Ongoing programs

Art workshops

The Riverdale-Yonkers Society for Ethical Culture, 4450 Fieldston Road, will offer art workshops on Wednesday and Thursday afternoons from Wednesday, July 1 through Thursday, August 27.

Sessions meet from 2 to 5 p.m. Wednesdays and noon to 3 p.m. Thursdays.

The workshops will help develop individual artist expression in an informal setting, with a focus on building self esteem and self empowerment through self expression.

The workshops are for beginner and intermediate art students. Students will use various art materials as well as natural, green and recycled materials.

Abdelilah Ennassef, an art instructor at Union Theological Seminary will give the workshops. He has studied at the Ecole Superieur des Beaux Arts in Paris and received a bachelor’s in fine arts from the School of Visual Arts. Mr. Ennassef lives in Riverdale.

The cost for nine sessions is $200.

For more information, call 718-548-4445.

Trees museum

Wave Hill, located at West 249th Street and Independence Avenue, will host a public art exhibition celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Bronx’s Grand Concourse between Sunday, June 21, and Monday, Oct. 21.

Artist Katie Holten’s work was created on the Grand Concourse, but Wave Hill is hosting a satellite exhibition. Ms. Holten created a tree museum that features an audio guide compiled from hundreds of stories she’s collected, to the trees of the Grand Concourse.

For more information, call 718-543-6065 ext. 302.

Growing food

The New York Botanical Garden, off Exit 7W of the Bronx River Parkway at Fordham Road, will host a summer celebration of growing your own food from Monday, June 27 to Sunday, Sept. 13.

“The Edible Garden” features exhibits ranging from edible tropical plants to culinary herbs, from how to save heirloom species to how scientists worldwide are conducting botanical research. An audio tour, narrated by Mario Batali and Bette Midler with commentary from chef Dan Barber, is available.

Throughout the summer, the garden will host celebrities such as Mr. Barber, Martha Stewart, Emeril Lagasse, Lidia Bastianich, Daisy Martinez, Aida Mollenkamp, Sunny Anderson and Anne Burrell.

An All-Garden Pass, which includes admission to seasonal gardens and exhibitions, is $20 for adults, $18 for seniors and students with identification, $8 for children ages 2 to 12, and free for children 2 and under. Groundsonly admission is $6 for adults or $5 for adult Bronx residents, $3 for seniors, $2 for students with ID, $1 for children 2 to 12 and free for children 2 or younger. Grounds admission is free all day on Wednesdays and from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturdays.

For more information, call 718-817-8700 or visit www.nybg.org.

Tai chi chuan

There will be classes in the Chinese martial art of tai chi at Wave Hill, West 249th Street and Independence Avenue, every Saturday morning, but not Saturday, July 4.

A beginners’ class will be held at 10 a.m., and a class for intermediate students will be held at 11 a.m.

Participants should meet at the Perkins Visitor Center.

Tai chi is a sequence of gentle movements that often emulate images found in nature.

Classes are held outdoors; inclement weather forces cancellations.

To confirm a class, call 718- 549-3200 ext. 245 by 8 a.m. the day of the class.

The fee is $10 for members and $18 for non-members; preregistration is not required.

Artist exhibition

The Riverdale-Yonkers Society for Ethical Culture, located at 4450 Fieldston Road, is exhibiting the work of Maria Formosa through Wednesday, June 30.

Ms. Formosa studied at the Parsons School of Design, the School of Visual Arts, the Arts Students League and elsewhere. She is an exhibiting member of the Riverdale Art Association and has participated in the Art Festival at the United Nations for Carribbean, Central and South American Artists, among others.

For more information, call 718-548-4445.

Stoneware show

The Spuyten Duyvil Library, located at 650 W. 235th St., is hosting an exhibition of stoneware pottery by Brenda Spooner from Monday, June 15 to Tuesday, September 15.

The exhibition is open to the public.

For more information, call 718-796-1202.

Marketplace art

The Bronx Museum of the Arts, 1040 Grand Concourse, will present “Living and Dreaming: the 29th edition of its milestone “Artist in the Marketplace” exhibition series, from Sunday, June 21 to Sunday, September 13.

The exhibition features a range of works by 36 artists from New York City and nearby areas who have completed the most recent of the museum’s highly competitive 13-week-long series of Artist in the Marketplace seminars. Many of the works on view spring from a powerful current of personal narrative, as well as from a pull towards the fantastical, ethereal, and mythological, according to independent curator and critic Micaela Giovannotti, who organized the exhibition.

For more information, call 718-681-6000.

Pollinator week

New York caterer Great Performances will be participating in the city’s first Pollinator Week, an apian celebration open to the public from Monday, June 22 to Sunday, June 28.

This week, Great Performances will feature honey-infused dishes at all four of its local venues including Wave Hill, located at West 249th Street and Independence Avenue.

Honey striped bass with roasted corn and tomato relish served with yogurt sauce, honey fried chicken panini with coleslaw and a side of thunder pickles, and simple lemon tart with chocolate dipped honey comb are among the offerings.

Pollinator Week, sponsored by Just Food, is designed to draw awareness to beekeeping and bee survival. Currently, beekeeping is illegal within the confines of New York City, and Pollinator Week features a number of events in support of urban beekeeping. Honeybees contribute to productive gardens and a healthy community, and Great Performances supports the measure to change the law and help support local foods as part of their mission of sustainability.

For more information, call 718-549-3200.

Elisa Tucci show

Elisa Tucci Contemporary Art Gallery in Riverdale, located at 5622 Mosholu Ave., will exhibit “Fantastic Worlds: Landscapes and Cityscapes” from Saturday, June 27 through Wednesday, July 29.

The new group show of emerging and mid-career artists explores imaginary worlds and the life that inhabits them. Each artist explores a variety of media and techniques from dry pigment and Sumi ink on handmade paper or Japanese papers, to marker and ink on mylar to pen and ink drawings inspired by music and sound.

For more information, go to www.elisatucciart.com, e-mail lisa@elisatucciart.com or call 212-729-4974.

Blue Door show

Blue Door Gallery, at 13 Riverdale Ave. in Yonkers, is exhibiting “Show and Tell” through Saturday, June 27.

The exhibition showcases art ranging from porcelain sculptures to woodcut prints. Each Saturday during the exhibition there will be free artist demonstrations on techniques and inspirations.

Gallery hours are Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday from noon to 5 p.m., and Friday from 2 to 7 p.m.

For more information, call 914-375-5100.

Yoga in nature

Hatha and Therapeutic Yoga instructor Neem Dewji will lead yoga classes at 9:30 a.m. on the grounds of Wave Hill, at West 249th Street and Independence Avenue, every Tuesday and Sunday.

Inclement weather will cancel the event.

There will be another class on Tuesday, June 2, from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m.

To confirm if the event will be held, call 718-549-3200 ext. 245 by 8 a.m. the day of the session.

Participants should meet at the Perkins Visitor Center and should bring a mat.

Preregistration is not required; the fee is $10 for members and $18 for nonmembers.

Clothing sale

Riverdale Neighborhood House thrift shop, located at 466 W. 261 St., will hold a half-priced clothing sale from Wednesday, June 24 through Tuesday, June 30.

The Riverdale neighborhood house thrift shop was formed about 50 years ago by a group of women who wanted to make good quality, gently used clothing available at very low prices.

The hours are Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.; Wednesday and Friday from 1 to 4 p.m. and on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

All profits go to Riverdale Neighborhood House for their programs.

For more information, call 718-548-5933.

This is part of the June 25, 2009 online edition of The Riverdale Press.

Have an opinion on this matter? We'd like to hear from you. Click here.