Joy’s Best of Brooklyn, November 23, 24, 25

Happy holidaze! We will take some time out for ourselves, right?

Vintage from Kasbah, top, and serious treats from DUB Pies, at Brooklyn Night Bazaar.

Friday: Green Friday Gowanus. Don’t Buy It, Build It. Film Biz Recycling, Build It Green! NYC and the Lower East Side Ecology Centers E-Waste Warehouse are hosting a Black Friday alternative with the goal of inspiring creative gift-giving through reuse. DIY terrariums, jewelry, ornaments to make or purchase using recycled electronics, salvaged wood, vintage post cards, more. Gowanus. 10am-5pm.

Friday: Great for Families: Brooklyn Bowl presents Family Bowl. Work it off at one of the 16 QubicaAMF bowling lanes featuring an automatic scoring system and energy-efficient pin spotters. Enjoy food from Blue Ribbon (a Sloppy Joey!) along with local brews. Williamsburg. 12pm-6pm.

Friday and Saturday through December 22: Brooklyn Night Bazaar. Inspired by night markets across Asia, this venue, located in a 40,000-square-foot warehouse, brings together more than 100 indie vendors, musicians, artists, chefs and breweries. Williamsburg. 6pm-12am.

Saturday and Sunday: Gifted, a holiday market, produced by Brooklyn Flea. Vintage, handmade, art, food at the former Williamsburg Savings Bank building. While browsing, check out the original bank vault doors still present in the lower level, as well as the amazing ceiling tiling and detail on the ground floor. Five weekends, beginning November 24 & 25. Fort Greene. 10am-6pm.

Saturday: Small Business Saturday. A one-day shopping event dedicated to supporting all the small businesses that Brooklyn Artisan followers know and love. Examples of some special services and offers, including fundraising for Sandy relief:  [Read more…]

Joy’s Best of Brooklyn, November 16, 17, 18

Stanley & Sons, The Tailors, from Brooklyn Makers,
a book and photography project by Jennifer Causey.

Starting up: holiday crafts and food, plus ways to feed your head too.

BE SURE TO CONFIRM with each event or venue as schedules and availability continue to change for many things.

Friday: A good day to take advantage of Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s free weekday admission during winter hours. “Times like this remind us that plants, trees and gardens are about renewal,” from Garden News. Tuesday—Friday: 8am-4:30pm.

Urban Agriculture: United Community Centers Farm,
East New York, by photographer Rob Stephenson.
Opening exhibit Friday at BRIC Rotunda Gallery.

Friday: On Purpose: Art & Design in Brooklyn, 2012. Opening reception, BRIC Rotunda Gallery. An exhibition featuring the work of multi-disciplined designers, architects and visual artists that address the environmental challenges of contemporary urban living. Topics emphasize sustainability, diverse creative solutions, desire for beauty and working together to build community. Brooklyn Heights. 7pm-9pm.

Saturday & Sunday: Julemarked Danish Christmas Fair, The Danish Seamen’s Church. Modern and traditional Danish art, craft and delicacies: Christmas ornaments, Bodum, Dansko, as well as aebleskiver, meatballs and candy. Nearby Plymouth Church hosts a restaurant with smørrebrød, beer and glogg (Saturday only, 11am-5pm). Brooklyn Heights. Saturday 11am-5pm. Sunday 11am-3pm.

First time for the holidays in Brooklyn—The Renegade Craft Fair Holiday Market

Saturday & Sunday: Renegade Craft Fair Holiday Market in Brooklyn at East River State Park. A curated craft collection from indie makers; workshops including a DIY wrapping station; music from some of Brooklyn’s best DJs; free-to-use photobooth from Magnolia Photobooth Co., and local sweet and savory treats to round out the day. Williamsburg. 11am-6pm.

Sunday: Hands-On Pie Making: Pumpkin Pie at The Brooklyn Kitchen. This two-hour class aims to teach home cooks to make a crust—including the daunting lattice-top—and a mini-pie to take home and bake. Taught by Millicent Souris, author of How to Build a Better Pie. Williamsburg. 2pm-4pm.

Sunday: The 10th Anniversary Chili Takedown. Taste 30 chilis—“America’s favorite pot of hatred,”— mostly local and mostly from veteran Chili Takedown entrants. Park Slope, The Bell House. 2pm.

Sunday: Radio Unnameable Ciné Barbès Rewind/Replay Series. Documentary portrait of WBAI-FM radio personality Bob Fass who revolutionized FM in the 60s and 70s with free-form programming. Interviews and performances by Allen Ginsberg, Bob Dylan, Carly Simon among others. Q&A with co-director Jessica Wolfson after the screening. Park Slope, Barbès. 5pm.

Read: Jennifer Causey’s Brooklyn Makers, part of the Makers Project, features inspired photographs of 30 of Brooklyn’s self-styled creators, i.e., Brooklyn Artisans.

Sign: NYC Food Trucks Petition. We love our food trucks; we’ve all seen and heard about them during Sandy’s relief and recovery actions; they are valuable to our city and worthy of our support.

