Tag: Exploring Manhattan Block by Block

Bard Graduate Center Gallery 18 West 86th Street New York, NY 10024

Bard Graduate Center Gallery 18 West 86th Street New York, NY 10024

Bard Graduate Center Gallery

18 West 86th Street

New York, NY  10024

(212) 501-3023

gallery@bgc.bard.edu

https://www.bgc.bard.edu/gallery/27/exhibitions

https://www.bgc.bard.edu/gallery/

Open: Tuesday, Friday-Sunday: 11:00am-5:00pm/Wednesday-Thursday: 11:00am-8:00pm/Closed on major holidays

Fee: Free Admission Hours on all Wednesdays and Thursday evenings from 5:00pm-8:00pm.

December 26th (Boxing Day) : Free

General Admission: $7.00 and Students & Seniors (65+): $5.00

Subway: B, C, and 1 to West 86th Street

TripAdvisor Review:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60763-d309306-Reviews-The_Bard_Graduate_Center-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

The Bard Gallery at 18 West 86th Street

I took some time out from “MywalkinManhattan” project to visit the Bard Gallery for the afternoon and was pleasantly surprised by this little ‘gem’ located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. This Graduate Center focuses on small exhibitions with interesting themes and not so over-whelming shows that tax your brain like some of the bigger museums in New York City.

The embellishments at the entrance to the Bard Art Galley

Their exhibitions are compact and detailed on the subject matter and the objects they have on display are interesting. They also have lectures and gallery talks for more detail on their displays. The Bard Graduate Center Gallery, founded in 1993, occupies a six story townhouse near Central Park West and houses not just the gallery but the academic programs, lecture hall and library.

The center has pioneering exhibitions on decorative arts, design history and material culture. The research driven exhibitions are organized with leading scholars, curators and institutions worldwide and showcase a rich array of objects comprised of loans from public and private collections, many never before on view in New York City.

Bard Art Gallery

Walking the permanent collection

With a commitment to investigating under-recognized topics in the history of design, the exhibitions provide a critical framework for understanding the context in which historical and contemporary objects were made, used, collected and displayed. These lead to a fuller understanding of the present through the lens of the past (Bard College website).

Bard Art Gallery III

Displays in the permanent galleries

A full slate of public and research programs, public tours and opportunities for school groups and educators compliment each exhibition. Video and new media interactives enrich the visitor experience in educators compliment each exhibition (Museum website).

Bard Art Gallery II

Items in the permanent collections

The Bard Graduate Center: Decorative Arts, Design History, Material Culture is a graduate research institute and gallery located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It is affiliated with Bard College, located in Annadale-on-Hudson, NY. The gallery occupies a six story townhouse  at the 18 West 86th Street location while the academic building and library are located at 38 West 86th Street.

Students at Bard Graduate Center focus on the study of the cultural history of the material world. The institution is committed to the encyclopedic study of things, drawing on methodologies and approaches from art and design history, economic and cultural history and history of technology, philosophy, anthropology and archaeology.

Students enrolled in the M.A. and PhD. programs work closely with a distinguished faculty of active scholars in exploring the interrelationships between works of art and craft, design, places, ideas and social and cultural practice in courses ranging from antiquity to the 21st century (Wiki Bard College site).

 

Lighthouse Park Roosevelt Island 900 Main Street New York, NY 10044

Lighthouse Park Roosevelt Island 900 Main Street New York, NY 10044

Lighthouse Park

Roosevelt Island

900 Main Street

New York, NY  10044

(212) 832-4540

Lighthouse Park

https://rioc.ny.gov/179/The-Lighthouse

https://www.nycgo.com/venues/roosevelt-island-lighthouse-park

Open: Sunday-Saturday 7:00am-9:00pm

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60763-d565031-Reviews-Roosevelt_Island-New_York_City_New_York.html

Lighthouse Park on Roosevelt Island

The Roosevelt Island Lighthouse is a stone lighthouse built by New York City in 1872. It is at the northeast tip of Roosevelt Island in the East River in Lighthouse Park. It was named to the National Register of Historic Places on March 16th, 1972, and was designated a New York City Landmark on March 23rd, 1976 (Wiki).

