a feeling of Ying and Yang. There will be more exhibitions in the Fall.
The inside of the lobby of the Japan Society
The opening film “Dance with Me”
The Q & A at Japan Cuts for “Dance with Me”:
I recently visited the Japan Society for the “Made in Tokyo” exhibition on the development of architecture in the City of Tokyo between the 1962 and the 2020 Olympic Games. The exhibition showed the development and progress of the City since the bombings in WWII and how the City has rethought the building and rebuilding of the City since.
“Made in Tokyo”
Just like in the United States old department stores and office buildings are finding new use and older buildings in fringe and outside rural areas are becoming tech hubs. It was interesting so see how they were reworking old turn of the last century buildings and homes as incubators for the ‘computer age’.
The “Made in Japan” exhibition is closing at the Japan Society on January 26th, 2020. If you like the history of architecture this is an exhibition not to be missed.
The “Made in Tokyo” exhibition at the Japan Society
I recently went to the Japan Society for the screening of the famous movie, “Ringu” which is the original version of the American film, “The Ring”. It is rarely shown, and you can’t find it on YouTube or in the local libraries, so it was a treat to see this film. It was also the first time I had been in the museum since COVID closed everything down and it was nice to visit again.
Guess what I found on YouTube the next morning: “Ringu” the comparison:
Still, it was nice to go to the museum again and just relax for the evening.
The Trailer of “Ringu”
I recently went to see the “Family Portrait: Japanese family in Flux Series” in 2024 on some of the more contemporary films of Japan from the 1980’s and 90’s that are outside the studio system. These films dealt with real issues that most studio films don’t want to touch. I saw a film about a woman with terminal cancer and all the secrets of her past came out and the problems she had to face when the end was coming. Many twists and turns. The films dealt with these issues in a mature way and the series was very successful.
The sign for this amazing series of films.
The Japan Society mission:
The Japan Society is a non-profit organization formed in 1907 to promote friendly relations between the United States and Japan. Its headquarters, the youngest landmark building in New York was designed by Junzo Yoshimura and opened in 1971 at 333 East 47th Street near the United Nations. With a focus on promoting “arts and culture, public policy, business, language and education,” the organization has regularly held events in its many facilities including a library, art gallery and theater since its opening. After suspending all activities during World War II, Japan Society expanded under the leadership of John D. Rockefeller III (Wiki).
History:
In 1907, Tamemoto Kuroki and Goro Ijuin were chosen to represent Japan at the Jamestown Exposition. They attended a welcome dinner in New York with Japanese ambassador to the United States, Shuzo Aoki, where there was talk of forming an organization to promote US-Japan relations in the city. Two days later at a luncheon held by Kuroki, Japan Society was born. The organization would be run by Aoki, then Honorary President of the Japan Society of the UK and John Huston Findley.
Japan Society spent the next forty years hosting events in honor of Japanese royalty, giving annual lectures on a wide range of topics and presenting art exhibits that drew in thousands of New Yorkers. In 1911, Lindsay Russell, another founding member of the society and later president, met with Emperor Meiji and spent his visit to Japan encouraging more societies to form there and throughout the United States.
Japan Society was soon incorporated under New York law and finally found a home near one of Russell’s work offices, though it continued to relocate throughout its history before its current headquarters was opened in 1971. At this time, Japan Society and its members began to express interest in improving teaching about Japan in the United States. The organization began sponsoring trips to the country, publishing books and sent a report to the Department of Education about the portrayal of Japan in American textbooks.
It remained active during World War I, operating as it had for the last seven years but the organization became more political when it began associating with the Anti-Alien Legislative Committee, an advocacy group that spoke out against yellow peril. Russell and Hamilton Holt, another founding member used the organization’s publication to defend all of Japan’s actions at the time. Unbeknownst to anyone at the time, even one of Japan Society’s writers secretly worked for the Japanese government with the task of improving Japan’s imagine in the United States. The organization eventually realized the dangers of taking sides and by 1924 stopped publishing any political commentary.
By the 1930’s, membership had dropped significantly due to financial difficulties and the Second Sino-Japanese War. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, Henry Waters Taft immediately resigned as president after serving from 1922 to 1929 and again from 1934. Russell also stepped down as one of Japan Society’s directors. All activities were suspended and would not resume until the Treaty of San Francisco was signed in 1951.
John D. Rockefeller III served as president from 1952 to 1969 and then as Chairman of the Board until his death in 1978. He accompanied John Foster Dulles on his trip to Japan that eventually led to the signing of the 1951 treaty. Rockefeller, a supporter of the Institute of Pacific Relations, who visited Japan in 1929 during one of its conferences, wanted to contribute to bettering US-Japan relations after the war and believed there needed to be non-governmental organizations like Japan Society in each country in order for such friendly relations to exist.
Under Rockefeller’s leadership, Japan Society expanded and talk began to find a permanent headquarters for it. It shared offices with another Rockefeller-led organization, Asia Society but as the two organizations continued to grow during the 1960’s, it became increasingly clear that Japan Society needed its own building. After receiving donations from Rockefeller and other members, construction began on “Japan House” in 1967. Designed by Junzo Yoshimura, whose work also includes Asia Society’s headquarter, it became the first building in New York of contemporary Japanese architecture. On September 13, 1971, it was finally opened to the public after a ceremony attended by Prince Hitachi. He echoed Russell’s first words about Japan Society, calling for “closer people-to-people” contact between countries.
Japan Society building
(This information was taken from Wiki and I give them full credit for the information. I also included information of Japan Society).
Visiting a Museum: The Unique, Unusual, Obscure and Historical 