Joy Makon curates Brooklyn Artisan’s Craft & Design coverage and creates the weekend to-do lists.
Send items for listings to brooklynartisan@joymakondesign.com

Joy’s Best of Brooklyn, November 9, 10, 11

A chance to recharge, support and giveback: theater discounts, house and history tours and it’s Meat Week NYC with events to benefit Sandy recovery

Best of is glad to be back with more eclectic things to do in Brooklyn and Outer Brooklyn.
BE SURE TO CONFIRM with each event or venue as schedules and availability continue to change for many things.

Miguel Cervantes in the classic Giant, performed at the Public Theater. (photo by Karen Almond.)

Through Sunday: Off Broadway post-Sandy Discounts. Playhouses big and small were dark last week and as an enticement to get audiences to return, many are offering $20 tickets. Among the offerings: “A Summer Day” featuring Karen Allen, at the Cherry Lane Theatre, and $15 tickets at The Public Theater for three shows. NYTimes lists participating theaters.

Through Sunday: Meat Week NYC, celebrating the farmers, markets and chefs who bring sustainable meat to our tables. Tastings, parties, butchering and cooking demos, market tours, talks. Updates to scheduled events will benefit Sandy relief efforts. Brooklyn and Outer Brooklyn locations, check the website for specifics.

Friday: The Shooting Gallery, part of Brooklyn Academy of Music’s 30th Next Wave Festival. An interactive installation in which the audience will trigger short video and audio clips with lasers while circulating through the theater. “Creating something like a group gestalt,” according to director Bill Morrison. BAM Fisher Fishman Space, Fort Greene. 7:30pm and 9pm.

Friday: Broads for a Cause—An art benefit for Planned Parenthood. Opening reception and silent auction of artwork from over 45 female artists and tattooers. Sponsored by Coney Island Beer and Cupcakeland. At Eight of Swords Tattoo, Williamsburg. 7pm-11pm.

Saturday & Sunday: International Passive House Days. Four Brooklyn residences will be open for tours: two landmarked homes, two new construction. All use construction methods that meet Passive House standards: comfortable temperatures year round, affordable to build, energy savings, renewable. Various locations, check the website for information.

Saturday & Sunday: 21st Annual Quilt Show “Cool Quilts”. This annual exhibit showcases some of the most interesting quilts made in the area. This year’s show takes inspiration from the word cool. Lefferts Historic House, Prospect Park. 12pm-4pm.

Bldg92 at Brooklyn Navy Yard is on the tour on Saturday.

Saturday: Brooklyn Navy Yard by Bus: the Past, Present & Future of the Yard. Voted 2012 best tour by New York, this tour packs almost 400 years of city history in a little over two hours. At its peak, the Navy Yard employed tens of thousands of workers, but then stood idle for almost 30 years. In its current resurrection as a haven for artists and entrepreneurs, the Yard is becoming a model for sustainable urban industrial parks. Included in the tour is a closer look at the dry dock that’s been in use since before the Civil War, a hospital frozen in time, and the nation’s first multi-story LEED Gold-certified industrial building. Advanced ticket purchase is advised. Vinegar Hill. 2pm.

Saturday: The Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Festival. A one-day series of events featuring artists and publishers displaying and selling publications; lectures and conversations on comics; exhibits.
Free public exhibition. Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church, Williamsburg. 12pm-7pm.
Events and talks throughout the day, such as a Q&A with Roz Chast at 2:30pm. The Knitting Factory, Williamsburg. 11am-4:30pm.
Screening of two documentaries about cartoonists Joann Sfar and Ben Katchor. Followed with a discussion by filmmaker Sam Ball and subject Ben Katchor moderated by WFMU’s Benjamen Walker. At Union Docs, Williamsburg. 7:30pm.

Saturday: Farmy Folks Soiree Markets Fundraiser and Volunteer Appreciation Ceremony sponsored by the Hattie Carthan Community Farmers Market. You are invited to join in on a home-grown family-style feast, live eco and folk performances, locally grown/produced wines, local bread, more. Tickets required. Bedford Stuyvesant. 6pm-10pm.

Puppetmaking workshop at BAM, Sunday.

Sunday: Great for families The Sweatshirt Sheep Puppetmaking Workshop, Brooklyn Academy of Music. Part of BAMcinématek series Puppets on Film. Make your own puppets and then perform your creations in front of a camera. Be sure to check out other puppet programing throughout the weekend at BAM, Fort Greene. 11am, 2:30pm.

Sunday: Open Studio and Gift Sale by watercolor and ceramic artist Sally Mara Sturman. Paintings, illustrations, drawings, prints and pottery, old (really cheap!) and new (not so cheap).

Illustrated Ceramic Bowl by Sally Mara Sturman, Open Studio and Sale, Sunday

Sally’s Etsy site All Things Painted is also on sale [use coupon code: HOLIDAY1 for 20% off]. To visit her Lefferts Garden Open Studio, contact Sally for exact address. Please mention Brooklyn Artisan. 2pm-7pm.

Joy Makon curates Brooklyn Artisan’s Craft & Design coverage and creates the weekend to-do lists.
Send items for listings to brooklynartisan@joymakondesign.com