Our Favorite Quotes about City Lore
Evaluation by Dr. William Westerman commissioned by the Artography initiative of LINC, funded by the Ford Foundation:
It’s hard to understand what City Lore does in terms of art-making without first understanding how folklorists think of the concept of art. It is as if in Western society what is seen as the arts is equivalent to the visible light in the spectrum, whereas folklorists see the art across the whole spectrum, from ultraviolet to infrared. That full range of creative expression is what concerns the mission of City Lore, and it includes history and memory, language and religion, food and gardens, lace and place.
The difference between City Lore and other arts programs is not simply that the arts presented are folk and traditional arts, but that City Lore’s arts are traditional and modern, and a great deal of the artmaking takes place in the collaborations of different cultural organizations and artists, and in the ties between the traditional and the way that contemporary New Yorkers use and adapt their traditions in their current work, whether they are professionals or schoolchildren. In this way, musical and poetic forms that build on traditional genres – including hip-hop, mambo, spoken word and written poetry – are part of a continuum of artistic practice that recognizes and builds upon deep genealogical connections to the past without being bound by them. It is in this way that City Lore’s work gets far beyond nostalgia, because the thrust is always forward-looking, not referring to what once was and could never be again, but building creatively with respect for the cultural foundations that exist.
City Lore in the News
Special Projects
Events: “House Ballroom Documentarians Explore Community Archiving & Resilience At City Lore” on Harlem World, June 16, 2024.
Pride events held at City Lore in 2024. Read it Here
Naming the Lost Memorials: “‘A Big, Slow, Majestic Covid Memorial’ is now open at Green-Wood Cemetery” on Time Out NYC, May 3 2024.
The memorial remembers those lost to COVID-19 and those suffering with long COVID. Read it Here
Naming the Lost Memorials: “Four years after start of Covid, Green-Wood Cemetery opens community art memorial honoring New Yorkers” on 6 Sq Ft New York, May 3 2024.
The memorial remembers those lost to COVID-19 and those suffering with long COVID. Read it Here
“From Heritage to Health” on the National Endowment for the Arts, 2024.
City Lore Bridges Cultures in Healthcare through Storytelling. Read it Here
“ART/WORK: How the Government-Funded CETA Jobs Program Put Artists to Work” on The Brooklyn Rail, March 31, 2022.
Arts advocate Ted Berger, artists Ademola Olugebefola, Joan Snitzer, and Nitza Tufiño, and curators Molly Garfinkel and Jodi Waynberg join poet Bob Holman for a conversation. We conclude with a poetry reading by Holman. Watch it Here
Exhibitions
What did it feel like to be there?: Portraits from the Addresses Project
“NYC Pride Guide” June, 2024
The exhibit was featured on the official NYC Pride Guide, 2024. Read it Here
The Calling: The Transformative Power of African American Doll and Puppet Making
“POSITIVELY BLACK” on NBC channel 4, January 21, 2024.
Artists are stitching together history in a new exhibit on Manhattan’s east side. Watch it Here
“Behind the push to manufacture more diverse dolls” on CBS Saturday Morning, November 23, 2023.
Dolls are often at the top of a child’s holiday wish list, and last year, more than $3.4 billion worth of the toys were sold in the United States. There’s a growing push to develop and sell dolls that look like the children buying them. Watch it Here
“City Lore Gallery Unveils ‘The Calling: The Transformative Power of African American Doll and Puppet Making’ Exhibition” on Sugarcane Magazine, September 21, 2023.
Magazine feature for the exhibit. Read it Here
“City Lore exhibition showcases work of foremost Black doll and puppet makers” on New York Amsterdam News, November 20, 2023.
Article feature for the exhibit. Read it Here
MOVING MURALS: HENRY CHALFANT & MARTHA COOPER’S ALL-CITY GRAFFITI ARCHIVE ON EXHIBIT AT CITY LORE
On Untapped New York. 2014.
City Lore’s inaugural gallery exhibition featuring photographs and murals. Read it Here.
City Lore in the New York Times
Selected Articles, 2005-2011
“Where Stories are Remembered.” October 6, 2011.
A portrait of Kewulay Kamara who is recreating and documenting an epic handed down in his family in Sierra Leone in collaboration with City Lore. Read it Here
“Looking South, Not East into New York’s Past.” September 16, 2010.
A review by Edward Rothstein of the exhibition Nueva York at El Museo del Barrio curated by City Lore. Read it Here
“Seeing the City through the Memories of Others.” June 8, 2008.
A review of City Lore new www.cityofmemory.org web site. Read it Here
“The Charms of Yiddish Theater.” November 26, 2006.
A review of City Lore’s volume Hidden New York by Steve Zeitlin and Marci Reaven. Read it Here
“Mambo and Hip Hop: Two Sounds, One Sense of Dignity.” September 14, 2006.
A review of City Lore’s documentary film, From Mambo to Hip Hop. Read it Here
“Break-Dancing Women Battle Bloodlessly.” August 12, 2006.
A review of the We B*Girls break dance performance. Read it Here
“Found in Translation: Endangered Languages.” April 21, 2006.
