By Tracy Zwick
November 13th through 15th
Last weekend was “peak” foliage in Central Park according to Central Park Conservancy’s “Fall Foliage Tracker” – a tool you can use to get real-time updates on where to spot the most vibrant colors across the park’s 843 acres – but there are still plenty of autumn leaves left to be seen. Shades of red, orange and gold are also visible throughout Riverside Park. Add your favorite areas for leaf-peeping to the comments!
Kent Monkman’s “Officer and Laughing Girl” at The Frick: 1 East 70th Street at Fifth Avenue; open Wednesdays through Mondays 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (and till 9 p.m. on Fridays); tickets start at $17 (pay-as-you-wish on Wednesdays beginning at 1:30 p.m.); children age 10 and younger not admitted
The Frick owns three paintings by 17th-century Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer, and these alone make the museum worth a visit any day. For the next three months, visitors can also see Cree artist Kent Monkman’s suite of contemporary paintings in response to one of the Frick’s Vermeers, “Officer and Laughing Girl.” They hang in the museum’s intimate first-floor Cabinet Room, which has been decorated with charming “Beaver Baroque” wallpaper designed by Monkman for this exhibition. The new paintings imagine Indigenous and European encounters over the last five centuries, incorporating cultural, technological and environmental changes over that time.
Friday Night Fever at New York Historical: Friday, November 13th from 5:30 to 7:30; 170 Central Park West (at West 77th Street); free with pay-as-you-wish admission
In conjunction with the exhibition “You Should be Dancing: New York 1976 and Beyond,” New York Historical is hosting an early-bird dance set this Friday evening. DJ Kultured Child – also known as Sirius XM host Angélika Beener—will spin ’70s and ’80s disco and hip hop classics. They’ll provide the disco ball; you provide the moves. Cultural historian TL Cross will be on hand with insights into the music’s culture and legacy.
The Nature of Color at The American Museum of Natural History: 200 Central Park West, between West 77th and 81st streets. Previews start Friday, November 13th; open daily from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.; tickets required (pay-what-you-wish museum entry for New Yorkers, but special exhibition tickets are not free)
The days may be getting darker, and the leaves are turning shades of red and orange. Last week’s wave was decidedly blue. You can learn about these shades and the entire color spectrum, its chemistry and culture, in this re-opened iteration of a show that originally premiered around the time of the first COVID lockdown, then quickly closed. Member previews begin Friday. The exhibition fully opens to the general public on the 16th.
Free Organ Recital at St. John the Divine: Sunday, November 15th from 5 to 5:45 p.m.; 1047 Amsterdam Avenue at West 112th Street; free
Following 4 p.m. Evensong this Sunday, the Cathedral will host organ scholar Jon Runion, who will play a free 45-minute recital.
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