How to Experience Art and Culture in NYC without Breaking the Bank

 Blog contributor, Laura Pearson is passionate about teaching the younger generation. Edutude was built to share resources on how to keep children engaged and in love with learning. 

photo from Pixabay.com

 

New York City offers some of the best experiences in the world for visitors and is full of art and culture, but for travelers who aren’t familiar with the city – and for those on a budget – it can be difficult to get to everything on their must-see list during their stay. There are a few hacks, however, for making sure you’re able to see the sights without breaking the bank. Here are some of the best ways to see the best NYC has to offer on the cheap, courtesy of Tilly Studio.

 

Plan Ahead

 

One of the first things you’ll want to do is consult a map and mark all the places you want to see. You’ll also want to double check whether these locations have special COVID protocols. Divide up your destinations by the number of days you’ll be staying and start with one or two sections per day; this way, you won’t be spending extra money on taxi or subway fare to shuttle all over the place.

 

It’s also a good idea to consider touring historic neighborhoods – think Greenwich and Tribeca – rather than sticking to more touristy spots. This will give you a good dose of New York culture without making you reach too deep into your pockets. Check out free options for transportation and sightseeing, as well, such as the Staten Island Ferry and Central Park, where there are usually street performers or art installations to view.

 

All that being said, there are certain things you should leave behind – like your credit worries, your calendar, and your sense of conformity. After all, you’re on vacation!

 

Groupon

 

Definitely explore Groupon before your trip to see if there are any good deals relating to places you’ll want to visit. Just keep in mind that you’ll need to have your itinerary beside you when you’re looking for deals, because you only have 24 hours to purchase a Groupon (although you have more time than that to use it).

 

Check Hours of Operation

 

You can save yourself time and the money it costs to get to certain attractions by checking hours or operation before you go. Many destinations are still operating on reduced or different schedules because of COVID. So, be sure to plan your visits around the most up-to-date information.

 

Go Last-Minute

 

For some, it pays to wait until the last minute. If you’re looking to do a Broadway show, check out the TKTS booth – located in Times Square – just before the show starts for heavily discounted tickets on shows that haven’t sold out. That way, you can save as much as 50%!

 

Take Advantage of the Park

 

Fall in New York City can be beautiful. If you’re headed there on vacation, take advantage of all Central Park has to offer – such as getting picnics to go, snapping pics of the fall foliage, and/or visiting the Central Park Zoo.

 

With New York being one of the most expensive and picturesque places to visit in the U.S., it’s important to budget wisely and do a little research before you arrive so you won’t be trying to plan on the fly. But once you’re there, give yourself some flexibility in terms of your schedule -- and have fun!

 

Tilly Strauss of Tilly Studio is an award winning artist who works in Northeast NY. You can view her work here. If you have questions or you’d like to collaborate, feel free to contact her at artist@tillystudio.com.

How do YOU measure up?

 As an ongoing investigation into both the Culture’s definition of beauty and my personal definition of self, I have been looking into historic fashion choices and not-so-subtle childhood messages handed down through toys.

 

Barbie was the first adult toy marketed for children. It was modeled after a sex toy, called the Lilli, made for German men. Here is one Link to learn more.  My mother strongly opposed acquiring the doll, but my sister and I managed to inherit our babysitter’s collection. Soon after, I had a nightmare of my Barbie aiming to kill me.

My fears of being less than the proportions idealized by media and plastic Barbie, may have led me to suffer anorexia nervosa as a teenager. After all, she came with a wardrobe and a teeny book called How to Lose Weight. Inside it just said, “don’t eat”.

 In less than 100 years, her tiny, pointed feet and wide-set eyes, that only looked demurely sideways, her impossibly narrow waist, and large breasts, and her pearly-pink hairless skin have become an ideal for today’s beauty standards. There is speculation that she could have led to the growingcosmetic surgery business today, the fear of body hair, and an embracing of plasticity as a filter.

 

Distorted body proportions and exaggerated poses are everywhere through time. In the 1800s the Hottentot Venus, (a stolen 20-year-old Khoikhoi woman from South Africa: Saartji Baartman), was paraded against her will and almost naked for the titillating the male European gaze. Here is one link to learn more about this. Women in France and England adopted bustles and Basques into their fashion to mimic the enlarged rear of the South African.

 As we look to history, I am amazed at the embrace of glamour through whitening of skin with the lead paint and arsenic wafers (that slowly poisoned the wearer). I am horrified by the bound miniature feet of the Asian nobility. I panic at the elongated necks of the Myanmar and imagine the dread of the daily use of a whale bone corsets. I willingly ignore the affect of the porn industry on beauty.

