Recent Highlight Reel
Five art spaces to put on your radar this month
One of the best parts of writing this newsletter is not only the feedback I get but also your questions! Now, it’s not just my friends and family who are asking me for ideas about where to have lunch after a hike upstate or what galleries are worth checking out. So, I am adding something new here. Each month, I'll share a few things I recently did that you can actually do yourself, not just events or gatherings you missed out on (unless there's something valuable to take away). Think: art exhibits you can visit, towns worth exploring, hikes my family discovered, or secret gardens you might not know about.
While my Instagram focuses mainly on the Hudson Valley, Substack is where I also share adventures in the city. Winter is prime museum time, so here are five exhibitions to get on your radar this month.
Luna Luna: Forgotten Fantasy, The Shed at Hudson Yards NYC
Luna Luna is a carnival-meets-art-world installation at The Shed at Hudson Yards and is definitely worth checking out. This art amusement park, originally installed in 1987 in Hamburg, has been meticulously restored after sitting in a Texas storage container for over three decades. While you can't actually ride the rides, it is still fun to learn about the history of the show and to see the whimsical work of some of the greatest contemporary artists of the 20th century.
The “rides” include Jean-Michel Basquiat's Ferris wheel, Keith Haring's carousel, and Kenny Scharf's twirling swing chairs. I loved Roy Lichtenstein's glass maze, which is a bit disorienting but cool. Salvador Dali's dome is a mirrored funhouse that creates optical illusions. Between the stilt walkers, puppeteers, carnival music, and energetic art, you can’t help but smile while you are there.
Luna Luna: Forgotten Fantasy is on view through February 23. Check LunaLuna.com for hours and pricing
Forge Project, Taghkanic, NY
I first stumbled across Forge Project on Instagram. Set on 60 beautiful acres in Taghkanic, NY, this Native-led arts organization houses over 175 contemporary artworks by nearly 300 Indigenous artists. The building is a former country home of a NYC family that was donated to be used as a cultural institution. It was designed by Ai Weiwei (his only residential project in the US!). But what makes Forge Project extraordinary isn't just its collection or the building – it's their deeply personal approach to educating. When I signed up my friend Emily and me for a tour, I had no idea what to expect.
When we arrived, we were greeted by Sarah Biscarra-Dilley of the Northern Chumash Tribe, who invited us to take off our shoes and share a cup of tea with her. We were blown away by what followed – Sarah spent more than an hour weaving together her personal history with broader Indigenous stories, opening our eyes to so much history that we never learned in school. The artwork – from moving photographs of reservation homes to intricately beaded tapestries – became more meaningful when seen through the lens of her stories. What really stuck with me was what she said about the land acknowledgment signs you see all over the Hudson Valley – they mean nothing unless you take action, even if that's just having a real conversation with Indigenous people. That's what makes Forge Project so special – they're not asking for apologies or donations; they just want to pass down their stories and help people understand, creating an experience that's both educational and incredibly personal.
Check the website for tours and programming.
Mercer Labs, New York City
Mercer Labs is located in the historic East River Savings Bank across from the Oculus. This massive 45,000-square-foot space is not your traditional art museum – it's more like a mesmerizing blend of AI and art. The current show, Limitless, features fifteen installations that completely envelop you in visual and sound experiences. My husband, daughters, and I spent almost two hours exploring everything from digital projection rooms to mirrored spaces and light shows. Each space was more surprising than the last.
The first room wowed us with giant 26-foot-high projectors blasting immersive images on all six surfaces. Grab one of the swings if you can – you'll feel like you're floating. One of the most unique rooms, called “4D Sound,” was a listening experience where you enter a large space with carpeted walls and floors. We were instructed to sit down, close our eyes, and listen to sounds the artist had recorded while blindfolded in New York City for a period of seven days. It was soothing and meditative. Halfway through, you'll discover “The Cave,” a pink room covered in fake flowers that you're encouraged to touch and interact with. Pro tip: don't miss the mochi counter in the gift shop for a sweet treat at the end!
Check mercerlabs.com for hours and more information.
Wassaic Project, Wassaic, NY
The Wassaic Project is housed in an old iron factory and grain mill called Maxon Mills. It’s totally DIY and unpolished, but that's part of what makes it cool. Clearly run on a shoestring budget, it was co-founded by art school grads who are all about showing emerging artists. The winter show "A Space Between Worlds" features work from nine textile artists. My favorite was Paolo Arao's geometric pieces, textile paintings using hand-woven, hand-dyed fabrics and repurposed clothing. The bold patterns are inspired by Philippine traditions, which the artist says have spiritual and healing powers.
The building itself is a little bit kooky – you climb through different floors of this narrow grain mill, never knowing what's coming next. Despite the fact that I was freezing (no heat!), seeing the art in this raw industrial space was an important part of the overall experience. The owners are always there and happy to chat. Bowie Zunino, one of the co-owners, and her daughter also showed me around their newly expanded gift shop (which, by the way, offers a decent penny candy section). The whole place has this great energy even though (or maybe because) it's so different from your typical polished museum.
A Space Between Two Worlds, on view through March 15. Check wassaicproject.org for hours and more info
Katonah Art Museum, Katona, NY
I had never heard of Jonathan Becker, known for his celebrity photography portraits, before this show, but since the docent-led tours at KMA are always great (and short!), I decided to check it out. Originally from St. Louis, Becker grew up in New York with parents in the arts and became famous for his work for Condé Nast magazines in the '90s and early 2000s. We had so much overlap! - I was born in St. Louis, my dad was an NYC art dealer, and I also worked at Condé Nast! His large, square-format, black-and-white photos are incredibly rich and detailed. During our tour, we talked about how each image captures just a moment in time and can mean something different and personal to everyone.
Indeed, right from the very first room, Becker's early works in Èze, France (where he studied with photographer Brassaï) took me back to when I was 12, spending the summer there with my father. (Did anyone else in the room feel that same connection?) Then came the NYC downtown photos – including JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette (who I went to high school and college with!). There are over 50 photographs in the show about politics, fashion, arts, and culture from Becker's 50-year career. It definitely took me back in time in the best possible way.
Jonathan Becker: Lost Time is on view through January 26. Check katonahmuseum.org for hours and more info.
I hope you like the new format. I was inspired by Jenny Rosenstrach's "Three Things" and Laura Perruci's "NYC Diaries Worth Sharing" (both Substacks worth subscribing to, by the way).
This is nice to know. It’s not easy always easy to find things to do in New York in the winter so thank you for this interesting list of happenings.