T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights, an organization led by rabbis from all streams of Judaism, will honor four human rights leaders at its annual benefit on Tuesday, March 25 at Affirmation Arts in Manhattan. The event will spotlight individuals who exemplify T'ruah's mission of bringing a Jewish moral voice to the most pressing human rights issues of our time.

This year T’ruah will present the first Lifetime Achievement Award to Rabbi Arthur Waskow, a founding board member of T'ruah, and founder and director of The Shalom Center in Philadelphia, PA, for his decades-long commitment to modern liberation struggles, including racial justice, environmental concerns, feminism, and the freedom of Tibet. T'ruah's Rabbinical Human Rights Hero Awards will be presented to Rabbi Kliel Rose of Beth Shalom in Alberta, Canada and Rabbi Dara Frimmer of Temple Isaiah in Los Angeles, CA, who were both nominated for this honor by dedicated members of their respective communities for their tireless dedication to human rights.

The Raphael Lemkin Human Rights Award will be presented to Martina E. Vanden-berg, president and founder of The Human Trafficking Pro Bono Legal Center, for her continuous and tireless fight against human trafficking.

Affirmation Arts is excited to announce that it will be hosting the annual gala benefiting the New York City Gay Men's Chorus and Youth Pride Chorus on Wednesday, February 19, 2014 from 6:30 PM - 9:30 PM. There will be a VIP Champagne Reception at 6:00 PM. The evening stars Carolee Carmello and features Ms. Ermine Muff and DJ Bill Coleman, as well as performances by both choruses.

Tickets: $175 General Admission | $750 Group of Five | $275 for VIP Admission | $1,250 VIP Group of Five. Admission includes Hors d'oeuvres, Open Bar and Performances. VIP admission also includes Champagne Reception, Meet & Greet with Ms. Carmello and Reserved Seating for the Main Performance.

For more information, or to purchase tickets, visit www.nycgmc.org or call 212-344-1777 x 1.

Peggy Hitchcock and Olivia Boyce-Abel are pleased to host an evening of music with Peter Yarrow (Peter, Paul & Mary) to benefit Be Present, Inc., a national non-profit empowering diverse communities since 1988. The fundraiser is being held in the Affirmation Arts studio on December 7 at 7:30 PM. Tickets are available at the door with different sponsorship levels of $100-$1000. Light refreshments will be served.

EXHIBITION HOURS: A four-channel video installation is open to the public from November 12-23, Tuesday through Saturday, 11 AM-6 PM

CLOSED SESSION EVENING PERFORMANCES: November 12-16 & November 19-23 from 6:30 PM-7 PM

RSVP REQUIRED: Click here. 20 participant capacity per performance. Each interactive, closed session performance is 1 hour. It is essential to book ahead.

Our Best Intentions invites audience members to take part in an intimate participatory performance combining elements from psychotherapy, theater and art. As individuals walk into a space divided into four domestic areas — a family lounge, a bedroom, a study, and a dining room – each participant selects a vest featuring an array of labels, such as "mother," "doubt," "addiction," "lover," and so forth. As the action moves through the demarcated space, the audience is both active and passive, taking turns to watch other rooms and participate within their own, adding to the climatic, often emotional rollercoaster ride of different scenes that will unfold in the space.

Affirmation Arts is pleased to host The Camera Club of New York on the occasion of their 2013 Photo Benefit Auction, featuring 80+ plus works by emerging and established photographers. Doors are open 6 PM-8 PM for the cocktail reception and silent auction. Tickets are $35 online, and $50 at the door, and all proceeds go towards CCNY programming, residencies and lecture series. All contributions are tax-deductible.

Affirmation Arts welcomes once more the NYC Police Athletic League for their annual Poetry Slam, featuring the poems of 30 young poets chosen at random from PAL centers across the five buroughs of New York City. This year's slam is titled "Sounds", and marks the fifth time Affirmation Arts has hosted this event in cooperation with the PAL Arts Conservatory Program.

The poets will recite their works on Thursday May 30, from 6 PM-7 PM.

Christie's Fine Art Storage Services and the Andy Warhol Museum, one of the four Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, present "Andy Warhol's TV" as part of Armory Arts Week 2013. Shown for the first time in New York, the specially mounted exhibition features material from Andy Warhol's three cable television sereies from the 1980s. The episodes, which can be seen as a televisual companion to Interview magazine, feature rapidly interwoven interviews with the great, the good and anyone else Warhol happened to feature. An array of stars − from Grace Jones, Debbie Harry and Paloma Picasso to Cindy Sherman, Philip Glass and Keith Haring − all passed before Warhol’s camera. The exhibition, consisting of individual viewing stations, will be open from noon to 6 PM, Wednesday, March 6 through Saturday, March 9 at Affirmation Arts.

