Donald Rubin News

The Kitchen presents a collaboration with The Racial Imaginary Institute (TRII) that expands upon the Institute's first year of research on Whiteness, what Claudia Rankine has described as  "a source of unquestioned power [that], as a 'bloc,' feels itself to be endangered even as it retains its hold on power."

The Film Society of Lincoln Center (FSLC) and African Film Festival, Inc. (AFF) celebrate the silver anniversary of the New York African Film Festival at FSLC from May 16 to 22. Under the theme “25 Years of the New York African Film Festival,” the international film organizations will pay homage to the pioneers of African cinema while marking the passing of the baton to a new generation of African visual storytellers who continue to transform and expand our understanding of the continent and its diaspora. The event also commemorates the 100th birthday of the venerated South African freedom fighter and national leader Nelson Mandela, with a crop of films from his native land. The month-long festival brings 66 films from 25 countries to FSLC, the Brooklyn Academy of Music's BAMcinématek, and Maysles Cinema in Harlem.

The Kitchen, founded in 1971, has continued to serve as an important catalyst for a broad community of groundbreaking artists working across disciplines. In today's landscape, where contemporary artists and arts institutions are collaborating in new ways and generating new contexts for the continuing evolution of multi-disciplinary art, The Kitchen, as a nimble, smaller-scale organization, plays an especially vital role. It provides emerging and established artists a hot-house environment for the presentation and discussion of their work, supporting and seeking to foster a vibrant, living dialogue among artists from every field and area of culture. Engaging both The Kitchen veterans and newcomers who challenge the given formations of art and politics, lifestyle and social structures, the Spring 2018 (March 28-July 27) season probes everything from the police state to the racial imaginary to self-construction and identity, utilizing the flexibility of the institution's spaces for art that itself eludes definition. 

Creative Time, in partnership with The Fortune Society, is proud to announce Bring Down The Walls, a three-part public art project with artist Phil Collins in collaboration with over 100 individuals and organizations located at Firehouse, Engine Company 31, a historic, decommissioned fire station. Bring Down The Walls will be free and open to the public each weekend in May.

Public Artists in Residence (PAIR) program embeds artists within City agencies to address pressing civic and social issues through creative practice

Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC) presents the 16th annual River To River Festival, Downtown New York City's completely free summer arts festival, June 14-25. The 2017 edition presents an array of performances and events exploring and celebrating diversity in all its forms-often blurring the lines between genres including dance, music, theater and the visual arts-over the course of 100+ performances and events spanning 17 projects at 31 unique sites across Lower Manhattan and Governors Island. The Festival also offers opportunities for audiences to interact with artists, socialize and experience multiple facets of artists' work and the creative process.

The World Science Festival culminates its groundbreaking first decade by bringing science to the crossroads of the world, Times Square. For four action-packed days, May 31 - June 3, the Festival presents Science in the Square, an array of free activities, demonstrations, and installations aimed at giving the public a greater understanding and appreciation of our ever-changing planet-and our relationship to it. At a time when science-and climate science in particular-is at the heart of numerous pressing policy debates, Science in the Square dramatically builds upon the Festival's success in communicating its wide-ranging political and cultural implications in ways that educate, entertain, and inspire.

Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC) presents the 16th annual River To River Festival, Downtown New York City's completely free summer arts festival, June 14-25. The 2017 edition presents an array of performances and events exploring and celebrating diversity in all its forms-often blurring the lines between genres including dance, music, theater and the visual arts-over the course of 100+ performances and events spanning 17 projects at 31 unique sites across Lower Manhattan and Governors Island. The Festival also offers opportunities for audiences to interact with artists, socialize and experience multiple facets of artists' work and the creative process.

Gibney Dance Company is set to perform a newly commissioned work by Joanna Kotze and re-imagined works by Reggie Wilson at Lower Manhattan's Gibney Dance: Agnes Varis Performing Arts Center May 4–6. The program marks the second annual edition of GRIT: Gibney Repertory Initiative for Tomorrow, created to simultaneously commission new works from and re-imagine signature works by contemporary dance artists.

