YOUR GUIDE TO THE ARTS, ENTERTAINMENT AND DINING Art Guild of Port displays 98 works, picks winners at event

“Bison Brawl.”

There were also three honorable mentions: Sabine Jean-Bart’s “Mango Merchant,” David Wollin’s “Mama Paella,” and Angela Classi’s “Greyson.”

Town of North Hempstead Supervisor Jennifer De Sena, Councilwoman Mariann Dalimonte and state Assemblywoman Gina Sillitti gave all of the winners citations. The artwork of the members showcase is available to be seen on the website or in the gallery until July 15.

Not only were these awards distributed, but the annual Terri Skhuda award was alsogiven out at the showcase. TAG gives this award each year to an artist that embodies TAG’smission: Encouragement, Education, Exploration and Exhibition of the visual arts.

“This person inspires students of all ages to push to their limit of creativity teachinganything from abstract to realism, and lending their own learning experience into the process.

This person exudes kindness, patience as they generously show their own love of art and passion through teaching,” said program director Tracy Lefkowitz in a speech announcing the winner.

This year, the award was given to Manny Villalobos.

“This award was such an honor and a great surprise. Having the opportunity to teachstudents how to use art mediums to express themselves, then to see them execute their techniques is a reward in itself. The stories that are told through art will last beyond our days and leave a footprint of that time,” said Villalobos.

The next Art Guild exhibit will be Art of the Bloom, a floral-inspired show, andsubmissions will be accepted until August 21st. Check The Art Guild’s website for more details!

The Art Guild, winner of Blank Slate Media’s Best Art Gallery and Best Art School for 7 years in a row, offers classes and workshops for children, teens and adults year-round.

The Art Guild of Port Washington Inc. held their annual members showcase on Friday, June 9.

This showcase, unlike most of TAG’s exhibits, did not have a theme, rather allowing all 400 of TAG’s members to submit any work of art they wanted.

This year’s showcase, with 98 submissions, was the largest number of submissions everreceived — the walls of the historic building in which the Art Guild resides overflowed with beautiful art.

Over 300 guests gathered in The Art Guild’s backyard on June 9 for thereception to enjoy live music, food, and of course the artwork. This exhibit was sponsored by The Peter and Jeri De- jana Foundation.

The pieces were judged by Joshua Ruff, the co-executive director of the Long Island Museum of American Art, History & Carriages, and the winners for 2023 were announced.

In first place was Alice Riordan’s piece “The Sage.” Second was Joan Stevens’ “Long Way Home.” Finally, in third place was Janis Hurley’s

Visit our website at www.theartguild.org or contact us at 516-304-5797 to register or to learn more about educational opportunities.

TAG is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to creating an inclusive and enriching home for the visual arts education, exploration, and exhibition. It is an organization open to all people with a common goal to advance the visual arts.

On Sunday, July 16, at 3:00 p.m., Stephen C. Widom Cultural Arts at Emanuel will present a virtual program, The Genius of George Gershwin, featuring Harvey Granat.

In addition to performing some of the great Gershwin standards, you will see some very special videos of Sinatra, Ella, Mel Torme and a rare video performance of Gershwin.

As a special treat, Harvey converses with the legendary Michael Feinstein, perhaps the country’s leading Gershwin performer and authority.

George Gershwin, born in Brooklyn, on Sept. 26, 1898, was the second son of Russian immigrants. As a boy, George was anything but studious, and it came as a wonderful surprise to his family that he had secretly been learning to play the piano.

In 1914, Gershwin left high school to work as a Tin Pan Alley song plugger and within three years, “When You Want ‘Em, You Can’t Get ‘Em; When You Have ‘Em, You Don’t Want ‘Em,” was published.

Though this initial effort created little interest, “Swanee” (lyrics by Irving Caesar) — turned into a smash hit by Al Jolson in 1919 — brought Gershwin his first real fame.

In 1924, when George teamed up with his older brother Ira, “the Gershwins” became the dominant Broadway songwriters, creating infectious rhythm numbers and poignant ballads, fashioning the words to fit the melodies with a “glove-like” fidelity. This extraordinary combination created a succession of musical comedies, including “Lady, Be

Good!” (1924), “Oh, Kay!” (1926), “Funny Face” (1927), “Strike up the Band”(1927 and 1930), “Girl Crazy” (1930), and “OF Thee I Sing” (1931), the first musical comedy to win a Pulitzer Prize.

Over the years, Gershwin songs have also been used in numerous films, including “Shall We Dance” (1937), “A Damsel in Distress” (1937), and “An American In Paris” (1951). Later years produced the award-winning “new” stage musicals “My One and Only” (1983) and “Crazy for You”(1992), which ran for four years on Broadway.

Harvey Granat is an entertainer and historian of the American songbook. He regularly appears at a variety of venues in New York, Florida and the Berkshires, including his popular series at the 92nd St Y, Canyon Ranch where he has done more than 300 shows, and a recent, sold-out series at Delray Beach Playhouse.

He has also appeared at the Norton Museum in Palm Beach, The McCallum Theater in Palm Springs, and a host of other theaters and clubs.

Harvey has collected important letters and manuscripts of the greats of the American Songbook and is proud to have established “The Harvey Granat George and Ira Gershwin Collection” at the Library of Congress. Registration for this virtual event is $15.

This program is funded by Lillian & Morton Alpert.

For further information, to register and purchase a ticket online, go to: https://www.scwculturalarts. org/sunday-series

After July 16 at 2:00 PM, call 516.482.5701 to purchase a ticket. Video is available for viewing thru July 30, 2023.

Call 516.482.5701 if you have any questions.