Today’s “Fab 5”/ Selected NYCity Events – SATURDAY, OCT. 12, 2013

OHNY Weekend (through Sunday)
“Open House New York is an annual weekend-long event during which historic buildings, architectural masterpieces and sundry landmarks welcome the public for tours and nosing around. It’s the perfect opportunity to explore normally off-limits parts of New York and have a good old snoop

Gain access to more than 150 of the city’s coolest and most exclusive architectural sites, private homes and landmarks, plus behind-the-scenes tours and programs. This year, get a sneak peek of the 72-story 4 World Trade Center before it opens to the public, see the inner workings of the Sims Sunset Park Recycling Facility—designed by cutting-edge firm Selldorf Architects—and tour the exterior of the new Whitney Museum building alongside the High Line. You’ll also have another chance to see many places you might have missed last year, including the ornate Grand Lodge of Masons, the dramatic Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant with its giant stainless-steel digester “eggs,” Philip Johnson’s masterful modernist interiors for the Four Seasons, and Eero Saarinen’s TWA Flight Center at JFK

Many sites are free and open to all. However, some of the big-ticket draws do require reservations costing $5—and these can go fast, in part because of limited space.” (TONY mag)

Crafts Festivals (Saturday and Sunday)
The annual Autumn Crafts on Columbus — the 34th — will run for two more consecutive weekends from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on the sidewalk of Columbus Avenue, near the American Museum of Natural History, Columbus Avenue, between 77th and 81st Streets; craftsoncolumbus.com. This gathering of artisans brings together a selection of leather, textile and brass crafts from all across the United States as well as Australia and Israel. 250 stalls showcase woodwork, glassware, ceramics and other mediums. Demonstrations in pottery, metal and other crafts are offered on both days. Refreshments, including poached pear tarts or strawberry stack cakes from New Amsterdam Baking Company, will be available when you finish perusing the stands.

And at Lincoln Center, the Autumn Crafts Festival, in its 24th year, will run on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.; craftsatlincoln.org. This sidewalk showcase features 100 artists hawking their jewelry, ceramics, paintings, photography and other crafts.

Anat Cohen Quartet
There haven’t been many great clarinetists in Jazz since the days of Sidney Bechet, Artie Shaw and Benny Goodman. That changed a few years ago when Anat Cohen came on the scene. Run, don’t walk, to hear live jazz clarinet by the Jazz Journalists Association’s clarinetist of the year for the last six years. She will blow you away.
Miller Theater, Broadway at 116th Street, Morningside Heights
At 8 p.m./$35
(212) 854-7799, millertheatre.com

Dance Gallery Festival (through Sunday)
“Some dancegoers prefer the assurance of a vetted artist; others delight in the discovery of something new. For the second group, there is the Dance Gallery Festival. Started in 2007, the mini-fest culls emerging artists from around the country and gives them a platform to shine. Ensembles perform on Friday night and Sunday afternoon; solos, duos and trios take the stage on Saturday night; and on Sunday evening, three chosen troupes will have 25 minutes each to make their mark.” (Schaefer-NYT)
Ailey Citigroup Theater, 405 West 55th St.
at 7:30 p.m./$20
(212) 868-4444, dancegalleryfestival.com

TOM HARRELL (through Oct. 13)
Jazz has had its share of triumph-over-adversity tales, but few have been as inspirational as that of Harrell.

Harrell is widely regarded as being among the most creative and uncompromising jazz instrumentalists and composers of our time. He is a past winner of both the Down Beat Readers and Critics Polls in the trumpet category, whose roots go back to an early-seventies run with Horace Silver, Harrell is also a diagnosed schizophrenic.

Yet his condition hasn’t kept him from establishing himself as an active bandleader. While his communication with audiences is minimal, his forthright skills as a player are not affected. He begins a two-week engagement, splitting the time between two different ensembles; his longtime quintet, featuring the saxophonist Wayne Escoffery, is up first.(NewYorker mag)
Village Vanguard, 178 Seventh Ave. S., at 11th St.
at 8:30 & 10:30PM / $25 cover with a one drink minimum
(212) 255-4037, villagevanguard.com

Before making final plans, we suggest you call the venue to confirm dates and check times, as schedules are subject to change.
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WHAT’S ON VIEW: Special Exhibitions @ 3 MUSEUMS
(Manhattan’s WestSide & the BrooklynMuseum) 

‘Walker Evans: American Photographs’ (through Jan. 26, 2014)
American Modern: Hopper to O’Keefe (through Jan. 26, 2014)
America’s cultural landscape shifted rapidly in the early 20th century. American Modern at the Museum of Modern Art looks at this change via some of the iconic works produced between 1915 and 1950. Artists highlighted include George Bellows, Edward Hopper, Georgia O’Keeffe, Alfred Stieglitz and Andrew Wyeth. In organizing the art thematically, American Modern will highlight the connections between the artists’ works.
Museum of Modern Art: 11 W 53rd St. (btw 5th /6th Ave.)
(212) 708-9400 / moma.org.
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The Art of the Brick by Nathan Sawaya (ongoing)
This exhibition by artist Nathan Sawaya is a critically acclaimed collection of intriguing and inspiring works of art made exclusively from one of the most recognizable toys in the world — LEGO® bricks. The Discovery Times Square exhibit will be the world’s biggest and most elaborate display of LEGO® art ever and will feature brand-new, never-before-seen pieces by Sawaya. This show was named ‘One of CNN’s Ten Global Must-See Exhibitions.’
Discovery Times Square, 226 West 44th St. (btw 7th/8th ave)
866.987.9692 / http://www.discoverytsx.com

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‘Connecting Cultures: A World in Brooklyn’ (continuing)
This eclectic, imaginatively thought-out one-gallery immersion experience in world art, all from Brooklyn’s collection and installed in the museum’s revamped Great Hall, serves as a teaser to the fabulous collections in the galleries beyond.
‘Divine Felines: Cats of AncientEgypt’ (through Dec. 29)
Brooklyn Museum: 200 Eastern Parkway, at Prospect Park,
(subway: easy ride from midtown on #2 or #3 express to Eastern Pkway/Bklyn Museum)
(718) 638-5000 / brooklynmuseum.org

WHAT’S ON VIEW: Top Photography Exhibitions
(NYCity / Manhattan’s WestSide)

  Museum of Modern Art
XL: 19NewAcquisitions in Photography (through Dec. 31)
Walker Evans: American Photographs (through Jan. 26, 2014)
New Photography 2013 (through Jan. 6, 2014)
11 West 53rd Street / 212-708-9400

  Metropolitan Museum of Art
Julia Margaret Cameron (through Jan. 5, 2014)
Everyday Ephiphanies: Photography and Daily Life Since 1969 
(through January 26, 2014)
1000 Fifth Avenue (at 82nd Street) / 212-535-7710

  American Museum Natural History 
Picturing Science: Museum Scientists and Imaging Technologies          
(through May 31, 2014)
79th St. And Central Park West / (212) 313-7278 

   ICP
All these exhibitions run from Oct 4, 2013–Jan 19, 2014:
Lewis Hine
The Future of America: Lewis Hine’s New Deal Photographs
JFK November 22, 1963: A Bystander’s View of History
Zoe Strauss: 10 Years
1133 Avenue of the Americas at 43rd Street / 212-857-0000

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For other selected Museum and Gallery Special Exhibitions see Recent Posts in the right Sidebar: “Selected Events + Special Exhibitions : Manhattan’s WestSide” dated (10/10) and (10/08).