Latest newsbriefs

Redesign for Bronx museum

Monica Ponce de Leon, co-curator of this year’s United States Pavilion for the Venice Architecture Biennale, is the architect selected to work on the Bronx Museum of the Arts’ redesign. It will be a multi-year, roughly $25 million project, according to the museum.

“The project, which is public-private partnership with the City of New York and New York State Assembly, will create new dynamic spaces for exhibitions and programs, enhance community engagement, increase the museum’s openness to the Grand Concourse and support the museum’s programmatic growth,” according to a recent press release. 

Botanical Garden receives grant

The New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) will receive a $100,000 grant from RBC Blue Water Project to help protect the Bronx River, a mission that coincides with the garden’s Green Zone project

“We are deeply grateful to RBC for its support for this important project,” said NYBG’s President Gregory Long, in a statement. “Since the Garden’s founding in 1891, we have been dedicated to preserving and protecting the Bronx River, so as we celebrate our 125th Anniversary, it is especially meaningful to receive an RBC Blue Water grant to help us safeguard this precious resource.”

According to the statement, roughly 40,000 square feet of land along the Bronx River will be planted with trees, shrubs in order to filter stormwater and reduce erosion. 

Arts festival at SAR Academy

The Salanter Akiba Riverdale (SAR) Academy held its first annual arts festival on June 2. Students showcased their musical skills, interactive videos and artwork. 

“The caliber of the students’ work was so elevated and we wanted to celebrate,” said Sharon Marson, SAR’s director of arts and enrichment. 

Student musical groups performed tunes from classics such as “Fiddler on the Roof” and “The Sound of Music.”  

In the active art gallery, parents held up a laptop to the QR barcode beside each poster, which activated a video where a student discussed each piece. The math-based artwork highlighted drawings that can be made using tools such as a ruler and compass. 

The evening also included a printmaking studio, music history retrospective and a drawing challenge. Also, students taught their parents how to use the software program GarageBand to create music.

In all, 400 people came out for the Arts Festival, according to organizers. All work, which can be seen during school hours, will on be display at SAR until Friday, June 10. It is located at 655 W. 254th St.

Tulane graduates Riverdalian

Horace Mann graduate Kia Hampson, who hails from Riverdale, graduated from Tulane University’s School of Liberal Arts on May 14, according to the university.

Congratulations, Kia!