NYC Urban Sketchers Blog: SUNDAY: Sketch the Masterpieces of NYC

Wednesday, August 12, 2015

SUNDAY: Sketch the Masterpieces of NYC

Sunday August 16, 2015

The three locations we've chosen to sketch are all on

the List of New York City Designated Landmarks.

Each is incredible in it's own way

(Plus special bonus event at the end of the day)

We meet on Sunday at 11 AM at Alwyn Court. If you like sketching complexity - this is the building for you! Alwyn Court is a 12-story apartment building located at 180 West 58th Street on the corner of Seventh Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. It was built in 1907 in French Renaissance style, with elaborate terra-cotta ornamentation in the Francis I style covering
the entire facade.

The Alwyn Court was designated a New York landmark in 1966

Lunch: 12:30 - we'll walk one block to Columbus Circle (8th Avenue at 59th Street) to picnic in the park. Bring food or buy from the numerous street vendors or stores in the area.

Afternoon:
A) 1:30 (a 45 minute sketch) How do you get to Carnegie Hall?
Located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park. Designed by architect William Burnet Tuthill and built by philanthropist Andrew Carnegie in 1891, it is one of the most prestigious venues in the world for both classical music and popular music.

The Carnegie Hall Joke: The only site on our list that has a Wikipedia Joke:
"Rumor is that a pedestrian on Fifty-seventh Street, Manhattan, stopped the world famous violinist - Jascha Heifetz and inquired, "Could you tell me how to get to Carnegie Hall?" "Yes," said Heifetz. "Practice!"

B) 2:15 walk to Millionaires' Row - (a 45 minute sketch)

... Midtown has only one real strip of mansions evoking its days as a neighborhood of millionaires: 5 through 15 West 54th Street. These six houses all went up from 1896 to 1900. 13 and 15 West 54th Street are two identical 5-story mansions. Designed in the Beaux Arts Renaissance style by architect
Henry Hardenbergh, (of Plaza Hotel fame), in 1896, the Rockefeller Townhouses are known by the name of their most famous owner; John D. Rockefeller who called them home for nearly forty years. Constructed on a 50 foot wide parcel, the properties are a dominating presence with their twin limestone facades, ornamental engravings and curved sloops.

At 3:15 Walk to Dr. Sketchy's
a NUS Event (- Not Urban Sketching!)
For our next Dr. Sketchy session, we will be traveling back to New York's golden age - the time of hot jazz, cool moonshine and wild parties.

The venue we'll be invading for this session is Flûte Bar - a champagne lounge that occupies the site of what was once a speakeasy called Club Intime, founded and run by the notorious showgirl, actress, producer and entrepreneur Texas Guinan.

Don your Roaring '20s finest, grab your sketchbooks and join our models Kat MonDieu and Zelma Zelma for an afternoon of scintillating sketching, illicit cocktails and a bright young atmosphere!

Doors open at 3:30 PM. Seating is first come first serve, so it pays to come early Session runs from 4-7 pm. Flûte Bar, 205 West 54th St. $12 in advance, $15 at the door, and a 2 drink minimum from Flûte Bar's delicious happy hour menu.

DETAILS:

- Sleeping Late? Come anyway. Join us when you can.

- If you have one - bring a folding stool - we'll be sketching in the street until we get to Dr. Sketchy's Sitting will add to your comfort.

- Dr. Sketchy is not urban sketching, but if you never gone - it's a lot of fun and a unique sketching environment. Reserve your spot online and save $3. (In the past they've been relaxed about enforcing the 2 drink minimum.)