RiverArts creates opportunities to amplify the artistic voice, bringing insight and delight to our community. We are proud to spotlight great storytelling and leading voices in art, music, poetry, dance, and theater.
Under the direction of Marie Louise-Miller, our Artist Conversation series offers a chance to get up close and personal with artists and arts experts. Recent events have featured Maxine Sherman and Bennett Rink of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, three octogenarians on what it means to be an Ageless Artist, and a panel of Young Audience authors: Veera Hirandanani, Sheela Chari, and Dr. Sayantai DesGupta.
RiverArts illuminates creativity in all forms, including poetry reading events, radio plays, and stand-up comedy. RiverArts also presented the world premiere of Braiding, an original performance piece integrating music, dance, art, and video.
Upcoming Conversations
Inspiration, Fuel & Identity: A Conversation with Ted & Nune
A conversation with Ted Andreasian and Nune Karamyan, led by artist and expert art restorer, Katerina Spilio. Ted and Nune discuss their new book, Stone and Candle: Armenian Monasteries—the epic journey into the mountains of Armenia, unpack the deeper meanings of the book’s title, the inspiration for the trip, and the power of connecting to the past while shaping a creative path into the future.
Stone and Candle: Armenian Monasteries is a collection of images that pays homage to Armenian nature and the magnificent churches ingeniously assembled over centuries by stone. Within the book’s pages, Ted and Nune’s work captures the profound play between human artistry and its surrounding natural environment. The images weave a narrative conveying the intrinsic connection between human creativity and the sacred architectural marvels of Christian heritage.
Saturday, October 14, 5:30pm More information here.
Past Conversations
T.S. Eliot & Benjamin Britten | An Immersive Dialogue of Poetry and Music
An immersive experience of poetry and music event featuring a reading of TS Eliot’s The Waste Land and performance of Benjamin Britten’s Suite for cello 1, op 72.
Award-winning narrator/actor Edoardo Ballerini will render the 100-year-old poem while virtuoso cellist Peter Seidenberg interprets the complex passions woven throughout Britten’s solo cello suite. Poetry and music, intertwine, underscore, and respond to one another, deepening our experience of these singular artistic masterpieces.
There will be a conversation with the performers and Dr. Neil Arditi, Professor of English Literature at Sarah Lawrence College, led by RiverArts’ Producer & Artistic Director of Artist Conversations & Theater, Marie-Louise Miller immediately following the performance.
“A Spirituals Experience”
The inner life and inspiration of African American spirituals, with Yolanda F. Johnson, Soprano
Why “Wade in the Water?” Was there a reason to tell the chariot to “Swing Low?”
Yolanda F. Johnson explores the emotional, spiritual journey and hidden communication in traditional African-American spirituals conveyed for the enslaved Africans in America and the influence of spirituals on music of the Civil Rights Movement on through popular music. Part lecture, part recital, the program also includes a sing-along for audience members to gain a new understanding of these well-known and beloved songs. RiverArts’ Producer, Marie-Louise Miller, leads the conversation with Yolanda with opportunity for audience questions.
Presented by RiverArts’ Artist Conversation Series. Producer, Marie-Louise Miller
Artist Conversation with Malcolm D. MacDougall III
MacDougall’s work transcends the physical. Led by the desire to capture the potential for movement in the objects around us and influenced by the world as seen through the lens of the microscope, Macdougall creates sculpture which leads the imagination to touch the sublime.
Please visit Malcolm at www.MacDougall.com to learn more about Malcolm and view his body of work.
Presented by RiverArts’ Artist Conversation Series. Producer, Marie-Louise Miller
Artist Conversation with Ray Wilcox and Evan Bishop of Yonkers Arts
A live conversation with Ray Wilcox and Evan Bishop of Yonkers Arts about the organization’s Black Lives Matter Mural with Marie-Louise Miller.
In August of 2020, Yonkers Arts, together with community support, created a Black Lives Matter mural on S. Broadway outside of City Hall in Yonkers. Hear about the inspiration for the mural, the process of getting the mural approved and created, and the plans for its future. Ray and Evan talked about goals for Yonkers Arts, their role in community building through the arts, and what it means to serve a city of 200,000.
Presented by RiverArts’ Artist Conversation Series. Producer, Marie-Louise Miller
