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Past Events

Stravinsky's Sacred Masterpieces

Miller Theater in association with Park Avenue Armory will present Stravinsky's Sacred Masterpieces. Filling the extraordinary vastness of the Armory's drill hall, recently named Wade Thompson Hall, the Vox Vocal Ensemble and Gotham City orchestra, under the direction of George Steel, will offer four ground-breaking masterpieces.

Date: April 19, 2008
Presented by: Miller Theater at Columbia University in association with Park Avenue Armory

2008 Whitney Biennial

Since its founding in 1932, the Biennial has evolved into the Whitney’s signature exhibition as well as the most important survey of the state of contemporary art in the United States today. The 2008 Biennial was curated by Henriette Huldisch, Assistant Curator at the Whitney, and Shamim M. Momin, Associate Curator at the Whitney and Branch Director and Curator of the Whitney Museum at Altria, and overseen by Donna De Salvo, the Whitney’s Chief Curator and Associate Director for Programs. Three advisors worked with the curatorial team throughout the process: Thelma Golden, Director and Chief Curator of The Studio Museum in Harlem; Bill Horrigan, Director of the Media Arts department at the Wexner Center for the Arts at Ohio State University; and Linda Norden, independent curator and writer.

For the first time, the Whitney collaborated with the Park Avenue Armory and Art Production Fund (APF), to provide the Biennial with a second venue in the historic Seventh Regiment Armory building, at Park Avenue and 67th Street. The Armory was the setting for a series of performances, temporary installations, events, and other public programs by Biennial artists from March 6 to March 23, creating an opportunity to present works that could not be accommodated within the Whitney’s walls and remaining true to the fluid, interactive way in which these works were conceived.

High Resolution: Artists Projects at the Armory

Park Avenue Armory in association with the Art Dealers Association of America (ADAA) was home to three artists who were commissioned to create site-specific works for the Armory's historic rooms. The artists, selected by curators Tom Eccles and Trevor Smith, are Spencer Finch, Lisi Raskin, and Pietro Roccosalva. In addition, a video and multimedia art installation by multiple contemporary artists occupied the Armory's main hallway.

Aaron Young’s Greeting Card

On September 17, 2007, for his first ever public exhibition in NYC, Aaron Young painted 288 panels of plywood in alternating colors of red, pink, orange and yellow fluorescent, finishing with an opaque coat of black paint to conceal the bright layers underneath. These boards were then laid out on the massive Drill Hall floor, forming a 128 x 72 foot canvas. Ten motorcycle riders performed on this platform, following specific directions by Young, their synchronized movements forming a pattern of burnouts on the wood. This pattern was allowed to disintegrate over the course of the performance, based on riders’ individualized actions. When the exhaust cleared, the gestural residue of the performance remained - streaks of burnt rubber, worn away layers of paint, and newly revealed neon colors.

Malkin Lecture Series

The Malkin Lecture Series, featured distinguished speakers about the Park Avenue Armory and its pivotal role in the civic, cultural and aesthetic evolution of New York City in the late 19th century. The Series included three lectures: New York’s Gilded Ages: Wealth and Power in the late 19th Century, with speaker Louis Uchitelle and Sven Beckeret, Out of Uniform: The Artful Interiors of the Armory with speakers Karen Zukowski and Pauline Metcalf and Artistic Interiors: The Public Private and Personal Interior Design of Louis C. Tiffany with speakers Alice Conney Frelinghuysen, Nina Gray and Stephen Lash. The Malkin Lectures were held in the Veterans’ Room, desgined by Louis C. Tiffany and Associated Artists.

Municipal Arts Society Ball

On December 10, the Municipal Art Society awarded its highest honor — the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Medal — to Wade F.B. Thompson and Elihu Rose in recognition of their efforts in saving and restoring the historic Seventh Regiment Armory on Park Avenue. Today, the organization they formed in 1993, the Seventh Regiment Armory Conservancy, now the Park Avenue Armory, is restoring and revitalizing the armory to allow full public access to one of the most important collections of 19th century interiors in the city.

69th Infantry Regimental Ball

The Park Avenue Armory and the Veterans of the Seventh Regiment co-sponsored the 69th Infantry Regimental Ball, held at the Armory on December 13th. This “going-away” party raised funds to support the families of the service men and women of the 1st Battalion, 69th Infantry which will be mobilized to Afghanistan for a year beginning in January 2008. All net proceeds went to the Friends of the Fighting 69th, helping the families of soldiers experiencing financial hardship during the unit’s deployment, and to the Fisher House Foundation, providing free or low cost lodging to veterans and military families receiving treatment at military medical centers.