Bronx Trolley rolls October 7th

The Bronx Culture Trolley rolls again on Wednesday, October 7, along the South Bronx Cultural Corridor with an evening full of family activities. The evening features six art exhibitions at: Longwood Art Gallery @ Hostos, Bronx Museum of the Arts, Bronx Blue bedroom Project, LDR Studio Gallery, and Bruckner Gallery at the Bruckner Bar & Grill. The evening will also include percussion sounds of the Quijombo Festival, the outdoor Tree Museum, and a karaoke after-party at the Bruckner Bar & Grill.

October 7th’s trolley begins at the Longwood Art Gallery at Hostos Community College, 450 Grand Concourse at 149th Street, at 5 p.m. with the opening reception for Samaná: Images of the Dominican Republic – Photographs by Marino Corniel, Elaine Eversley and Ryan Mann-Hamilton of the Samaná peninsula which was settled in the 1820s by freed slaves from the United States. The exhibition includes portraits and landscapes of this unique region with a special emphasis on the descendants of the African-American settlers and the impact of development projects on the environment and the traditional cultures of the peninsula. This show, on view thru November 7, is a presentation of Hostos Center for the Arts & Culture and is curated by Wallace I. Edgecombe.

– Beginning at the gallery, a procession of percussion kicks off the Quijombo Festival, a five-day celebration of Afro-Dominican culture (through October 11). It features an Afro-Dominican percussion jam with Ramón Abad y Palo Mayor in a program of secular and spiritual drumming including Congo, Bambulá, Creole and others. It will be followed by two full sets at 6:45 7:45 p.m. For more information call (718) 518-6728.

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. The Bronx Culture Trolley is your free ticket to a cultural tour along the South Bronx Cultural Corridor of the lower Grand Concourse. Admission to all participating venue attractions is free. The Bronx Culture Trolley runs on the first Wednesday of each month (except January and September) providing Bronxites and tourists alike a fun way to travel via a replica of an early 20th-century trolley car. Passengers are given the opportunity to sample several of the area’s hottest cultural attractions, dining establishments and entertainment venues along the way.

FIRST STOP: Bronx Museum of the Arts, 1040 Grand Concourse at 165th Street, for a tour of the museum and its current exhibition: Intersections: Grand Concourse at 100, part 2. This year the Bronx commemorates the centennial of the Grand Concourse. To mark the occasion, The Bronx Museum of the Arts examines the past, present, and future of the Grand Concourse with Intersections.

In addition, a special Lobby installation by Acconci Studio will significantly alter the museum architecture. This exhibition was organized by The Bronx Museum of the Arts in collaboration with Bronx County Historical Society. Special Advisor: Ray Bromley. This exhibition is on view thru January 10, 2010. For further information call (718) 681-6000.

NEXT STOP: The Tree Museum, Grand Concourse, from 138th Street to Mosholu Parkway, where 100 trees give voice to 100 perspectives. Trees with stories to tell can be identified by their sidewalk markers. Trolley riders with cell phones can begin their visit at any point along the Grand Concourse and listen in on local stories and the intimate lives of trees offered by current and former area residents – from beekeepers to rappers, historians to gardeners, school kids to politicians. The Tree Museum was created by Katie Holten to celebrate the communities and ecosystems along the Bronx’s Grand Concourse. For information call (212) 729-1457.

NEXT STOP: Bronx Blue Bedroom Project, 309 Alexander Avenue #3A, where you can enjoy a viewing of GC2. GC2 is an exhibition about the Centennial of the Grand Concourse by Hector Canonge, a filmmaker and new media artist who lives in New York City where he studied literature, film and Integrated Media Arts.

NEXT STOP: LDR Studio Gallery, 137 Alexander Avenue, Suite 10, 4th floor, for a viewing of Visions of Horror. Halloween: A celebration of the awakening of the spirits of the dead; A night when the supernatural becomes more near and real to us as we dress and paint ourselves in expression of our inner selves. So the artists involved in this Halloween exhibition display their feelings about life, death and this most theatrical and creative of our American holidays. FINAL STOP: Bruckner Gallery at the Bruckner Bar & Grill, 1 Bruckner Boulevard, for a viewing of Oil Paintings by Barry Kostrinsky. Visit the Bruckner Gallery website at www.brucknergallery.com for more information on this exhibition or call Barry Kostrinsky at (845) 729-5467. After you view the exhibition, stick around for the karaoke. Mistress Wanda’s Karaoke Survivor – part game show, part karaoke. This ain’t your momma’s karaoke party! Join us for the official Trolley After-Party hosted by artist and all around bad girl Wanda Raimundi-Ortiz. Drink specials and full menu available. Come to sing, laugh or just watch.

For additional information on the Bronx Culture Trolley and the Bronx Cultural Card (which offers percentage off discounts at participating Bronx organizations and business establishments), contact Phil Cardone at (718) 931-9500, ext. 33.