more art, please

One of my sort-of resolutions for this year was to see more art. It’s very easy when you live in NYC to take access to art for granted—you hear about an exhibit and make a mental note to see it, and then another exhibit opens, and another, and another. I live near the Brooklyn Museum and yet only caught the “Question Bridge” exhibit because it was extended for a few weeks *and* my cousin came to visit. Out of town guests are often the push I need to explore the city I call home. And now that I’ve started seeing some art, I’ve got art on the brain, which makes it hard to concentrate on this essay. Last week my cousin came with me to PS 399, a school in Brooklyn that was celebrating the achievements of its bookmaking club. The students participated in the Ezra Jack Keats bookmaking competition and had a chance to share their beautiful creations with family and friends. I gave a presentation and read from Ship of Souls, and a spoken word artist performed before handing the mic to students who also shared their poetry. It was a great event, and I left feeling hopeful. Imagine what the art scene will look like in ten or twenty years when these kids of color become young adults! On Saturday I went to MoCADA and saw an incredible student exhibit, “Afrofuturism: Imagining Tomorrow.” The museum sent teaching artists into several local schools and helped kids (K-12) develop art projects that express an African sensibility toward technology and the future. One class visited the African Burial Ground and photographed themselves (wearing futuristic clothing) next to adinkra symbols…if you’re in NYC, make a point of going to see this show. It made me want to take an art class! But instead I came home and searched for this video of Hassan Khan‘s film Jewel. I saw it earlier this year at the New Museum with a friend from out of town…the only downside of feeding the need for more art is that it makes me dreamy and then it’s hard to get my own work done. I’m reading Ruth Chew‘s books about witches in Brooklyn but every so often I stop to play this clip and on Wednesday we’re going to see Beasts of the Southern Wild…will try to get some work done in between. Taking the train uptown is a good way to get some reading done and the Studio Museum of Harlem has a new exhibit on Caribbean art…