Navigating BOS2012: Basecamp, Schoolhouse, Boy Scouts, and Outposts

This is the largest Buswhick Opens Studios ever! Just when you thought this annual event couldn’t get any bigger, wait until you see the event program! Let’s just say it’s as thick as a Sunday edition of The New York Times and just as big. This year alone over 525 artists will participate (easily exceeding last year by 175 registrations). Spread over three square miles there are over 235 separate locations registered. Registrations spread from Kingsland Avenue near the Graham Station off the L, to Cooper Street off the Wilson L, and from Broadway to Woodward Ave in Ridgewood.Norte Maar has come to know this festival intimately having been an active supporter and proud sponsor of BOS since 2008.This Memorial Weekend, with an advance copy of the event program, we stayed in, studied up, cross referenced it with the website, messed around with the fancy new BOS Event APP and have come up with these suggestions to help best navigate this mammoth of a festival. Huge thanks and congrats to Arts in Bushwick's all-volunteer team for pulling this off once again. We begin with 3 Tips:1.  Download the BOS Event APP.This will be your saving grace! And bravo to the event organizer that came up this brilliant idea as it certainly upgrades the festival allowing you instant access to everything allowing one to navigate the neighborhood with the event program. Download BOS APP2.  Decide where you are going to start.Of course, we suggest you begin your BOS experience at Norte Maar as it hosts its annual Maps-N-Mimosas, Saturday, June 2, from 11am-2pm. How can you go wrong starting your day off with a cocktail?3.  Skip brunch, buy art.Spend your money on some new art. It’s rare to have the opportunity to visit artists in their studios, away from the hype of the galleries and dealers. You'll be one-on-one with the artist and with a bit of cash in hand you will become the collector every artist is looking for! But you'll need refreshments so for ice coffee visit Little Skips, 941 Willoughby Ave (Central off the M) and/or Wyckoff Starr Coffee, 30 Wyckoff Ave, (Jefferson off the L)14 Studios / Spaces not to missAs in years past, the festival is split up into six zones. We’ve selected a few not to miss studios and art spaces that should not be missed. We are listing these stops in order as if you were on foot or bike (not in Zone order). Note: Norte Maar is located in Zone 5 / HUB: J (Dekalb or Jefferson off  the L).#26  Indeterminate Hikes + Basecamp @ 319 Scholes StrTake an Inderterminate Hike through Bushwick’s sublime industrial wilderness with the collaborative artist team of Echoarttech. Artists Leila Christine Nadir and Cary Peppermint join forces to start Ecoarttech which explores environmental issues and convergent media from an interdisciplinary perspective. They have set up a basecamp at 319 Scholes Str which will explore what it means to be a modern ecological being amidst networked environments, including biological systems, global cultural exchanges, international commerce, industrial grids, digital networks, and the world wide web. Sounds heady. Sat + Sun  12pm-7pm #80  The Schoolhouse @ 330 Ellery StrNearly every artist we’ve come in contact with has either lived, worked, squatted or partied at the Schoolhouse. A true Bushwick cultural landmark for over a decade, it’s sort of the landing spot for artists and musicians. For BOS they got a group show of some of Schoolhouse’s residents and repeaters: Must-see Justin Orvis Steimer, Gaspar Dietrich, Chris Chludenski, Cody Healey-Connely, David Powers, Cassidy Mosher, Mariette Papic, Willy Muse, Elliot Kurtz (Freedom Press), Yuan Liu, Augustin Doublet, Tessa Mauclere. Fri 5pm-11pm; Sat + Sun 12pm-11pm HUB E  Airplane @ 70 Jefferson StrIf it’s hot out, the scene will be cooling itself at Airplane, one of our favorite basement spaces. They’ll have a group show up showcasing artists who investigate the collective and subjective expereience of the landscape and the natural world including works by Tim Belknap, Andrea Burgay, Matt Burke, Peter Caine, Maanik Singh Chauhan, Wendy Deschene/Jeff Schmuki, Jill Lavetsky, Gili Levy, Jennie Shanker, Shinya Watanabe, Studio AND (Audra Wolowiec and Neils Cosman).HUB H  English Kills Gallery @ 114 ForrestEnglish