Blackwell Island, which was called Welfare Island from 1921 to 1973 and is now known as Roosevelt Island was purchased by New York City in 1828. Various facilities on the island were built including a penitentiary, almshouse, city hospital, the New York Lunatic Asylum and the Smallpox Hospital (some of these buildings still exist).

In 1872, the City of New York built a lighthouse. The supervising architect was James Renwick Jr., who also designed several other buildings on the island for the Charities and Correction Board as well as more famous works such has St. Patrick’s Cathedral. (Wiki)

Legends abound about the construction of the lighthouse. Two names, John McCarthy and Thomas Maxey, are associated with the various legends. The 1870 report of the warden of the lunatic asylum that an industrious patient had built a seawall near the asylum that had reclaimed the land. The legends indicate that he had incorporated Civil War cannons.

The park in the distance on Roosevelt Island

The legend indicates that the builder was bribed with bogus money to demolish the fort for the construction of the lighthouse. For many years, a saying was inscribed on a stone near the lighthouse:

This is the work

Was done by

John McCarthy

Who built the Light

House from the bottom to the

Top All ye who do pass by may

Pray for his soul when he dies.

Lighthouse Park from Carl Schulz Park on Manhattan Island

The lighthouse was operated by the City instead of the U.S. Lighthouse Board. In its 1893 annual report, the Lighthouse Board generally praised the operations of Blackwell Island Lighthouse but indicated that the Board has unfairly criticized because of the City’s occasional failure to keep the light in operation. The Board advocated banning private lights. The 1917 U.S. Coast Pilot indicated that there was a private light at the north end of the island. (Wiki)

The light was operated until about 1940. In the 1970’s, the lighthouse was partially restored. The restoration was completed in 1998. (Wiki)

The lighthouse is approximately 50 feet (15m) tall. It is constructed of gray gneiss, rough ashlar that was quarried on the island by inmates from the penitentiary. It has an octagonal base and an octagonal shaft. There is an entrance on the south side under a projecting gable and a pointed Gothic arch. Two south-facing slit windows in the shaft light the interior. At the top of the shaft there is a band of ornamented corbels below the gallery, which is surrounded by an iron railing. The lantern is octagonal with a shallow conical roof. An 1893 photograph and a 1903 movie show that it probably had a much taller, steeper conical cap when it was built. The optics were provided by the U.S. Lighthouse Board (Wiki).

Lighthouse Park in the winter months

Lighthouse Park is located on the northernmost section of Roosevelt Island and can be seen from Carl Schurz Park. On a beautiful sunny day, it is a very picturesque view from the park.

Lighthouse Park from Carl Schulz Park

The sculpture “The Girl Puzzle”:

Next to the lighthouse is a monument of faces dedicated to Nellie Bly and to women who have faced hardship entitled “The Girl Puzzle”. The sculpture was dedicated to journalist Elizabeth Cochrane Seaman, pen name Nellie Bly, who wrote about the abuses in the mental asylum on what was known as Mental Island at the time. She wrote the full report “Ten Days in the Mad House” on the abuses of patients.

“Girl Puzzle” by artist Amanda Matthews (Artist Bio)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Girl_Puzzle

https://www.thegirlpuzzle.com/

Artist Amanda Matthews (Artist Bio)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanda_Matthews

https://www.prometheusart.com/

The piece was created by American born artist Amanda Matthews. Ms. Matthews graduated with a BA in Studio Art from the University of Louisville and had studied abroad in Europe. She is known for her work that honors women and celebrates diversity and inclusion (Wiki).

The history sign on Nellie Bly

Each sculpture is a interpretation on Nellie Bly. It really is an interesting sculpture.

