Bronx Cultural Trolley rolls again on August 6

The Bronx Culture Trolley rolls again on August 6 with a special treat for its riders and dance enthusiasts alike. The Bronx Council on the Arts (BCA), in collaboration with the Hostos Center for Arts & Culture, presents Ailey II Free Summer Performance in the Bronx. Tickets are all general admission, limited to two per person, and are now available on a first-come, first-served basis. To obtain your free tickets for this 7:30 p.m. performance, you must go to the Hostos Center for the Arts & Culture box office. Box office hours are Monday to Thursday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. For information and tickets call (718) 518-4455. Hostos is located at 450 Grand Concourse at 149th Street.

Doors open at 7 p.m. for this show which includes The External Knot, Splendid Isolation II excerpt, The Hunt, and Ailey Highlight. The performance is preceded by two free dance classes with Ailey’s teaching artists. A Modern/Jazz dance class will take place from 5:15 to 6 p.m. and a West African dance class will take place from 6:15 to 7 p.m. in the Hostos Center for the Arts & Culture Memorial Plaza, just outside of the Hostos Center’s entrance (rain location TBA). August 6’s show and dance classes are in celebration of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s 50th anniversary. Additional Ailey performances and classes are taking place throughout NYC through August 12. Visit their website at www.alvinailey.org for information.

Additional trolley night activities include five art exhibitions, a book signing event at the Bronx Museum of the Arts, an outdoor literary reading, unique creations of art and jewelry at the Artisans Boutique, and a trip to the Alexander Avenue Art & Antiques District. As always, the night will wind down at J. Maxson’s Bar & Grill with music by the Ethereal Jazz Quartet. The Bronx Culture Trolley is a program of the Bronx Council on the Arts.

August 6’s trolley begins at the Longwood Art Gallery at Hostos Community College, 450 Grand Concourse at 149th Street, at 5 p.m. with a Meet & Greet reception and a closing reception for its current exhibition. OTHER, OTHER… The show features 18 artists of African, Asian, Latino, and Native American ancestry working in drawing, installation, mixed media, painting, performance art, photography, sculpture and video, representing a sampling of 2007 and 2008 Urban Artist Initiative grant (UAI/NYC) recipients.

For more information on the Longwood Art Gallery and its upcoming exhibitions, call (718) 518-6728 or visit www.longwoodcyber.org/.

And while you’re at Hostos, don’t forget to visit the Artisans Boutique which offers imaginative bronxArtworks creations in all price ranges that are yours for the browsing and for the buying. Items included are Korean knot tying novelties by Karen Ahn, Orisha art and crafts by Luis Pagan, art cards and prints by Diane Davis and Stephanie Chisholm, original ceramics by Toby Liederman, and silver jewelry by Liz Ortiz, and much more. View the work of Bronx artisans in a quaint, charming atmosphere. Call (718) 401-9558, e-mail lisa@bronxarts.org, or visit www.bronxarts.org for additional information on BCA’s Artisans Initiative and how to be a participating artisan.

The trolley bell clangs at 5:30, 6:30, and 7:30 p.m. indicating the trolley’s departure from Hostos to make its way to the evening’s cultural events. Passengers can simply enjoy the trolley ride or they can hop on and off at different stops along the route to enjoy the evening’s free activities.

FIRST STOP: The Bronx Museum of the Arts, 1040 Grand Concourse at 165th Street, where they continue their monthly First Wednesdays Book Signings with Cordenia Paige and Darryl Moore, from 5:30 to 7:30p.m. Paige will be signing copies of the new co-authored book Blogger’s Delight. Closing on August 18 is How Soon Is Now?, an exhibition featuring an array of work by 36 artists from Artist in the Marketplace (AIM 28), one of the most celebrated and competitive programs for emerging artists in the country.

On view through August 18, this exhibition was organized by assistant curator Erin Riley-Lopez. For further information on the Bronx Museum of the Arts, upcoming exhibits, and its ongoing activities, call (718) 681-6000 or visit www.bxma.org.

NEXT STOP: The Alexander Avenue Antiques District to visit Thrift World Antiques at 122 Alexander Avenue, Custom Design Studio, 49 Bruckner Boulevard, Alexander’s Café at 129 Alexander Avenue, and Books, Notes & News at 137 Alexander Avenue, and LR Studio upstairs at 137 Alexander Avenue. For information about the Alexander Avenue Antiques District, contact Laura at (718) 401-7866 or LauraN@bronxarts.org.

NEXT STOP: The Bronx Museum Project Space, 11 Bruckner Boulevard at the corner of Lincoln Avenue, for a viewing of INSULA, a multimedia installation by Darcy Dahl, curated by Wayne Northcross. Artist Darcy Dahl presents a series of kinetic animations projected onto drawings that begin with the human figure. Seeing the form involves being in a state of emotional and mental engagement, layering several form studies upon one another. This show is on display twenty-four hours a day, where the installation can be viewed from the street outside the gallery, the shifting illumination of forms presents a visual experience that is constantly in flux. For information and viewing hours, call the Bronx Museum of the Arts at (718) 681-6000.

NEXT STOP: Haven Arts Gallery, 50 Bruckner Boulevard Building A, for a viewing of Factories. Cindy Tower in Gallery I features “Factory 1” — Large-scale oil paintings and tar manifestations of the original Armor Factory in East St. Louis; Scott Lowenbaum in Gallery II features “Factory 2” — Oil paintings and wire installation of factory; Grand Silver Company. For further information and viewing hours, e-mail info@havenarts.org or call (718) 585-5753.

NEXT STOP: St. Mary’s Park, 147th Street and St. Ann’s Avenue, for Open City’s Park Lit Reading Series from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Now in its fifth season, Park Lit Reading Series is an outdoor summer reading series sponsored by Open City, Beller’s Neighborhood, and the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation. Reading takes place in a different City parks and are curated by the editors of a local literary magazine. For information, visit the Park Lit Reading Series website at www.opencity.org

NEXT STOP: Bruckner Gallery at the Bruckner Bar & Grill, 1 Bruckner Boulevard, for a viewing of their current exhibition. For information on this show, visit the Bruckner Gallery website at www.brucknergallery.com or contact Gallery Director Assa Bigger at (718) 665-2001 or info@brucknerartgallery.com.

FINAL STOP of the evening: J. Maxson’s Bar & Grill, 2576 Third Avenue at 139th Street, where you can wind down your trolley night with some good food and drink while enjoying an easy-listening performance of jazz featuring the Ethereal Jazz Quartet led by Richard Fells on tenor sax. This group is a very present force in the jazz scene of New York City’s jazz clubs. For information on J. Maxson’s and/or this performance, call J.B. Reed at (718) 742-9070.

Bronx Culture Trolley, Bronx Council on the Arts, Hostos Center for Arts & Culture, tour