 

 

As recently as 2014 Kim Kardashian a woman who uses her sexual appeal as currency to sell a fashion line, posed as the Khoikhoi woman, balancing a champagne glass on her derriere for a shot which enraged many feminists and blacks. Beyonce is rumored to be thinking of making a film about Baartman, but that has led to it's own furor.

 

Fashion minimizes and exagerates the average body type. It always has and always will. How do you live with that constant feeling of falling short or being in the wrong time? How does your body measure up? I am interested in your thoughts.

Exploring my Settler Legacy

My family is full of creatives, risktakers and influencers, so it is inevitable fodder for a project to go looking for them. In search of the story behind my great grandmother Florence Call Cowles, I am off on a week-long adventure of research and memory-lane type of wanderings.

Florence and Gardner on their Around the World Trip in 1924

 

The first stop is Des Moines Iowa- the birthplace of my mother- and here I should share that I will be dragging her in tow. It has been since 1994 that we were last in the city. Our plans are to visit the art museum, the newspaper, the health clinic, performing arts center, the Cowles Commons, Drake University, the old neighborhood, and then travel to Tama and the Meskwakie Indian Reservation before ending in Algona- the county seat created by Florence's father, Ambrose Call. 

My suitcase of maps

Originally, I thought my mom and I could rent a car and set out across NY state and meander though the upper midwest to reach DesMoines, after visions of fruitful conversations and daydreams over rural landscapes, but my mother was less than enthused. She has tried to convonce me not to do this trip, practically begging my boyfriend to take her side. I know we will have fun and, like a reversal of the parent child relationship, I believe this will be good medicine for us. We will enjoy it, God dammit! 

Mom at lunch wondering what the hell we are up to

And I have compromised with plane tickets to Des Moines and a rental car just for the state driving needs. And a really nice hotel for the first few nights.

Day to day postings will be on my Instagram: tilly Strauss

More will follow here as I summarize my findings. Wish me luck. Wish US luck.

Open Studio This Weekend

This weekend I will be in the studio with my family... four artists, (three generations), making art. People are welcome to drop by and visit. Since it will be a "working studio tour", we have scheduled demonstrations every hour. Do you wonder about the inspiration and tools of creating art? This is a unique experience to see art produced and reflect on styles and interests found across generations of a single family.

 Over two days, May 1 and 2, in one barn, working from 11- 5pm each day, we will be ready for visitors to witness the creative act, ask questions, and purchase work. This is open to all, free event. Caution required as it is a barn, with some innate hazards and the studios contain some radical ideas.

 

Michael, Julian and Tilly in front of HF Art Clinic

Really, as part of an eastern Dutchess county group of artists, we have gotten together to open our studios www.ArtmostNy.com. The studios are open from Pawling to Amenia. Check out their website!

At our studio barn on 55 Haight Road:

Julian Strauss, beloved veterinarian, well known for his small batch maple syrup products, now moves from the sawmill to his wood shop. Using the slash from his timber production, he will be creating maple and walnut spoons, forks and stools. A small gallery in the converted waiting room displays his kinetic sculptures and backwards running clocks. Recycling is his passion and evident in the materials he transforms into lamps and unique jewelry.

Tilly Strauss, moi, his daughter, will be in my skylit loft on the third floor. What comes through in the paintings when I focus my lens on the outside world, are visions both personal and universal. I will be launching a sale of my current series, “Conversations with Trees During Lockdown”. The small oval birch ply paintings are ready to hang and for sale.

Michael Gellatly, my partner in life, will be exhibiting and working in the transformed Kennel room. He is an artist and illustrator. He will be working on a series of smaller abstract landscapes. His larger paintings are mind-blowing in technique and vision. He is recipient of numerous fellowships, grants and residencies. Forthcoming he will have a 17-foot painting included in the Wassaic Project’s summer show.  His work has illustrated maps for George R. R. Martin’s Game of Thrones, books for Rita MaeBrown and the products of Home Farm Maple Syrup.

My niece Natalie Strauss

Natalie Strauss, the teenage granddaughter of Julian, and my dear niece, is a scholastic award-winning writer and painter. She currently specializes in depicting animals. Her intimate knowledge of them stems from weekends at the farm, summers working at the Millbrook Trevor Zoo and her own domesticated menagerie in Massachusetts. She will be painting in the operating room.

 

 Please visit our Home Farm Art Clinic, 55 Haight Road, just off route 22 north of Amenia. The Home Farm Art Clinic- part workspace, part show case and part clubhouse- is a rich environment of historic and artistic interest. Originally a barn for draft horses, the three floors also served up until recently as an animal vet clinic and library. Today it houses workshop studios and gallery space for family connections.

Open May 1 & 2 from 11am to 5pm both days. Light refreshments outside, please wear masks.

 email questions to tillystudio@aol.com

www.tillystudio.com