we had walked by it one day on 29th street when we were returning home from the dentist. we were struck by it's picturesque beauty amidst the more rugged facade of it's midtown neighbors. the church was founded in 1848 and has a very interesting history. its official name is the church of the transfiguration, and is known for welcoming all individuals regardless of race, class or sexual orientation for over 160 years. the nickname was bestowed on it in 1870 when actor joseph jefferson, known for portraying rip van winkle, requested a funeral at a different church for his friend, george holland. upon hearing that the friend was also an actor, the priest refused (at the time some people felt that actors were not worthy of a christian burial) and after persistent questioning by mr. jefferson, suggested "there is a little church around the corner where it might be done." jefferson responded, "then i say to you sir, god bless the little church around the corner."
when my nephew jason visited, we happened to walk by it also, and went in to take a peek at its little chapel and sanctuary. this morning chanda and i enjoyed singing along with their choir who harmonized with the congregation on two hymns.
after the service we walked to the high line. it felt festive passing the marble collegiate church with its congregation just leaving their service and milling about on the sidewalk.
i kept exclaiming over every flower we passed on the high line. it felt like every plant was in bloom.
the whitney museum looks like a very large factory building.
we walked around the eighth floor where their general collection is on exhibit. this is an edward hopper painting which made me think immediately of greenwich avenue. the light shines this way along this street as it runs at an angle into seventh avenue (northwest to southeast). the title of the piece is early sunday morning. the description on the plaque next to the painting mentioned that even though edward hopper described this painting "as almost a literal translation of seventh avenue," that the painting removes many of the street's particulars, leaving it difficult to identify as a new york city thoroughfare. i heartily disagree, but maybe it's a neighborhood thing. maybe what he captured is just so esoteric, that it can only be felt by people who walk seventh avenue and greenwich avenue every single day.
we stopped at the cafe for a "shaken matcha" drink and a salad and yogurt parfait.
chanda is reading different stories of people's travels through china which she found on the shelf at tompkins square library. (i love browsing library shelves.)
looking down onto the whitney's seventh floor sculpture patio.
with my knitting and a cup of tea or coffee, i could sit here all day and people watch.
there's a little playground on the roof of this building and i have yet to see someone using it, though i always imagine myself using it with the girls . . i imagine them being little again.
the next art work we looked at is a contribution to the museum's biennial exhibit by chemi rosado-seijo, from puerto rico. she moved a gallery from the museum to the manhattan arts academy, a public high school on the lower east side, and she moved a classroom into the gallery's space. the students from the school whose classroom it is have all their lessons at the whitney, and the biennial art pieces that are part of the gallery are on view at the school in the students' classroom.
looking east onto the sixth floor museum patio.
a collage of work by the students.
a student's flower drawing, similar to flowers our friend deychen likes to draw.
back at home, the mountain laurel is blooming in our courtyard.
sunday night dinner.
