    | EventsThe NAF Alumni Committee hosts a variety of events throughout the year. We hope you'll join us at our annual reception and networking events. For information about upcoming events contact the Foundation at 212.825.1221 or email: alumni@theNAF.org. RECENT EVENTS NAF Alumni Bike Tour and Picnic Along the Hudson River The NAF Alumni Committee invited alumni, members and friends to a scenic bike tour and picnic on August 30, 2009. The tour started at the southwest corner of Riverside Drive and 95th St. and traveled north along the Hudson River, across the George Washington Bridge to the Palisades Interstate Park. The tour was a big success, thank you to everyone involved for making it happen! (Special thanks to Erwin and Scott) To view some photos from the event, please visit our flickr page. The NAF Alumni Committee NAF Private Tour at the Cooper-Hewitt Musuem On June 25, approximately 30 guests gathered at the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum for a private tour of the exhibition Fashioning Felt. The intimate tour led by Susan Brown, Assistant Curator of Textiles, highlighted not only the various uses of felt in design, architecture and fashion, but also provided an overview of the history of felt. The tour was followed by a felt-making session and a wine reception. To view photos of the event, please visit: http://tinyurl.com/lbpfqk Fashioning Felt was supported, in part, by a grant from the NAF’s Cultural Committee. The event was organized by the NAF’s Alumni Committee and is one of several such events offered throughout the year intended to build and strengthen the NAF network. The next Alumni Committee event will be announced in the next few weeks. To read the New York Times review, please visit: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/01/arts/design/01felt.html View the clip featured on The Martha Stewart Show here: www.marthastewart.com/article/cooper-hewitt-felt-exhibit?xsc=ch For more information about the exhibit, please visit: http://exhibitions.cooperhewitt.org/Fashioning-Felt/ For more information about the Cooper-Hewitt please call 212.849.8300 or visit http://www.cooperhewitt.org NAF Alumni Committee NAF PRIVATE VIEWING On January 15th, the Alumni Committee hosted a private viewing of the Marlene Dumas exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Approximately 40 NAF alumni, directors, members and friends enjoyed the tour led by MOMA curators Cornelia Butler and Esther Adler after regular museum hours. The tour was followed by a wine reception on the 6th Floor of the museum, directly outside the exhibition area. This exhibit, which runs through February 16th, focuses on Dumas's earliest mature works from the late 1970s. While loosely chronological, it also reflects Dumas's tendency to work in series, with key paintings grouped together. Through her focus on the human figure, Dumas merges themes of race, sexuality, and social identity with personal experience and art-historical antecedents to create a unique perspective on important and controversial issues of the day. For more information on the exhibition please visit: http://www.moma.org/visit/calendar/exhibitions/34 FERRY RIDE AND STROLL OF GOVERNORS ISLAND Officers houses on Colonel's Row, Governors Island The New York Alumni Committee set out recently for a group tour of Governors Island led by urban historian Justin Ferate of Tours of the City. The cool and bright Saturday could not have been more perfect for a glimpse of life on this former Dutch colony. Over 30 current and former NAF-Fulbright Fellows, Study Loan recipients, and their families and friends gathered at the Battery Maritime Terminal in lower Manhattan and ferried over to Governors Island to inspect two major fortifications, officers’ housing, and the remains of a once vibrant Coast Guard base as well as the wide-ranging artworks on display. Governors Island, with present-day Manhattan on its horizon, literally brims with memories of its colonial past. Following is a brief history: In 1637, Wouter Van Twiller, Director General of New Netherland, purchased Governors Island from the Native Americans of Manahatas for two ax heads, a string of beads, and a handful of nails. Though he was a representative of the Dutch Government, Van Twiller purchased the Island for his private use. A year later, the Dutch government confiscated the island, thereafter known as Noten Eylant or NuttenIsland. In 1664, the English captured New Amsterdam, renaming it New York, and also captured NuttenIsland. Nutten Island, however, switched hands between the British and the Dutch over the next ten years until the British regained exclusive control of the Island for the “benefit and accommodation of His Majesty's Governors.” Although it was not officially named until 1784, it thus came to be called Governors Island. The island in now a National Park and provides a remarkable refuge from the bustle of Manhattan. Justin Ferate Justin Ferate discussing the dry moat surrounding Fort Jay, Governors Island Following the two-hour exploration of the Island, the group ferried back to the Financial District where everyone enjoyed food and drinks served outdoors on the cobblestones of historic Stone Street. With the sun setting, all agreed the day was a great success, and look forward to meeting again at the next event. Also of note, in late December 2007, Governor Eliot Spitzer and Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced the selection of internationally renowned design firms West 8 / Rogers Marvel Architects / Diller Scofidio + Renfro / Quennell Rothschild / SMWM to design Governors Island’s future open space, including a new park and promenade. West 8 is an internationally acclaimed Dutch landscape architecture firm and its leader, Adriaan Geuze, is one of the foremost landscape architects and urban designers in the world. This team was one of 29 who initially responded to the Request for Qualifications. For more information about West 8 and the GovernorsIsland project, please visit: http://www.west8.nl/news/west_8_wins_governors_island THE NAF CONNECTION-NEW YORK On the 28th of March 2008, approximately 60 guests convened at the Center for Architecture in New York City for drinks, hors d'oeuvres and lively conversation. Attending the event were NAF-Fulbright Fellows, alumni, Board Members, NAF members and friends. They met to rekindle friendships, share experiences and celebrate the connection between the U.S. and the Netherlands. Current Dutch NAF-Fulbright Fellows came together for a weekend in New York—from as close as New York to as far away as Boston, Chicago, and San Francisco—to share experiences and get to know each other. Fellows were invited to submit photos of their experiences abroad from which Co-chairs assembled a slide presentation that ran throughout the evening. The evening concluded with more refreshments, great conversation and new connections. Alumni and fellows adjourned to a local nightclub to continue the festivities. The following day, they joined other guests and friends at the home of Mr. Jan Joosten, NAF Secretary, for a final brunch and farewell. |
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