LES murals: August 2026

 

Last year I made my first visit to the murals of the Lower East Side.

I enjoyed it so much,

I decided to make it a yearly event.

When my nephew Steve visited for the Knick’s parade,

there was lots of Knick’s themed art. 

 Now, only a few murals remain.

That makes me wonder how often the art changes.

Not to mention who decides which artists

 get to display their work on East Houston Street.

It seems like a prime location to me. 😊

Here are some pics from last year’s display…

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2025/09/les-murals.html

 

And here are two blogs from the Seward Johnson display in 2015…

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2015/06/seward-johnson-sculptures-part-1.html

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2015/07/seward-johnson-sculptures-part-2.html

 

Cheers!

PJ

© 2026 PJ Lehrer

Thanks Gloria.

On September 2^nd Ms. Gloria Steinem died.  She was 92 years old.

I went to her home, now the site of her foundation on 73^rd Street, to remember her.

While I was there a young man stopped to ask who she was.

I told him that she was a founder of the woman’s liberation movement, a feminist icon, and my hero. 

She is the reason, that I was able to have the life that I did.

In the 90’s, recognizing that women were now present in greater numbers in workplaces, a study was done to determine how businesses had adapted to their presence.

What they found was that businesses had not changed at all.

What had changed was that women now believed that they belonged there.

Gloria did that.

Still got work to do.

“The Truth Shall Set You Free, But First It Will Piss You Off!”

 

Ciao

PJ

© 2026 PJ Lehrer

Illuminated Limerick

 

This piece in the Illuminated Ireland embroidery series features King John’s Castle in Limerick.

I combined two vertical photos for the background.

Then added the letter “J.”

Here’s the composite which I printed on linen.

And the final version again.

Here are some other embroideries…

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2011/12/pink-hibiscus.html

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2015/07/embroidery-venetian-alley.html

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2024/03/embroidery-empire-state-building.html

Cheers!

PJ

© 2026 PJ Lehrer

Guggenheim Pop

I went over to the Guggenheim Museum last week to check out the Pop Art exhibit.

As has happened since the first time I visited back when I was in the single digits, I was more mesmerized by the building than the art.

It is so magical.

 

The highlight of the exhibit is Claes Oldenburg’s “Soft Shuttlecock.”  Its immense size means it probably isn’t exhibited much and they posted an Instagram video about its arrival and installation.

Since the exhibit includes examples of Pop Art from the 60’s to the present there’s enough of a range to provide something for everyone.  

Richard Hamilton’s “The Solomon R. Guggenheim” – Spectrum, Black & Black and White.

I particularly liked this drawing by Marta Minujin “Statue of Liberty Covered in Hamburgers.”  She envisioned this as an outdoor art piece with free lunch.  More here…

https://www.guggenheim.org/artwork/33112

And this one, by Daniel Gordon “Still Life with Fish and Forsythia.”

But in my eyes, they couldn’t beat the pieces on display from the permanent collection.  

Henri Rousseau’s “The Football Players.”

And Edouard Vuillard’s – “Place Vintimille.”

But the surprise of the day was this piece.  Can you guess who the artist is?

Remembering this piece from the D’Orsay in Paris, I guessed Renoir. Wrong.

Remembering this piece from the National Gallery in London, Edward guessed Manet.  Also, wrong.

It was painted by Picasso!!!

When my mom introduced me to Picasso’s abstract work, I was not impressed and asked why he didn’t just paint things the way that they looked.  She replied ”Because he could already do that when he was young, so he had to do something new.”

He was 19 when he did this painting.

Moms are always right.

Here are some other modern art blogs…

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2019/03/warhol-at-whitney.html

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2023/10/robert-indiana.html

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2025/02/banksy-museum.html

Cheers!

PJ

 

The Museum of Broadway

For our 39^th wedding anniversary, Edward and I decided to visit the Museum of Broadway.

 

We’ve wanted to check it out ever since it opened, but somehow never got around to it, so it finally made it to the front of the list.

It’s a fun museum.

Filled with Broadway memorabilia from various eras.

So, there’s something for everyone.

 These costumes from Hair spoke to me.

And Edward was quite taken with the Chorus Line mirrors.

Some costumes came with sketches.

There were also photographs, music scores, playbills and scripts.

And selfie stations. Lots of selfie stations.

So be sure to bring someone who loves to pose with you when you visit.

Here’s a blog from a Jerome Robbins exhibit at Lincoln Center…

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2019/04/jerome-robbins.html

 

Cheers!

PJ

© 2026 PJ Lehrer