Philip Kwame Apagya, Come on Board, 2000/2003 Courtesy of The Walther Collection
Arthur Walther,64, is a German-American art collector who began collecting artwork and photography in China in the early 1990′s. Following his retirement as a general partner at Goldman Sachs and the founding partner of the firm’s German operations, Walther focused on his collection. The wave of modernization and economic reform flooding through China resulted in artists recording and analyzing the changes that were occurring. As China competed more in the global market, Walther found himself shying away from their artists and collecting more work from contemporary African artists.
“A number of these [artworks] overlapped continuously,” Walther said at the exhibition of his latest exhibition, Distance and Desire: Encounters with the African Archive, which is being shown at the Chelsea Arts Building in New York. “I collected Chinese art very slowly. In the nineties and early 2000, [Chinese art was] a real examination and investigation by the artist of society and of the transformations and of their histories. Which before didn’t happen to that degree [because art] was all propaganda and political.”
Professor Andrea Taylor with members of the robotics group.
According to the National Center for Women & Information Technology, only 25 percent of professional computing occupations in the US were held by women in 2011. Additionally, only three percent were African-American women, four percent were Asian women, and one percent were Hispanic women.
A Brooklyn-based nonprofit organization, DIVAS for Social Justice, is hoping to change those numbers with its programming, which encourages students to use multimedia projects to discuss social justice and other issues facing their communities. DIVAS, which stands for Digital, Interactive, Visual Arts, and Sciences, launched five years ago as a way to get students in underserved neighborhoods more interested in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).
Gordon Parks was a master of many arts: photography, film making, music and fiction. But the world almost missed the opportunity to experience and enjoy his major contributions. Born on Nov. 30, 1912, to a family in Fort Scott, Kansas, that already included 14 other children, Parks was declared stillborn when his doctor couldn’t detect a heartbeat. Thanks to another doctor who thought to immerse him in cold water, which got his heart beating, he survived.
Parks, who taught himself photography with a used camera he bought for $7.50, led a life filled with firsts and major milestones, including shooting for Vogue and becoming the first Black photographer at Life magazine, where for two decades he documented the civil rights movement, race relations and urban life in America.
The Root 100, an original series for Magic Johnson’s ASPiRE network, is a weekly show that will highlight the most influential black leaders under 45, selected by online news outlet, The Root. These honorees featured on the program appeared on this year’s Root 100 list. They include MSNBC journalist Melissa Harris-Perry, actress Gabrielle Union, NAACP president Benjamin Jealous, Sundance award-winning filmmaker Ava DuVernay, and Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, among others. Journalist and Anchor Suzanne Malveaux hosts the new show, which will premier December 5.
There will be eight episodes in the series. Each one-hour episode focuses on three honorees discussing intimate moments, turning points in their lives, and their aspirations to affect change.
“THE ROOT 100 presents a fascinating look at two dozen diverse and extraordinary African-Americans, who are using their voices and platforms to fundamentally change our community and our world for the better,” said ASPiRE General Manager Paul Butler in a press release.
Imagine having access to the more than 1.9 million black-owned businesses in the United States at your fingertips? A company called Around The Way, which is based in New York, teamed up with Washington, D.C.-based mobile-app development firm Clearly Innovative to create a mobile app that will locate black-owned businesses in your area.
The companies say they hope the Around The Way app will support and empower black-owned businesses, especially around this all-important Christmas shopping season. The app, which is available only for the Apple iPhone right now,can be downloaded from the Apple app store.
While the app doesn’t have all of the black-owned businesses in the U.S. yet, it does contain a substantial number and there’s a spot on the app’s website where you can add your business. “The app can locate 17,000 black-owned businesses in all 50 states. Many of the businesses are located in New York City, and other major metropolitan areas,” Eric Hamilton, chief marketing officer and co-founder of Around The Way wrote in an e-mail to The NorthStar News & Analysis.
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater: Linda Celeste Sims and Glenn Allen Sims, with Jessye Norman, at right, at City Center. (Photo: Andrea Mohin/The New York Times)
On Wednesday evening Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater settled into City Center for its annual season with a nod to the past and a look to the future. Amid the din of shrill greetings — this was a gala, after all — Samuel Lee Roberts worked his way across the stage, jabbing the tips of his toes into the floor until his knees buckled and his spine contorted inelegantly. It was an arresting and, for Ailey, an unusual sight, yet few grasped that “Minus 16,” by the Israeli choreographer Ohad Naharin, had even begun.
This introduction requires a dancer to perform an improvised solo rooted in Gaga, a method of training that focuses more on sensation than technique. In “Minus 16,” based on excerpts from Mr. Naharin’s past works and a welcome addition to last season’s repertory, dancers trade their customary expressions of joy or sorrow for impassive stares.
To help small businesses in the Baltimore area, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake is launching a micro-loan fund to assist owners in hiring and stabilizing their businesses. The program, named BaltimoreMICRO, will enable small businesses with under $1 million in annual revenue to apply for loans that range in amounts from $5,000 to $30,000. To be eligible for the BaltimoreMICRO program, businesses must be based in Baltimore City. The owner of the business must also have a personal credit score of 650 or higher.
“[Small businesses] bring residents together and create a buzz that attracts people from throughout the region,” Rawlings-Blake said in a statement. “We want that to happen in more of Baltimore’s neighborhoods, and we must do what we can to support that. Baltimore’s neighborhoods that have experienced growth and revival in the past few years are known not only for their unique homes and character, but also for their small businesses, including stores and restaurants.”
Earlier this month, the Anglican Church of Southern Africa consecrated its first woman bishop in Africa.