Dance/USA is thrilled to announce that Gibney Dance Founder, Artistic Director, & CEO Gina Gibney will receive Dance/USA's 'Ernie' Award at the 2017 Annual Conference in Kansas City! The 'Ernie' Award honors individuals working in the dance field whose achievements have significantly empowered artists and supported their creativity individually or as a community.

SACRED, a feature-length documentary that explores religious ritual at birth, adolescence, marriage, aging and other key milestones of human life, premieres at three major film festivals in November: the Tokyo International Film Festival, the prestigious DOC NYC festival in New York, and the IDFA film festival in Amsterdam. SACRED is an experiment: a sweeping global film for which the director, Academy Award® winner Thomas Lennon, never once left his office in New York, instead commissioning or sourcing contributions from top international filmmakers in order to capture more than 40 diverse stories dispersed across the globe. Sweeping in its global reach, yet intensely intimate, the film is a tour de force that unifies these disparate scenes into a single work, told without narration, without experts and, for long stretches, without words at all. 

The Lowe Art Museum unveils a collection of works by foremost Cuban female artists on November 3, 2016. Titled Unconscious Thoughts Animate the World: Selections from the Shelley and Donald Rubin Private Collection, the exhibition comprises thirty works that span the last five decades of Cuban history and communicate the island-nation's cultural heritage, as well as notions of collective and individual identity. An Opening Reception will be held on November 3 from 7 to 9 pm, with talks by two of the artists from the exhibition, Sandra Ramos and Clara Morera. Tickets to the Opening ($12.50, free for Lowe members) can be purchased online at rsvp.lowemuseum.org.

On Sunday, July 10, over one hundred black women artists gathered at the New Museum to form a collective force underground, known as Black Women Artists for Black Lives Matter (BWA for BLM). Simone Leigh, the New Museum's current artist-in-residence, whose exhibition 'The Waiting Room' is on view through September 18, convened this group in response to the continued inhumane institutionalized violence against black lives in the U.S.

The Lowe Art Museum unveils three new exhibitions this fall in time for the Art Basel season. The exhibitions feature an engaging installation by New York-based Titus Kaphar; the large-scale iconic paintings of Donald Sultan; and a collection of works by the foremost Cuban female artists from the Rubin collection. Details follow.

On Monday, April 18, the Martha Graham Dance Company celebrated its 90th anniversary with a special Gala performance at New York City Center followed by dinner and dancing for 250 guests at a private venue in Manhattan.

Check out Gibney Dance Company's upcoming events, during its 25th anniversary season!

Big Apple Circus has joined with world-renowned Autism Spectrum Disorders experts to adapt The Grand Tour for families with members on the spectrum and create a joyful experience for all. The adapted show includes the same world-class artistry as the full performance with a shorter running time, adjusted lights and sound, a calming center, pictorial social narratives, and specially trained staff and volunteers to assure a memorable event for everyone!

It was a big night under the big top as Circus Now together with the Big Apple Circus, in association with Executive Producer and Director Jonathan S. Cerullo, JSC Theatricals, presented the 2nd Annual Celebration of American Circusat the Big Top at Lincoln Center on January 5, 2016. For the second year, the Celebration of American Circus boasted an impressive roster of honorees, all of whom have spent decades furthering the appreciation of circus arts in America. Four prominent artists and organizations were recognized for distinguished achievements in the American circus arts.

What does it mean that a jazz pianist from Kenner, La., just outside of New Orleans, is running one of the most visible musical platforms in the country?' Supporters of Sing for Hope (www.singforhope.org) will soon have a chance to find out. On Monday, October 26, at TriBeCa Rooftop, the New York City-based 'arts peace corps' organization will produce its ninth annual Sing for Hope Gala in support of its arts outreach programs for communities in need. Co-Chaired by Sing for Hope champions Renee Fleming, Ann Ziff, Margie Loeb, and Muhammad Yunus, with Vice-Chairs The Arnhold Family, the gala will feature Mr. Batiste in an intimate performance, along with some exciting surprise musical guests.