Bloomingdale Medallions
2024-2025
"Bloomingdale neighborhood residents who have shaped our world.”
Opening Reception
Saturday, August 24, 2024
4pm-6pm
Booker T. Washington Playground
W. 108 Street
between Amsterdam and Columbus Ave
After successful exhibition of the first selection of Bloomingdale Medallions, El Taller Latino Americano and the Columbus Amsterdam BID have worked with artist, Béatrice Coron, for another seven depictions of internationally known and local luminaries who have lived in the Bloomingdale neighborhood.
Designed by artists Béatrice Coron, in collaboration with the Columbus-Amsterdam Business Improvement District, the second set of medallions includes El Taller’s Founder and Artitic Director:
Bernardo Palombo, who achieved his first musical success at the age of 17 when his song "Vendimiador" was recorded by the legendary Argentinean vocal group, Los Trovadores. His songs have been recorded by some of the best-known exponents of Latin music in New York and Nueva Canción in South America. He founded El Taller Latino Americano in 1979.
The Malagon Sisters: a successful Dominican all-female trio that emerged publically in 1949. The Sisters, known for their exuberant song and dance performances, captured the attention of an American public entranced by the magic of television. The legacy of the Malagon Sisters spans across many diverse communities. They were one of the first Dominican musical acts to successfully cross over into the wider American music scene, contributing to the exposure of merengue, cha-cha-chá, and other Latin American genres to a wide spectrum of audiences.
Ben E. King: one of the most elegant baritone voices of all time. As a lead singer of The Drifters and as a famed solo artist, King has achieved five #1 hits. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a Drifter in 1988 and has also been nominated as a solo artist.
Duke Ellington: A major figure in the history of jazz music, Duke Ellington's career spanned more than half a century, during which time he composed thousands of songs for the stage, screen and contemporary songbook. He created one of the most distinctive ensemble sounds in Western music and continued to play what he called "American Music" until shortly before his death in 1974.
Ismael Rivera: also known as El Sonero Mayor, was an Afro Puerto Rican singer and composer of salsa music. He is recognized as foundational to salsa for his strong emotional effect and his skill with soneo, or vocal improvisation.
Alvin Ailey: founder of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater to carry out his vision of a company dedicated to enriching the American modern dance heritage and preserving the uniqueness of the African-American cultural experience. He established the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center (now The Ailey School) in 1969 and formed the Alvin Ailey Repertory Ensemble (now Ailey II) in 1974. Mr. Ailey was a pioneer of programs promoting arts in education, particularly those benefiting underserved communities.
Angelo Romano: was, according to those that knew his body of work, the most prolific painter of our lifetime. Romano is best known for his angels, one-inch-square protective talismans that he distributes freely to all; he has sent over 70,000 of these hand-painted angels to troubled parts of the world. People felt a personal connection with Angelo's art.
About the Artist
Béatrice Coron studied art at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts of Lyon, and Mandarin Chinese at the Université of Lyon III, and her oeuvre includes illustration, book arts, fine art and public art. She cuts her characteristic silhouette designs in paper and Tyvek. She also creates works in stone, glass, metal, rubber, stained glass and digital media. Coron is a visual storyteller. She sees her work as stories that are about “identities and trans-formations or how our changes are inherent to a learning process: physically, spiritually or metaphorically”. Coron’s work has been purchased by major museum collections, such as the Metropolitan Museum, The Walker Art center and The Getty. Her public art can be seen in subways, airport and sports facilities among others.
The Columbus Amsterdam Business Improvement District (BID) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit community development organization that was created in 1983 to increase commercial activity and create a more vital and active business center along Columbus and Amsterdam Avenues from West 96th Street to West 110th Street. The BID focuses on supplemental sanitation, marketing, and capital improvement projects to make the Bloomingdale neighborhood cleaner, safer, and more prosperous.
Where to see the Medallions throughout 2024 - 2025
CURRENT: Booker T. Washington Middle School
This exhibition will be on view Thursday, August 15, 2024 through December 12, 2024
UP-COMING
Location 2: Happy Warrior Playground (PS 163)
This exhibition will be on view Thursday, December 12, 2024 through April 10, 2025
Location 3: Fredrick Douglas Playground
This exhibition will be on view Thursday, April 10, 2025 through August 14, 2025
Thank you:
This exhibition series is a collaboration between
The Columbus Amsterdam BID, El Taller Latino Americano, and the NYC Parks Department
and is supported in part by funds from the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, the New York State Council on the Arts, the Jacob and Ruth Epstein Foundation, and individual donations