Ellinah Wamukoya, 61, will serve as the church’s bishop in the small, conservative kingdom of Swaziland.
Her consecration comes as the Church of England is due to vote on whether to allow women to become bishops.
“We have taken this step, and we wish the Church of England ‘God speed’ as they deliberate this week,” Cape Town’s Anglican archbishop said.
The Most Revd Thabo Makgoba of Cape Town said in a statement: “The thunder is rumbling as I write: We have witnessed a great occasion, and now it does indeed seem that the heavens are about to fall upon us – the falling of rain, which this country and its people so desperately need.
As if he wasn’t already having a good enough year, LeBron James can add another accolade to an already stellar 2012.
The reigning league MVP, Finals MVP, Gold medalist and NBA champion has the league’s top-selling jersey, it was announced by the NBA on Wednesday. Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant follows at No. 2, and Kobe Bryant, who’s held the position six times since 2001, sits at No. 3.
The NBA also announced that NBAStore.com had its largest Cyber Monday in history, with at least a 10 percent sales increase from 2011. Adidas, the official apparel supplier for the NBA, released its Christmas Day game jerseys which is a likely cause for the boost in online sales.
Fore presents twenty-nine emerging artists of African descent who live and work across the United States. Born between 1971 and 1987, the artists inFore work in diverse media, often blending artistic practices in new and innovative ways. While some artists create large-scale oil paintings, others draw on top of photographs, or combine sculpture and two-dimensional work. More than half of the works in Fore have never been exhibited publicly; some are site-specific and react directly to the Harlem neighborhood and its social landscape.
Fore is the fourth in a series of emerging artist exhibitions presented by the Studio Museum, following Freestyle (2001), Frequency (2005–06) andFlow (2008). This exhibition traces the development of artistic ideas sinceFlow, taking into account social, political and cultural conditions in the United States. Whether gathering and assembling everyday objects, referencing urban architecture and economies, or using film and video to mirror the transmission and reception of information through social media, the artists in Fore emphasize that contemporary art is deeply tied to its location, time and historical context. This exhibition investigates questions at the core of the Studio Museum’s mission, exploring art’s relationship to U.S. and global communities.
perFOREmance, two three-day performance presentations in December 2012 and February 2013, provides a platform for the new and commissioned performances in Fore.
Organized by Lauren Haynes, Naima J. Keith and Thomas J. Lax, Assistant Curators at the Studio Museum, Fore continues the Studio Museum’s mission as the nexus for artists of African descent, locally, nationally and internationally, and for work inspired by black culture.
Narcissister “Mannequin” Photo: Tony Stamolis
Firelei Báez / b. 1980, Santiago, Dominican Republic; Lives and works in New York, New York Sadie Barnette / b. 1984, Oakland, California; Lives and works in Los Angeles, California Kevin Beasley / b. 1985, Alexandria, Virginia; Lives and works in New York, New York Crystal Z. Campbell / b. 1980, Prince George’s County, Maryland; Lives and works in New York, New York and Amsterdam, The Netherlands Caitlin Cherry / b. 1987, Chicago, Illinois; Lives and works in New York, New York Jamal Cyrus / b. 1973, Houston, Texas; Lives and works in Houston, Texas Noah Davis / b. 1983, Seattle, Washington; Lives and works in Los Angeles, California Abigail DeVille / b. 1981, New York, New York; Lives and works in New York, New York Zachary Fabri / b. 1977, Miami, Florida; Lives and works in New York, New York Kenyatta A.C. Hinkle / b. 1987, Louisville, Kentucky; Lives and works in Los Angeles, California Steffani Jemison / b. 1981, Berkeley, California; Lives and works in New York, New York Yashua Klos / b. 1977, Chicago, Illinois; Lives and works in New York, New York Eric Nathaniel Mack / b. 1987, Columbia, Maryland; Lives and works in New York, New York Harold Mendez / b. 1977, Chicago, Illinois; Lives and works in Chicago, Illinois Nicole Miller / b. 1982, Tucson, Arizona; Lives and works in Los Angeles, California Narcissister / b. 1971, New York, New York; Lives and works in New York, New York Toyin Odutola / b. 1985, Ife, Nigeria; Lives and works in San Francisco, California Akosua Adoma Owusu / b. 1984, Alexandria, Virginia; Lives and works in Alexandria, Virginia and Ghana Jennifer Packer / b. 1984, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Lives and works in New York, New York Taisha Paggett / b. 1976, Los Angeles, California; Lives and works in Chicago, Illinois and Los Angeles, California Valerie Piraino / b. 1981, Kigali, Rwanda; Lives and works in New York, New York Nikki Pressley / b. 1982, Greenville, South Carolina; Lives and works in Los Angeles, California Jacolby Satterwhite / b. 1986, Columbia, South Carolina; Lives and works in New York, New York, and Provincetown, Massachussetts Sienna Shields / b. 1976, Rainbow, Alaska; Lives and works in New York, New York and Rainbow, Alaska Kianja Strobert / b. 1980, New York, New York; Lives and works in Hudson, New York Jessica Vaughn / b. 1983, Chicago, Illinois; Lives and works in New York, New York Cullen Washington Jr. / b. 1976, Alexandria, LA; Lives and works in New York, New York Nate Young / b. 1981, Phoenixville, Pennsylvania; Lives and works in St. Paul, Minnesota Brenna Youngblood / b. 1979, Riverside, California; Lives and works in Los Angeles, California
Fore is made possible thanks to Leadership Support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Major support provided by Jacques and Natasha Gelman Trust and The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. Additional support provided by the Ed Bradley Family Foundation.