William John Kennedy: The Warhol Museum Edition, curated by The Andy Warhol Museum Deputy Director, Patrick Moore, and produced by Kiwi Arts Group (New Zealand), will also be on display.

The Police Athletic League's annual art exhibition will be held the night of February 19, 2013 at Affirmation Arts. The 10 works on display were conceived of and created by 100 collaborating artists ranging from Kindergarten to 5th grade, and encompass a variety of techniques and themes explored by the children at the PAL William J. Duncan Center in Manhattan: drawing, painting, sculpting with found objects, clay & papier-mâché, photography, and collage.

Honor Vitae and toilet.hackers present “Charity Meets Fashion”, a benefit & awareness event hosted by Sasha Cohen at Affirmation Arts. Featuring a fashion show by Giorgi Nazgaidze and photographs by Ika Perveli, the objective of this event is to raise funds to acquire a building in or around Tbilisi, Georgia. This building will house a school for Georgian children displaced by conflict.

The Natural History Museum of the Adirondacks and The Wild Center host their annual reception in New York City this year at Affirmation Arts. The 2012 reception marks the third time Affirmation Art has hosted this event, and we are proud to once again support this important cultural institution.

This year, Wings Spring Fling will take place in the gallery at Affirmation Arts, and, while happening concurrently with the Affirmation Arts exhibition Warhol: Confections & Confessions, the Wild Center will hold an Adirondak-themed silent auction of artwork, gift baskets, and books. 

Wings Spring Fling will tkae place from 6 PM-8 PM on April 26.

This year marks the fourth partnership between Affirmation Arts and the National YoungArts Foundation. On March 9 & 10 YoungArts will be conducting their annual master classes in the third floor studio at Affirmation Arts in conjunction with an exhibition of Gold and Silver finalist works. Featuring 17 works by 10 artists from the NYC region, this year's finalists will be receiving instruction from top names in their respective fields: voice, music, photography, visual arts, cinema, dance, performance, non-fiction writing, creative writing, and curating to name a few.

The Honorable Kate D. Levin, Commissioner, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, presents the awards on March 9 from 6 PM-7 PM.

Groundswell Community Mural Project's 14th annual benefit art auction will be held this year at Affirmation Arts. This marks the third time Groundswell CMP has chosen to work with us to present this meaningful event. To make this event that much more spectacular, Groundswell will be providing cocktails, DJ and a raffle.

The benefit will take place on December 2, from 7pm-10pm with a VIP patron reception from 6pm-7pm.

Affirmation Arts is proud to welcome the Public-Private Alliance Foundation on the occasion of the "Partners Against Poverty" benefit. The benefit will take place on November 4, from 6pm-8pm.

Noted actor and director Tony Plana will host the event. Ian Williams, past president of the United Nations Correspondents Association, will discuss his book, Rum: The Social and Sociable History of the Real Spirit of 1776. Other speakers included Lesly Kernisant, president of SImACT, Inc., Jocelyn McCalla, Office of Special Representative of Haiti to the UN, and David Stillman, PPAF's executive director.

Affirmation Arts' exhibition Saving Grace will be on display during the event.

Affirmation Arts is excited to announce it's partnership with the Haiti Cultural Exchange for Selebrasyon!, a celebration of Haitian arts and culture. The festivities will take place at Affirmation Arts, using the entire buiding to produce workshops, storytime for children, gallery tours for children and adults of the concurrent exhibition Saving Grace, music & dance performances, and film screenings.

Participating artists, curators, and organizations include Klode Garoute (Michele Michel), Shakespeare Guirand, Gracie Xavier, Gerald Alexis, Michele Marcelin, Jen Celestin, Cybil Charlier, Jessica St. Vil Ulysse & KaNU Dance Theater, Goussy Celestin, Lakou Brooklyn, Jean Tiga Baptiste, Nadia Dieudone & Feet of Rhythm, and Buyu Ambroise & the Blues in Red Band.

Selebrasyon! will run from 12pm-6pm on October 16.

Affirmation Arts is pleased to announce it will be hosting the Art for Art fundraiser presented by New York City Arts in Education Roundtable on June 28, 2010. This year marks the first instance of the fundraiser, featuring postcard-sized small works by artists chosen via an open call submission program. All works will be auctioned off for $25, with proceeds directly benefitting the NYCAIE mission.

