It wasn’t hard to miss this colorful object, called a dove harp, that was part of an exhibition on view at the National Museum of Jamaica (formerly the Institute of Jamaica). I thought I recognized the work as belonging to one of our local artists but I wasn’t sure. A quick look at the caption confirmed that the object was the creation of intuitive artist, Everald Brown, popularly called “Brother...

The Strivers Art Circuit (SAC) is a free, self-guided walking tour that will take place on October 8th and 9th, in the Historic Strivers Row area of Harlem (130th street to 145th street, 5th Ave to St Nicholas Ave). The Circuit allows participants to view some of Harlem’s visual and craft artists at work in their galleries and studios. The Strivers Art Circuit was created to develop a hub of...

When I get tired of creating images with words, I look to art or design to rest my eyes, free my brain and inspire me. Most times, the place I head to is The Studio Museum in Harlem, an oasis of calm and culture in the midst of street vendors, clothing stores and shops selling human hair and all kinds of ‘beauty’ supplies. Since it first opened in 1968 in...

“Harlem’s Backyard Gems is my entry into TBEX Blog Carnival Contest sponsored by Choice Hotels International Services Corp.” When I decided to move to New York in the late 90s, the only place I wanted to live in was Harlem. I imagined myself in a brownstones like the one of a family friend I visited in the 1970s that became symbolic of this historic neighborhood. With sweeping steps that led...

As I walked through gallery after gallery in The Louvre in search of the European and African art collections, I couldn’t help notice that many of people ahead of me were taking photos of the artwork. Most didn’t even look at a painting long enough. They just got within camera range, snapped and moved on to the next one. Granted, with the size of The Louvre — I’m sure I...

As a former art gallery director, a visit to Paris would not have been complete without a visit to the Louvre. Yet, when I finally arrived at this world renowned museum and saw the lines, I balked. I had three days in Paris. There was no way I wanted to spend my time in an endless queue! In addition, it was an unseasonably warm April and the unrelenting afternoon sun forced several...

New York City’s reputation as the destination for the visual arts is legendary. With major museums, art galleries and exhibition spaces, I could spend every Sunday visiting each one and not see everything on display. So I have to be strategic. Last weekend, I decided to visit the Museum of Art and Design (MAD) in its new home at Columbus Circle. The brainchild of Aileen Osborn Webb, it was opened...

Yes, I have still more photos. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I took nearly 400 photos in just a week walking around Havana. There was that much to see.   Havana’s Coco taxis an eye catching jolt of color that can’t be ignored. Like this post? Subscribe to read more, comment and share. Related Articles Havana Journal: In Cuba, Cigar Lovers Are a Lifeline (nytimes.com)

I know I’ve had a good vacation when I return home feeling enriched and inspired. One thing that always inspires me is art and seeing art, especially art that’s accessible to everyone does my heart good. Don’t get me wrong, I love museums and art galleries — they have their place — but I love when there are no barriers to everyday people’s enjoyment of art. So when we happened...

As we meandered around Havana, these are a few of the things we saw. A few mornings we walked the Malecon, from Vedado, where we were staying. to Old Havana. We’d always see people sweeping the streets and cleaning up in front of their buildings. We were impressed by many of the metal gates, fences and window grills we saw. One of the things that struck us right away was the...