Ideasmyth kicks your summer up a notch with our dandy weekly curated list of New York’s quirky hidden treasures of culture, events and other surprising treats. Please submit your suggestions for any future events via our CONTACT US page. Happy adventuring & we greatly appreciate your comments & sharing!
***
Thursday August 21: 35 and Under: Drink & Draw: Figure Drawing
Friday August 22: Clairy Browne & the Bangin’ Rackettes Concert
Saturday August 23: Fort Greene Literary Festival
Sunday August 24: AFROPUNK Fest
Monday August 25: Staged Reading: An Accident
Tuesday August 26: Daughters of Leda
Wednesday August 27: Book Reading: What We See When We Read
Thursday August 28: Migration Dance Performance: Augur
***
Thursday August 21
35 and Under Drink & Draw: Figure Drawing
7PM, $25 Admission
Lexington & 92nd St
http://bit.ly/1sVjWC2
Expand your artistic abilities with a cold one in hand! 92Y’s instructors will provide the model, the supplies and the libations, so all you need is yourself for a light-hearted evening of art and community-building.
Friday August 22
Clairy Browne & the Bangin’ Rackettes Concert
7:30PM, $18 Advance/$20 Day of Show
(Le) Poisson Rouge, 158 Bleecker St
http://bit.ly/1n9URhN
The smooth, sultry sounds of old school jazz are hitting Manhattan with new school flair as Clairy Browne makes her next tour stop in a self-described “creative asylum for both artists and audiences”. Enjoy a full menu and bar at this cool cabaret while Clairy and her 40’s-style backup singers croon you into old-fashioned bliss.
Saturday August 23
Fort Greene Literary Festival
2-5PM, FREE Admission
Fort Greene Park
http://bit.ly/1odqYNe
The New York Writers’ Coalition presents its 10th annual literary festival, a staple in the Brooklyn neighborhood so deeply rooted in the arts and the community. Young writers will read from their poetry and prose, as will seasoned (and adored) veterans like Sapphire and Danny Simmons. Be sure to hit the after party in the evening at the Greenlight Bookstore where you can meet the writers and other bookworms like yourself!
Sunday August 24
AFROPUNK Fest
12PM, FREE Admission, Donations encouraged
Commodore Barry Park, Brooklyn
http://bit.ly/1ldBd9H
Described as “a voice for the unwritten, unwelcome and unheard-of”, AFROPUNK embraces experiments outside of the norm in art, music, film and fashion. The AFROPUNK Fest celebrates urban culture inspired by alternative music and is itself celebrated as “the most multicultural festival in the U.S.” by the New York Times.
Monday August 25
Staged Reading: An Accident
7PM, FREE Admission
Urban Stages Theater, 259 W 30th St
http://nyti.ms/VFpa8y
After a man runs over a woman with his car, can he be the one to help heal her? Lydia Stryk’s two-person drama written specifically for the acclaimed stage actor/director Austin Pendleton defies our preconceptions regarding guilt, forgiveness and recovery and will have you second guessing the role of blame in your own life.
Tuesday August 26
Daughters of Leda
6:30PM, $15 Admission
Theater for the New City, 155 First Ave
http://bit.ly/1lhE0i8
Be the first to watch Madeline Sayet’s modern retelling of Persephone’s yearly return to the Underworld in which major women in Greek mythology are forced to finally confront each other about the events that led them to their fates. In a departure from classic mythology, Persephone and the Fates stand up to Hades and fight for command of the history that had been deceiving the Greeks for years.
Wednesday August 27
Book Reading: What We See When We Read
7PM, FREE Admission
192 Books, 192 Tenth Ave
http://bit.ly/1mlQvEe
Peter Mendelsund is best known around literary circles for his simplistically jarring book cover designs and his exquisite attention to visual detail. Make your way to one of Manhattan’s few remaining independent bookstores for a reading from Mendelsund’s new, masterfully illustrated book centered around how we visualize what we read.
Thursday August 28
Migration Dance Performance: Augur
7:30PM, FREE Admission
Starts at Anita’s Way, Ends at The Urban Garden Room
http://bit.ly/1pKZrb1
Experience dance like never before with this migrating, site-situated work of performance art directed and performed by dance and sound artists. Augur combines dance, sound, projected image, sculpture and migration pathways “to shift and transform the experience of the mundane in the bustling 42nd street district of NYC.”
***
Got any other can’t-miss events in the city you’re excited about? We’re all ears– tell us about them in the comments section below!
***
~~~Beth St. John is an Editorial and Social Media Intern for Ideasmyth, as well as a student at Boston University, where she studies English, History and European Studies. She loves to write and hopes to put that love to good use by publishing the next Harry Potter. When she’s not fumbling for words, she is probably baking or watching a David O. Russell movie.
