Friday Night Arts
An impromptu art outing with my sister and stepdad
Freelancing, teaching part-time, and working on my own projects, this cycle can start to feel monotonous. Especially this time of year, awards, galas, and end-of-year wrap-ups consume my brain space. So engrossed in prestige or my career trajectory, I lose sight of my audience. But literature, art, and other forms of culture thrive when these works create and foster real communities.
Last Friday night, I attended two exhibition openings in Westchester County, one at the Hudson River Museum in Yonkers and the other at a small gallery in New Rochelle. The exhibitions brought three different kinds of art appreciators out on a blustery fall evening that probably was better suited for hot drinks and cozy socks in front of a smart TV.
At the Hudson River Museum (HRM), a museum I’ve grown up visiting, Black art-collecting couple Alvin and Priscilla Hudgins unveiled Kindred Worlds, an exhibition of their private collection, to the public for the first time. Alvin, son of my stepdad’s family friend, and his wife have collected throughout their marriage, amassing a collection with notable contemporary artists like David Hammons, Jordan Casteel, Henry Taylor, and Derick Addams (who was in attendance).
Friends and family of the Hudgins, contemporary art aficionados in the southern Westchester and uptown NYC areas, and community residents mixed and mingled at the museum, partying alongside young and mature hip-hop heads attending an unveiling in HRM’s community partnerships gallery.
Hip Hop Heroes tells the story of Hip Hop through comics, murals, and graffiti. Yonkers-based artist Evan Bishop, who led an August adult art workshop creating Hip Hop comic book covers, curated the exhibition that honors the multidisciplinary genre’s 50th anniversary and features Westchester Hip Hop legends such as Mary J. Blige, DMX, and Heavy D.
HRM curated an exhibition opening more diverse than any opening I’ve attended since I started writing professionally in 2021. This shows the potential power of regional and local museums, which must balance community needs with lofty mission statements.
Leave a comment with your favorite community gallery, museum, or art space.
Across town, in New Rochelle, a smaller opening in a fancy high-rise apartment brought together a handful of friends and followers to see Rashida Bolden, a makeup artist for the TV and Film industries who also makes futuristic acrylic paintings like “The Dude” (2023), her painting created for her later brother that the Quincy Jones album by the same name inspired.
I am always happy when I can see beautiful works outside of Manhattan. Growing up within 20 minutes of beautiful visual art fueled my passion for this field as a child and young adult. However, seeing friends, family, and communities come together to appreciate art with zeal warms my soul as I deal with the day-to-day grind of working in media.
Random Thoughts
📚 I have almost finished my Goodreads challenge for 30 books this year! I’d like to thank Libby for helping me with this goal.
🥧 I started a holiday cooking and baking list for Thanksgiving and Christmas to get organized and just realized I’m already behind on my baking. 😬
📺 I just started Other Black Girl on Hulu after finishing the book.
🎶 For no reason, I’m doing a deep dive into Donny Hathaway’s career and music.
"But literature, art, and other forms of culture thrive when these works create and foster real communities." So true! I really felt the presence of community at the Brooklyn Museum's First Saturday party.