BX1: The Second Bronx Artist Biennial will showcase the talents of Bronx artists who are featured winners of the borough’s BRIO (Bronx Recognizes Its Own) Individual Artist Fellowship, a product of the Bronx Council on the Arts’ mission to support and nurture Bronx artists. The BX1 Festival is a celebration of these artists’ continued dedication to excellence as well as to honor those who have continued to live, work and produce art in the Bronx.

2007 Honorees: This year's honorees are truly “Arts Heroes”. In today’s day and age, with all the cutbacks, the arts are put on the back burner, but NYC Council Members Maria del Carmen Arroyo and James Vacca continue to support the arts and the work we do in our beautiful borough of The Bronx. The third “Art Hero” is our Deputy Director, Ed Friedman. Ed has given BCA and The Bronx 20 years of dedicated and tireless service. He is committed to raising the profile of the arts in The Bronx.

Date & Time: Wednesday, June 6, 2007

Location: Longwood Art Gallery @ Hostos, Hostos Community College, 450 Grand Concourse at 149th Street in the Bronx

Program: June 6th’s First Wednesday Activities begin at 12:15pm

BRIO Award-winning soprano Elly Erickson performs a free concert of Scandinavian Songs
Elly Erickson is an American soprano of Scandinavian descent and two-time BRIO award winner. The roots of the Bronx, originally settled by the Swede Jonas Bronck in 1639, lie in the Northern countries of Scandinavia. Weaving a musical tapestry of Nordic love, joy, and melancholy, soprano Ms. Erickson will perform a colorful afternoon of romantic songs by Grieg, Sibelius, Rangstrom, Sjoberg, Petersen-Berger, Backer-Grondahl, and other breathtaking melodies by lesser-known Scandinavian composers. Anthony Greene, Director of Education for the Bronx County Historical Society, will give a special introduction before Ms. Erickson’s performance.
Bronx Library Center / 310 East Kingsbridge Road / 718-579-4244
Click here for directions.

June 6th Activities continue at 5:00pm at Hostos Center for Arts and Culture and Local Venues

• VIP Kickoff Reception for BX1: Second Bronx Artist Biennial Exhibition
  This exhibition features eighteen 2006 & 2007 BRIO winners in visual and media. Artists include Blanka Amezkua, Melisa Firelei Báez, Timothy Blum, Reina Mia Brill, Toby Bounagurio, Peter Cabot, Marisol Díaz, Juan Doe, Ruth Marshall, Josh Millis, Joel Neff, Danny Ramón Peralta, Wanda Raimundi-Ortíz, Silvia Romero, Pam Sporn, Ron Terner, José Antonio Vicenty and Lois Weingarten. This show, curated by Longwood;s curator Edwin Ramoran. (5:00-8:30pm)
• 2007 BRIO Awards Presentation Ceremony (5:45pm)
  Twenty-two Bronx artists will be recipients of the BCA's prestigious BRIO (Bronx Recognizes Its Own) Award for artistic excellence this evening's award presentation ceremony. They are:
  In Literary Arts: Carlos Serrano (Playwriting), Bruce Tallerman (Fiction), Julio Toro (Screenwriting).
  In Media Arts: Pamela Sporn (Documentary Film/Video).
  In Performing Arts: Jessica Danser (Choreography), PattyDukes (Vocal Music), Bradon McDonald (Dance), Maxim Pakhomov (Instrumental Music), Jennifer Shyu (Music Composition), Muhamadou Salieu Suso (Instrumental Music), Nelida Tirado (Dance), Rhina Valentin (Acting).
  In Visual Arts: Blanka Amezkua (Crafts), Melisa Baez (Illustration/Drawing), Reina Mia Brill (Crafts), Toby Buonagurio (Sculpture), Peter Cabot (Mixed Media), Marisol Diaz (Photography), Joel Neff (Crafts), Danny R. Peralta (Photography), Ron Terner (Photography), Lois Weingarten (Painting).
• Presentation of Awards to this Year’s Honorees
  Council Members Maria del Carmen Arroyo andJames Vacca and BCA's Deputy Director Ed Friedman (follows BRIO presentation).
• Reception for Abrazados a Punto de Cruz
  An exhibition of sculpture and digital images on textile by Elisa Merino C., on view in the Hostos Atrium. (5:00-8:30pm)

The Bronx Culture Trolley which will feature performances and events at every trolley stop with past and present BRIO winners / 5:30pm, 6:30pm, and 7:30pm

• Swing and Dixieland Jazz by Neal Haiduck at Yankee Tavern
  Enjoy a musical performance of swing and dixieland Jazz by BRIO winner Neal Haiduck. One of the few modern jazz clarinet players, Neal Haiduck has performed throughout the world as sideman and soloist. He began performing at an early age as a Klezmer musician with his accordion playing grandfather, Sam Haiduck. Educated at the Manhattan School of Music, Haiduck plays jazz and classical music and teaches at Monroe College.
  72 East 161st Street / 718-292-6130 / 6:00 & 7:00 performances
• Here and Elsewhere exhibition at The Bronx Museum of the Arts
  This exhibit features a range of work by 36 artists from throughout the metropolitan area, all of whom have participated in the most recent incarnation of the Bronx Museum’s Artist in the Marketplace (AIM 27). The exhibition anticipates new artistic directions, as it celebrates the vitality and promise of new voices.  Video predominates this year, and a number of artists explore the use of internet sources, yet it is the range of media embraced by these up-and-coming artists that is striking, from installation to drawing, painting, sculpture, photography and printmaking.
  1040 Grand Concourse at 149th Street / 718-681-6000 / 5:45-7:45pm
• Hip-Hop Performance by PattyDukes at Pregones Theater
  PattyDukes is a Latina Hip-Hop artist, an emcee, actress, writer and filmmaker from the South Bronx. Some of her solo shows include Yale University’s New Haven Arts and Ideas Festival, Atlanta’s National Black Arts Festival and The NYC Hip-Hop Theater Festival, The POINT CDC and The NYC Mission Society. Group shows include The Knitting Factory, The Royal Shakespeare Company and The Center for Cultural Exchange. She is currently working on her debut album.
  571-575- Walton Avenue / 718-585-1202 / 7:45 performance

An Additional BRIO Performance will take place at the Bronx Academy of Arts & Dance

• Movement in The Bronx
  Movement Research Spring Festival 2007 joins the Bronx Academy of Arts & Dance's Boogie Down Dance Festival with a special evening curated by Bronx-based BRIO award-winning choreographer Christal Brown of Inspirit Dance / 841 Barretto Street, 2nd Floor, in the Hunts Point section of the Bronx / Tickets $12-15. Visit their website for details.

It all takes place in the South Bronx Cultural Corridor

For further information, please contact Ed Friedman, BCA Deputy Director at 718-931-9500 x22 or edf@bronxarts.org