New York Urban Explorers: Art, Food, Museums, Walks, etc.

Georgia O’Keeffe: Flowers and Abstractions - Art History Livestream

Learn about iconic American artist Georgia O’Keeffe’s life and see her beautiful flower and abstraction paintings in part 2 of our art history series (part 1 featured her early New York years).

"Nobody sees a flower - really - it is so small - we haven't time - and to see takes time, like to have a friend takes time... S- I said to myself - I'll paint what I see - what the flower is to me but I'll paint it big and they will be surprised into taking time to look at it - I will make even busy New-Yorkers take time to see what I see of flowers... Well - I made you take time to look at what I saw.”
- Georgia O’Keeffe

Winslow Homer and the American Experience - Art History Livestream

We invite you to join us for a look into the fascinating life and career of iconic American artist Winslow Homer.

Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Winslow Homer is one of the most popular and important artists in American history. Following the Civil War the United States experienced increased industrialization and urbanization (the Gilded Age) yet Homer’s paintings captured the innocence of daily rural American life.

This is one of a series of educational and entertaining art history programs focusing on “the American Experience”, the history of the United States through the context of American art: painting, sculpture, photography, architecture, furniture, fashion, etc.

We’ll also periodically explore the relationship between American art history and a variety of other cultural mediums such as music, literature, dance, food, religion, economics, politics, sports, radio, television, film, plus much more!

Fleetwood Mac: 1960’s-Present – Music History Livestream

Let’s travel back in time to hear the great sounds of Fleetwood Mac, the first time they’ve been featured in our music history series. We’ll go all the way back to the band’s roots in the 1960’s and continue through their classic songs from the 1970’s and 1980’s. Of course we’ll also hear some of the group’s solo efforts. In addition to hearing great music we’ll also weave in other historical and cultural aspects from this area.
Group participation of the music with your fellow participants via Zoom.

Fleetwood Mac are a British-American rock band formed in London in 1967 by guitarist and singer Peter Green. Green named the band by combining the surnames of drummer Mick Fleetwood and bassist John McVie, who have remained with the band throughout its many lineup changes. Fleetwood Mac have sold more than 120 million records worldwide, making them one of the world's best-selling bands.

Primarily a British blues band in their early years, Fleetwood Mac achieved a UK number-one single in 1968 with the instrumental "Albatross" and had other UK top ten hits with "Man of the World", "Oh Well" (both 1969), and "The Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown)" (1970). Green left the band in May 1970, with McVie's wife Christine McVie (who had previously contributed to the band as a session musician) joining as an official member on vocals and keyboards two months later. Other key members during the band's early years were Jeremy Spencer, Danny Kirwan, and Bob Welch. By the end of 1974, these members had departed, which left the band without a guitarist and male vocalist. While Fleetwood was scouting studios in Los Angeles, he heard the American folk-rock duo Buckingham Nicks, consisting of guitarist and singer Lindsey Buckingham and singer Stevie Nicks. In December 1974, he asked Buckingham to join Fleetwood Mac, with Buckingham agreeing on the condition that Nicks could also join. The addition of Buckingham and Nicks gave the band a more pop rock sound, and their 1975 album Fleetwood Mac topped the Billboard 200 chart in the United States. Their next album, Rumours (1977) reached number one in multiple countries around the world and won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1978.

The line-up remained stable through three more studio albums, but by the late 1980s began to disintegrate. After Buckingham left in 1987, he was replaced by Billy Burnette and Rick Vito, although Vito left in 1990 along with Nicks. A 1993 one-off performance for the first inauguration of President Bill Clinton reunited the classic 1974–1987 line-up for the first time in six years. A full-scale reunion took place four years later, and Fleetwood Mac released their fourth U.S. No. 1 album, The Dance (1997), a live album marking the 20th anniversary of Rumours and the band's 30th anniversary. Christine McVie left in 1998 after the completion of The Dance Tour. Fleetwood Mac released their final studio album, Say You Will, in 2003. Christine McVie rejoined in 2014 for their On With the Show Tour. In 2018, Buckingham was fired and replaced by Mike Campbell, formerly of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and Neil Finn of Split Enz and Crowded House. After Christine McVie's death in 2022, Nicks said in 2024 that the band would not continue without her.

***

We invite you to join us for our latest film history livestream program: "Dolley Madison: America's First Lady", starring Eve Best in the title role.

The first portion of our two-part program (approximately 15-20 minutes) will be a brief overview of the "Dolley Madison: America's First Lady" film, including the historical context, things to look for, accuracy, etc.
The second portion of our two-part program will be a full screening of the "Dolley Madison: America's First Lady" film (90 minutes).
During and after the screening you'll have the opportunity to discuss the film with your fellow participants via Zoom.

Dolley Madison lived through the two wars that established the U.S., was friends with the first 12 Presidents, and watched America evolve from a struggling young republic to the first modern democracy in the world. She was nicknamed “Queen Dolley,” and when she died in 1849 at the age of 81 — one of the last remaining members of the founding generation - Washington City honored her with the largest state funeral the capital had ever seen for a woman.

Born prior to the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Dolley Payne grew up during a time when the country was striving to develop an identity. The daughter of strict Quaker parents, Dolley showed an early interest in contemporary dress and gossip - what her friends considered the evil temptations of the material world. Growing up in the capital city of Philadelphia presented many social opportunities for Dolley, but she acquiesced to her father's wishes that she marry a young Quaker lawyer, John Todd. After only three years of marriage, though, Dolley’s husband died of Yellow Fever in an epidemic that also claimed her youngest son. Widowed and a single parent, she soon met U.S. Congressional Representative James Madison. Four months later, the couple married.

When James Madison became the fourth President of the United States in 1809, Dolley assumed the then ill-defined role of presidential wife. Throughout the world, other nations were ruled by kings and emperors who communicated their power and legitimacy through bejeweled crowns and thrones. In the still new America, and in its capital of Washington, the rules of presidential behavior in a democratic republic had not yet been established by the time the Madisons came to Washington.

As the president's wife, Dolley Madison created a uniquely American style - one that combined power with republican values. She presided over the first Inaugural Ball in Washington, opening it to the public; she took charge of transforming the President's House into a public space that was both elegant and democratic; and as her successors have done ever since, she adopted a social cause of her own, raising funds for an orphanage and advocating for children left parentless by the War of 1812.

Hosting weekly socials where Washington’s elite could mingle in an unofficial capacity, Dolley Madison ushered in a new era of bipartisanship and behind-the-scenes politicking. After the War of 1812, when several politicians talked of abandoning the ravaged capitol and returning to Philadelphia, Dolley Madison continued to host social events, sending a clear message to influential members of Congress and Washington society that Washington was not beyond repair.

Over time, Dolley Madison earned a reputation as skillful diplomat, humanitarian, style icon, and politically savvy hostess. She defined the role of the President's wife and became, in effect, America's first First Lady, and in the process changed the face of the American presidency.

Dolley Madison features Tony Award-nominee Eve Best (Nurse Jackie) as Dolley Madison and Tony Award-winner Jefferson Mays as James Madison (I Am My Own Wife).

Film Trailer:
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/dolley/#part01

***