The Girl Puzzle One:

The Girl Puzzle Two:

The Girl Puzzle Three:

The Girl Puzzle Four:

The Girl Puzzle Five:

Disclaimer: this information was taken from Wikipedia site and the Roosevelt Island Historical Society. This little ‘gem’ of a park can be seen by walking to the most northern part of Roosevelt Island by way of the Main Street which runs through the island.

Cleopatra’s Needle Central Park @ East 81st Street New York, NY 10028

Cleopatra’s Needle Central Park @ East 81st Street New York, NY 10028

Cleopatra’s Needle

Central Park at East 81st Street (behind the Metropolitan Museum of Art)

New York, NY  10028

https://www.centralparknyc.org/attractions/obelisk

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleopatra%27s_Needle_(New_York_City)

Open: When Central Park is open from dawn to dusk depending on the season

TripAdvisor Review:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60763-d1959031-Reviews-Cleopatra_s_Needle-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=1990

Cleopatra's Needle III

Cleopatra’s Needle

https://www.centralparknyc.org/locations/obelisk

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleopatra%27s_Needle_(New_York_City)

I always admire Cleopatra’s Needle whenever I am touring Central Park West after an afternoon at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The obelisk sits in back of the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Fifth Avenue and the pathways behind the museum lead to the site.

It is one of the few place where you can see hieroglyphics up close unless you are in Egypt and the sad part is that the natural surroundings are wearing them out. Still it is one of the most interesting outside artifacts that Manhattan and New York City has on display. Take time to observe all four sides of the obelisk and observe the writings.

Sometimes I think the tourists miss this interesting artifact and how it got here from Egypt.

The History of Cleopatra’s Needle:

(From Wiki)

Cleopatra’s Needle (obelisk) was erected in Central Park, just west of the Metropolitan Museum of Art on February 22, 1881. It was secured in May 1877 by Judge Elbert E. Farnam, the then United State Consul General of Cairo as a gift from the Khedive for the United States remaining friendly neutral as the European powers, France and Britain, maneuvered to secure political control of the Egyptian government.

The obelisk is a twin of the obelisk given to London at the same time and come from the ancient city of Alexandria. The name is a misnomer as they have no relationship with the Ptolemaic Queen Cleopatra VII of Egypt and were already over a thousand years old in her lifetime (please see the Wiki link attached to the blog for more information on the obelisk).

Cleopatra's Needle II

The obelisk is free to the public and can be seen by taking the path behind the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It is open all day.

Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park 1 Four Freedoms Park Roosevelt Island, NYC 10044

Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park 1 Four Freedoms Park Roosevelt Island, NYC 10044

Franklin D. Roosevelt  Four Freedoms Park

1 Four Freedoms Park

Roosevelt Island, NYC, NY 10044

(212) 204-8831

Open: Sunday-Monday 9:00am-5:00pm/Tuesday Closed/Wednesday-Saturday 9:00am-5:00pm

Fee: Free

Homepage

TripAdvisor Review:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60763-d3595273-Reviews-Franklin_D_Roosevelt_Four_Freedoms_Park-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

The park on a sunny July day

Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park is the first memorial dedicated to the president in his home state of New York. Located on the southern tip of Roosevelt Island in New York City, it is the last work of Louis I. Kahn, an iconic architect of the 20th Century.

The interior of the park facing Roosevelt Island

The memorial, which opened to the public in October 2012, celebrates the four freedoms, as pronounced in President Roosevelt’s famous January 6, 1941 State of the Union address: freedom of speech and expression, freedom of worship, freedom of want and freedom from fear. This has been prominently etched on the memorial.

FDR Four Freedoms Park

FDR Four Freedoms Park from a view

Our Mission:

As steward of this civic space, Four Freedoms Park Conservancy advances President Roosevelt’s legacy and inspires; educates and engages the public in the ideals of the four freedoms. The Conservancy does this by:

*Safeguarding the memorial as a space for inspired use.

*Fostering community and understanding.

*Igniting conversation about human rights and freedoms today.

The Four Freedoms that were the goals of the President

On January 6, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered his eighth State of the Union address, now known as the Four Freedoms speech. In his address, Roosevelt presented his vision for the world, “a world attainable in our own time and generation,” and founded upon four essential human freedoms: freedom of speech and expression, freedom of worship, freedom from want and freedom from fear.