Kills remains at the center of the Bushwick scene. Once you land in the alley, you might never leave because you’ll realize that it’s so happening. They’ll have a solo show of paintings and sculptures by David Pappaceno. Then cut across the street for some totally whacked out art by Don Pablo Pedro. Sat 12pm-10pm (opening reception 6pm-10pm); Sun 12pm-7pmTwo Birds with One Stone: Navigate the entire bldg at 114 Forest including stops at Unit #9 for big paintings by Joe Ballweg, Mira Dancy, Ryan DaWalt, and Brooke Moyse in a show called Greasy Luck Pioneers of Inspiration. Separate from the show, you’ll get to see some new work by painter Mike Olin (cause it’s his studio).#63  INQUIRY @ 117 Grattan Str, Unit #419AOur favorite blogger/painter Sharon Butler (Two Coats of Paint) opens her new studio and invites veteran Bushwicker Austin Thomas (Pocket Utopia) to curate. The show titled INQUIRY includes painting by Margaret Atkinson, Guy Corriero, Lawrence Greenberg, and Edie Nadelhaft. Separate from the show, you’ll get to see some new paintings by Butler.Two Birds with One Stone: While your in the Grattan Bldg also visit the studio of painter Patricia Satterlee.#155  Studios @ 1182 Flushing Ave, 2nd flrThis is a must do, must see stop on the BOS experience. Meet and greet three of most talented artists working in the hood: Bjorn Meyer-Ebrecht, MaryKate Maher, and David McBride. Sat 12pm-7pm; Sun 12pm-7pm #160: ALLTOGETHERNOW @ 234 Starr Str (Far Left Door)The incomparable Julie Torres unites her facebook friends in an exhibition not to be missed! The show brings together painters from Australia, Europe, and across the US featuring Julie Alexander, Brian Cypher, Inga Dalrymple, Brian Edmonds, Justine Frischmann, Yifat Gat, Vincent Hawkins, David T Miller, Peter Shear, Ian White Williams, Stephen Wright. Fri 6pm-10pm; Sat 12pm-7pm; Sun 12pm-7pmHUB J  Studios @ 1717 Troutman1717 Troutman is loaded. The second and third floors of this industrial bldg will keep you busy all day so you might wanna plan to either begin or end your day there. Here’s our short list of what not to miss:Unit#214: Studio of Lawrence Mesich (Unit#214) for his new video and installation workUnit#218: For the dirty sugar experienceUnit#220: Parallel Art SpaceUnit#315: Studio of Eric Mavko for his new figuratively based paintingsUnit#329: Regina Rex GalleryHUB L  Norte Maar @ 83 Wyckoff Ave, #1BWe’ve got the complete collages of PassKontrol, the neighborhood rock band plus a brand new site specific sculpture Ben Godward and a selection of favorite artists from Bushwick including Rico Gatson, Andrew Hurst, Norman Jabaut, Ellen Letcher, Brooke Moyse to name a few. For our complete listing go here. Fri 6-8PM then record release party @ Tandem; Sat + Sun 11am-7pm#212  Bushwick Basel @ Starr Space, 108 Starr Str, ground flrJules de Balincourt hosts Bushwick’s first ‘art fair’ featuring 11 Bushwick galleries, each curating their own show. It’s been previewed all over the place with some controversy. Includes Regina Rex, NURTUREart, Momenta Art, Interstate Projects, Airplane, Studio 10, English Kills, Storefront Bushwick, Norte Maar, Valentine, Parallel Art Space, and Starr Space Artist-in Residence Greg Kloehn. Sat 12pm-7pm (cocktail party 7pm-9pm); Sun 12pm-7pm #141  Boy Scouts @ 175 Stockholm StrWe don’t know much about these guys, but BOS should be about discovery. So don’t miss this rooftop event marking the inception of newly formed Brooklyn artist collective “Boy Scouts” and their friendly neighbors. Fri 6pm-12am (performance piece at sunset); Sat 12pm-7pm; Sun 12pm-3pm#194  Studio of Hiroshi Tachibana @ 680 Woodward AveHiroshi Tachibana is a Japanese artist who makes abstract paintings. He was included in 30 artists to watch in 2012 by NY Arts Magazine. Sat 12pm-7pm; Sun 12pm-7pm #200  Studio of Michelle Jaffe @ 852 Cypress Ave, ground flrMichelle Jaffe, one of the newest and most exciting arrivals to the Bushwick/Ridegwood scene, she presents an amazing sound and sculpture installation. Sat, 12-7pm; Sun, 12-7pmHUB M:  Outpost Artists Resources @ 1685 Norman St, ground flrOutpost Artists Resources, one of our favorite innovative and experimental art space presents, Actual 'Wood: a survey of work created by artists both emerging and renowned who have found their way to Ridgewood, Queens.