We’ve just added two great new programs to our chock-full February program calendar:

Veselka: The Rainbow on the Corner at the Center of the World
Friday, February 16 at 6 pm
Free Zoom webinar

Join us for a conversation with filmmaker Michael Fiore as he discusses his new documentary, Veselka: The Rainbow on the Corner at the Center of the World, set to be released in theaters on February 23. Watch the film’s trailer here.

Veselka: The Rainbow on the Corner at the Center of the World is the story of New York City’s beloved Ukrainian restaurant Veselka and its father and son proprietors, Tom and Jason Birchard. 

Researching the History of Your NYC Building
Monday, February 26 at 6 pm
Free Zoom webinar

In New York City we are lucky to be surrounded by history everywhere. This is especially true of our buildings, which not only are architectural gems, but also have fascinating backstories that serve as windows into the past.

Unlock new significance to the places you go, see, or live in by learning how to research historic New York City buildings. In this lecture we will demonstrate how to use a myriad of online resources including New York City databases, historic maps, archives, and photographic documentation in order to learn more about your (or any) New York City building. This informative tutorial will be followed by a Q&A session. Audience members are encouraged to bring the address of a specific building that you are curious about, or to ask any general research questions of Village Preservation’s experienced research team.

And here are some other February programs with spaces still available:

In the 1920s, W.E.B. Du Bois started a magazine for children called The Brownies’ Book: A Monthly Magazine for Children of the Sun, the first magazine aimed specifically at Black youth. For the magazine, published here in our neighborhood at 70 Fifth Avenue, Du Bois reached out to the era’s most celebrated Black writers, artists, poets, songwriters to contribute their “best work” to The Brownies’ Book “so that Black children will know that they are thought about and LOVED.” Among its contributors was Langston Hughes, whose first published poems appeared in The Brownies’ Book.

Now, author, educator, and Du Bois scholar Dr. Karida L. Brown and award‐ winning artist and children’s book creator Charly Palmer have revived and expanded upon The Brownies’ Book legacy and showcased new art and writing for children from today’s brilliant Black creators. Join us for a presentation as they discuss their new book packed with 60 all‐new stories, poems, songs, photos, illustrations, comics, short plays, games, essays, and more.

Robert Simon: Repainting the Masters for Fun and Profit
Thursday, February 8 at 6 pm
Free to Village Preservation members at the $50 level and above, at the Salmagundi Club, 47 Fifth Avenue (East 12th Street)

Enjoy this special opportunity to go inside the beautiful Salmagundi Club and learn about the controversial history of altering and censoring well-known artworks. Daniele da Volterra’s cover-up of the nudity in Michelangelo’s Last Judgment may be the most famous alteration of a work of art. But through the centuries, paintings have been revised, repainted, cut up, and cut down for reasons of religious sensitivity, prudery, and blatant commercialism. This illustrated talk will explore some of the most outrageous examples of the extreme makeovers that have altered works of art, both well-known and obscure.

Presented in partnership with the Salmagundi Club