dumbo-arts-festival-newyork

New York

DUMBO Arts Festival NY – exciting, surprising and fun(ny)!

9 October 2013

Today will be a surprising show at the DUMBO Arts Festival!

The sun is shining, it’s like 25 degrees (celsius) outside. Had a short break to fix the flat tier and we’re off again to the DUMBO Arts Festival!
DUMBO is packed with people today, but the vibe is really easy going. Everywhere there’s art, photographs, graphs, objects, music and food trucks. Today it’s the annual DUMBO Arts Festival in Brooklyn.
Sometimes I find art hard to understand, mostly weird. But today I think art is really cool. I’m feeling it.

First stop is the wall with the (super)Heroes exhibit. It’s funny. But apparently I totally got this all wrong. It’s not supposed to be funny. I have to look beyond and see the social issues. I’m trying to (still think it’s funny though).

We really like the exhibit The Art of Boxing in an old boxing gym. And not just a gym. Gleason’s Gym is the oldest boxing gym in the US. Many World Champions have been training here. Awesome! Even Muhammad Ali trained here. As we’re now starting to become really good at boxing (ahem…) it’s great to have a look at an old school, stinky (well not so much actually) boxing gym like this. Check the video on their website, it’s pretty cool.
DUMBO Arts Festival Gleason's Gym
Gleason’s Gym

So here I meet mixed media artist Adon Wone. I really like his work. It’s not complicated, it’s colorful and creative. And also tailor-made. He makes a piece of art for you with any image and photograph, color, text or even stories you give him. Check his Facebook page or his Instagram (#adonwone) for more of his work.
Adon Wone
Why is again a piece of art that has a lot of humor going on. Or, it’s a short film actually. And that’s also art. But again, I think I might be missing the message here. In this short film Julia Kim Smith utilizes Google’s autocomplete feature to find out what the most googled subjects are when typing in Asian women or Asian men. And she discovers pretty funny things about us. She calls it shocking. I just think it’s hilarious. You can do it yourself actually, try it! You can watch the film on her website
WHY exhibition @DUMBO Arts Festival

The street art created by CAM (owl) on York and Adams st, Faith47 (swans) and DALeast (dear) both on York and Pearl st. are huge! And absolutely beautiful. They will stay there for a while, so you’ll still be able to check them out later.
DUMBO Arts Festival

After a long break for some beers at Wild Rise (like this place and they serve great pizza’s!) we also check out some of the stores here. Really, go to NOS. They sell really nice clothes and shoes from several designers. Beautiful fabrics and colors.
DUMBO

This restaurant was on my list for a while now, so we finally reserve a table at Gran Electrica. We have to wait 2,5 hours (WHAT?!) to get a table, but as the place looks so great we think it’s worth it.
In the meanwhile we’re going to check out the video experience under the Manhattan Bridge Archway & Anchorage. We cross a funky block party where everybody is singing and dancing. Quietly watching is not an option! ☺
At 9.30 pm we’re back at Gran Electrica. What a nice place. And will you look at the wallpaper, quite an eyecather. It comes from The fine folks at Flavor Paper in Cobble Hill, New York. Luckily we get a table in the garden. Great to be able to eat outside all the time. We Dutchies are not used to this.
Gran Electrica @DUMBO

This was a great day. Even if you’re not into art you would also like the DUMBO Arts Festival. So go here next year! DUMBO is anyway a really cool neighborhood.
Would you like to explore this neighbourhood a little bit better? I can recommend the food tour Anne and I did last month. We really liked it. Check Anne’s post and pictures of the tour to DUMBO here.

DUMBO Arts Festival

What: A free public 3 day event with art, music and performance
When: Last weekend of September
Where: Brooklyn, New York
Neighborhood: DUMBO (Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass)
Website: dumboartsfestival.com
PS: more hotspots are in the New York Little Black Book. A city guide to New York with the best restaurants, shops and things to do. Every week I will post new adventures on Your Little Black Book so stay tuned for the latest gems I spotted!

This is B.!

Ever wondered what it’s like to be a 30 something in New York? Follow the weekly diary of Bianca! A girl from Amsterdam living as an expat in New York. In her personal diary B. tells you all about her latest hotspot discoveries, shopping adventures and events not to miss.

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