Discusses the inclusion of endangered languages in the People’s Poetry Gathering. Read it Here
Selected Articles, 2000-2004
“With Few Luxuries, an Artist Sticks to It.” December 12, 2004.
Article about Jim Power and the People’s Hall of Fame. Read it Here
“A Subway Philosopher Who Was Homeless but Far From Friendless.” April 20, 2004.
Article about Tony Butler and City Lore. Read it Here
“The Ballad of the Ballad, Poetry’s Bearer of Bad News.” April 11, 2003.
Article by Billy Collins about the People’s Poetry Gathering. Read it Here
“Honoring Alan Lomax, Folk-Music Crusader.” April 14, 2003.
Article about the Alan Lomax Tribute, mentions City Lore and the People’s Poetry Gathering. Read it Here
“His Incessant Racket Coaxes Steel Drums to Sing.” November 1, 2002.
Article about Rudy King and the People’s Hall of Fame. Read it Here
“Vessels of a City’s Grief.” March 8, 2002.
Article about the “Missing: Streetscape of a City in Mourning” exhibit and the New York Historical Society. Read it Here
“Filipino Rap Debates City Life, Pro and Con.” April 15, 2001.
Article about balagtasan. Read it Here
“Spare Times.” March 30, 2001.
Description of the People’s Poetry Gathering. Read it Here
“Pop and Jazz Guide.” March 30, 2001.
Announcement of Patti Smith’s performance at the People’s Poetry Gathering. Read it Here
“The History That’s Not in Books.” March 18, 2001.
Overview of the City Lore website. Read it Here
“Poetry for the People In Downtown New York.” March 18, 2001.
Description of the People’s Poetry Project. Read it Here
“A Poet, Barred at the Gate.” March 25, 2001.
Article about Saba Kidane and the People’s Poetry Gathering. Read it Here
“In the Footsteps of Mambo Kings.” September 8, 2000.
Description of the South Bronx Latin Music Project. Read it Here
“A Beer Garden in Astoria Shelters a Lost Era.” November 2, 2000.
Article about Place Matters and the Bohemian Beer Garden. Read it Here
Selected Articles, 1995 – 1999
“Oral Traditions Converge as Poets Go Out for a Drink.” April 12, 1999.
Article about the People’s Poetry Gathering. Read it Here
“Poets Will Converge Upon Manhattan.” March 14, 1999.
Description of the People’s Poetry Gathering. Read it Here
“Underground, Creative Rap Is Thriving.” April 7, 1999.
Article about the Braggin Rites competition and the People’s Poetry Gathering. Read it Here
“Storyteller Tries to Lift Up a Ravaged Land.” April 7, 1999.
Article about Kewulay Kamara and the People’s Poetry Gathering. Read it Here
“Candy and a Taste of Home.” November 29, 1998.
Article of People’s Hall of Fame Inductee Tariq Hamid. Read it Here
“Strangling Culture with a Copyright Law.” April 25, 1998.
Steve Zeitlin’s Op Ed piece on folklore and copyright law. Read it Here
“Overdue Fame For Preserving That Rhythm.” May 7, 1997.
Article on People’s Hall of Fame inductees the Harlem Blues and Jazz Band.” Read it Here
“The Asphalt Diamond.” May 25, 1997.
Article on People’s Hall of Fame inductees the Bronx Old-Timers Stickball Team. Read it Here
“The Land of Stories and Memories.” August 9, 1997.
Article by Steve Zeitlin on Coney Island. “Art Guide.” September 26, 1997. Review of “The Weavings of War.” Read it Here
“Life’s Thread Stiched Into Quilts.” April 4, 1996.
Article on African-American “An Urban Folk Hero, Captive to the Drums.” November 17, 1998. Article on People’s Hall of Fame Inductee Frisner Augustin. Read it Here
“Disturbing the Peace.” April 28, 1996.
Announcement of City Lore’s screening of 22 films on social change. Read it Here
“The Beginnings of Urban Folk Art.” February 26, 1995.
Announcement of City Lore film festival “Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight.” Read it Here
“Gospel Roots Reaching the Heart and the Soul.” October 3, 1995.
Article about the film “We Love You Like A Rock.” Read it Here
Selected Articles, 1985 – 1994
“End of the One-Liners on the IRT.” August 27, 1993.
Article on Harry Nugent. Read it Here
“At the Meals on Reels Film Festival, Chicken Soup and a Tasty Frenchman.” March 18, 1992.
Article on the Meals on Reels film festival. Read it Here
“A Musical Journey on the ‘Downhome Corner.” June 19, 1992.
Article on the Somos Boricua festival. Read it Here
“Toe-to-Toe Over a Checkerboard.” December 7, 1991.
Article on the Brooklyn Elite Pool Checker Club with a quote from Steve Zeitlin. Read it Here
“The City as Game Board.” December 9, 1990.
Review of “City Play.” Read it Here
“Sounds Around Town.” June 22, 1990.
Announcement of “City Lore ’90, the New New Yorkers.” Read it Here
“Street Life: Keeping ‘Beloved Places.’” March 28, 1988.
Article on the Endangered Places project. Read it Here
“Studying New York Children at Play.” September 18, 1985.
Article about City Lore’s street play initiative. Read it Here