Roosevelt’s call for human rights has created a lasting legacy worldwide, forming the basis for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the United Nations in 1948.

For a richer of FDR, his legacy and the four freedoms, visit fdr4freedoms.org.

The view from Roosevelt Island of the Upper East Side

Franklin D. Roosevelt Island: A History

Originally called Minnahannock by Native Americans and Varkins Island  by the Dutch settlers, the island was acquired by the Blackwell family in the 1600’s, who renamed the land Blackwell Island. The Blackwells lived on and farmed it before selling it to the City of New York in 1828 for $30,000.

In the 19th Century, the island was used by the City for institutional facilities, including the Workhouse, Penitentiary, Lunatic Asylum, City Hospital and City Home and given the name Welfare Island in 1921. These institutions served the City until the 1930’s., before gradually being relocated to areas more easily accessible to public transportation.

The Roosevelt Island Main Street

In 1969, this two-mile island was lease to the State of New York for 99 years. Under New York State’s Urban Development Corporation, Welfare Island  became a beacon for the affordable housing movement within the City. Construction of the Island community was completed in 1975 with four housing developments. In 1973, the island was renamed Franklin D. Roosevelt Island.

The Gardens in the Main Street of Roosevelt Island

Today, Roosevelt Island has a small town feel with approximately 20 buildings and 14,00 residents. The island is home to six landmarked structures and proudly houses Four Freedoms Park, one of the original visions for the Island. To learn more, visit the Roosevelt Island Visitor Center at the Tram Plaza.

The Visitors Center at Roosevelt Island

(Judith Berdy, President, The Roosevelt Island Visitor Center)

A Memorial to Franklin D. Roosevelt

Nearly 40 years before the Park opened its gates to the public, Louis I. Kahn presented his vision for what would become Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park. It was a simple idea. “I had this thought,” Kahn said. “that a memorial should be a room and a garden.”

The FDR Hope Memorial

This was 1973. Less than a year later, Khan had died; Governor Nelson Rockefeller, who had announced the project with Mayor John  Lindsay, became Vice President of the country and the City of New York neared bankruptcy.

The bust of President Roosevelt

The future of the memorial seemed a fragile and tenuous dream. Yet, through the power and determination of a small but dedicated group, nearly four decades after Kahn completed his architectural design, Four Freedoms Park became the place he envisioned. In 2012, following 30 months of construction, the Park opened to the public. The Park is operated and maintained by Four Freedoms Park Conservancy in partnership with New York State Parks.

(Part of the New York State of Opportunity: Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation)

I admired the FDR Hope Memorial in which the statue of the President reaches to a young girl with a disability herself. The statue offers encouragement to those with a disability and the power to persevere.

http://www.fdrhopememorial.org/

FDR faces the young girl

the young girl facing FDR

The statue was designed by artist and sculptor Meredith Bergmann, who herself was inspired by the photos and stories of the President (FDR Hope Memorial).

Artist Meredith Bergmann (Cooper Union Alumni Picture)

https://meredithbergmann.com/

Ms. Bergmann is an American born artist with BFA from The Cooper Union School of Art and attended Parsons School of Design and Wesleyan University. Her public works explore history, social justice, human rights and disabilities (Author’s bio).

Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Points Freedom Park is the first memorial dedicated to the president in his home state of New York. Located at the southern tip of Roosevelt Island in New York City. It is the last work of Louis I. Kahn, an iconic architect of the 20th century.

FDR Four Freedoms Park

The memorial, which opened to the public in October 2012, celebrates the four freedoms, as pronounced in President Roosevelt’s famous January 6, 1941, State of the Union address: freedom of speech and expression, freedom of worship, freedom from want and freedom from fear.

The skyline from the southern part of the park.

Disclaimer: this information was taken from the NYS Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation pamphlet. Please call the park or email to check on opening times when in season.

The islands just south of the park.