The Natural History Museum of the Adirondacks and The Wild Center are pleased to present the launch of a new initiative, Wings, their junior advisory council. Founded in late 2009 by a group of like-minded young New Yorkers who were brought together by their love or the Adirondacks. Through social gatherings in New York City and the Adirondacks, they hope to heighten awareness of about the Museum among peers through education and philanthropy.

The launch party will be held on April 19, from 7 PM-10 PM.

For the second time, the National YoungArts Foundation pairs up with Affirmation Arts and 5 other West Side establishments to present the master classes and award ceremony surrounding YoungArts Week. This year, through workshops and master classes, YoungArts Week will extend its reach from Miami to New York CIty, bringing together some of the best and brightest in the visual arts, dance, performance, and theater.

On April 22 from 5 PM-6 PM, Stephanie Waters, Kirk Simon, and Karen Goodman present the Gold and Silver winners with their awards at the Baryshnikov Arts Center.

For more information on how you can join in or participate in next year's gala or master classes please visit the YoungArts website.

Affirmation Arts is excited to annouce that it will be hosting Groundswell Community Mural Project's 13th annual benefit art auction. The benefit will take place on November 12th, from 7pm-10pm.

The Fashion Center Business Improvement District is proud to host the 5th annual Fashion District Arts Festival, a district-wide celebration of the artists, crafters, galleries and theaters that contribute to the creative energy of America's fashion capital.

On this occasion, Affirmation Arts will present an exhibition of photographic works by the artist William T. Hillman. Exhibition hours are 10am-6pm for the run of the Festival, with an opening reception on October 15 from 6pm-8pm.

This year, the National YoungArts Foundation teams up with Affirmation Arts and the Baryshnikov Arts Center to present IN THE STUDIO, a gala to benefit the next generation of American artists. This memorable event will take place over the course of three days, April 1-3, and include workshops, panel discussions, performances, a cabaret and an exhibition of current YoungArts finalists and winners.

For more information, please visit the YoungArts website.

Affirmation Arts is pleased to host Fundación Amistad on the occasion of the fundraiser towards the presentation of Chelsea Visits Havana at the 10th Biennial of Havana, from March 27 to April 30, 2009. Organized by FA board memeber Alberto Magnan and Dara Metz, this exhibition offers the Cuban arts community and general public a window into the current art scene in New York.

The fundraiser will run from 6:30pm-9pm on February 20, 2009.

"Before kids can go places, they need a place to go."

On November 14, Affirmation Arts hosts a gallery visit for children from the Police Athletic League Duncan Center's afterschool program. During this visit, children will explore the photographic exhibition, Hillman + Chavez.

Led by gallery director Marla Goldwasser, students will participate in an art lesson based on the New York City Department of Education Blueprint for Teaching and Learning in the Arts. After an introduction to the artwork and an interactive discussion, the children will create their own photographic works of art.

Affirmation Arts is excited to annouce that it will be hosting Groundswell Community Mural Project's 12th annual benefit art auction. This auction will feature 70 works of art - 10 for live auction and 60 for silent auction, and have music, a raffle, open bar and appetizers.

This year, the benefit will take place on October 29th, from 7pm-10pm with a 6pm-7pm VIP reception.

Affirmation Arts is happy to announce its participation in the 2008 fashion District Arts Festival. We will be presenting an exhibition of large-scale photographic work by the contemporary artists William T. Hillman and Lia Chavez. The exhibition, Hillman + Chavez runs September 18-October 24, 2008.

Affirmation Arts will be open 10am-6pm each day of the Festival, excepting Sunday, October 19.

New York's Police Athletic League invites all to join their annual Poet's Café, this year held at Affirmation Arts. It's purpose is to celebrate the finalists and grand prize winners of the Keepin' It Real city-wide poetry contest. The 25 finalists and winners were selected from a pool of 600, and the café itself is hosted by a group of celebrity slam poets from New York City.

Poet's Café will be held on May 14, from 6:30 PM-8:30 PM.

 

Affirmation Arts is proud to announce that New York's Police Athletic League will hold an exhibition for their annual art contest in our gallery on Febraury 20 from 6 PM-8 PM.

This art contest is timed to coincide with Brotherhood/Sisterhood Week (the 3rd week in February) begun in 1934 by the National Conference for Community and Justice (NCCJ). It's goal is to address the question of how diverse peoples can live tolerantly and cooperatively with each other in multicultural societies. This year's theme is "We Are Family".