Happy Earth Day

Detail from "The Pic-nic" 1846 by Thomas Cole. Oil on canvas. Brooklyn Museum.

Happy Earth Day and happy Friday from Materials for the Arts. Although every day is Earth Day here, we have a few special suggestions to celebrate the actual event.

This detail (above) from Thomas Cole’s 1846 landscape “The Pic-nic” depicts man enjoying the comforts of nature. According to the work’s page on the Brooklyn Museum’s website, “Cole chose the subject of a picnic to describe the ideal coexistence of nature and civilization. The bounty of nature embodied in the park-like natural setting is accentuated by the trappings of the meal dispersed throughout and the flower garlands that three of the women wear in place of their fashionable bonnets.”

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The Queens County Farm Museum, yes this is in New York City!

So follow the pic-nic-ers’ lead and get out to nature. For our 21+ readers we recommend bringing along a bottle of local wine from MFTA donor Queens County Farm Museum, which operates the only commercial vineyard in NYC. We tried the wine at this year’s Mayor’s Awards for Arts and Culture and were very impressed. Go Queens!

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The pergola and views of the New Jersey Palisades at MFTA recipient and donor Wave Hill

Our younger readers should check out the stunning views of the Hudson and observe the first signs of spring at MFTA recipient and donor Wave Hill’s spectacular grounds. Don’t miss the exhibition Alchemy and Inquiry featuring artists Philip Taaffe, Fred Tomaselli and Terry Winters in Wave Hill’s Glyndor Gallery through June 19.

Wave Hill is offering a number of family programs to celebrate Earth Day. Today at 2pm meet for a garden walk.

Another Wave Hill family program from 10am-1pm today, features Miwa Koizumi, an artist who will “show you how to reuse colored plastic bags and recycle them into rain hats, rain gear and Earth Day flags and flowers for a festive Earth Day parade.”

A snake kite made from grocery bags by Miwa Koizumi, an installation for the DUMBO Arts Festival

MFTA EARTH DAY EVENTS

MFTA in the community, unloading at GreenThumb 27th Annual GrowTogether in the Bronx (Image: Barbara Korein)

We’ve been celebrating Earth Day all month by making art with sustainable, reused materials at different events all around the city.

UPCOMING

Look for us this Saturday, April 23, from 12-6pm at the St. George Day in Tompkinsville Park, Staten Island. We will be making dragon masks from reused hanging file folders and a variety of other reusable materials.

Next week, Saturday, April 30, we will host an Art Making Booth from 12-4 pm at GO GREEN! GREENPOINT! in McCarren Park, Greenpoint/Williamsburg, NY

PAST

The image above comes from GreenThumb’s 27th Annual GrowTogether, which took place Saturday, April 2, at Hostos Community College in the Bronx.

Last Saturday, April 16, MFTA operated an Art Making Booth at GetGreen South Bronx Earth Fest in St. Mary’s Park.

Interested in an Art Making Booth for your event? Find more information here.