Artist Ariana Grande to Headline 2015 NYC Pride’s Dance On The Pier

NYC Pride has announced that Ariana Grande will be the headliner at its 29th Dance on the Pier on Sunday, June 28 on Hudson River Park’s Pier 26 in Tribeca. Grande joins legends including Cher, Whitney Houston, Jennifer Lopez, and Janet Jackson, all of whom have delivered unforgettable performances at the largest party of NYC Pride Week.

But before Grande takes the stage, nearly 10,000 attendees will dance to the beats of award-winning DJs Ralphi Rosario, The Cube Guys, and Wayne G. This year’s event will once again close with a fabulous fireworks display by Pyro Engineering, Inc.

Dance on the Pier is NYC Pride’s largest fundraiser. Proceeds support NYC Pride’s annual events—including the historic Rally and March—and allow the organization to provide more than $45,000 in grants to local LGBT community groups each year.

Limited VIP tickets and packages are still available. Attendees can max out their Pride experience by purchasing a bundle that includes tickets to NYC Pride’s Fantasy and VIP Rooftop Party events. Tickets to Dance on the Pier can be purchased now at nycpride.showclix.com.

 

HGTV’S Hot New Renovation Competition Series ‘Beach Flip’ Debuts July 5

Teams Lucy Farmer & Daphney Masey, Melissa Llewellyn & Mahdi Alston, Nick Karakaian & Sarah Roussos-Karakaian, Martha Montross & Alex Borre; Hosts David Bromstad, Nicole Curtis, Josh Temple (Image courtesy of HGTV)

Outdated beachfront properties are transformed into hot commodities in HGTV’s newest renovation competition series, Beach Flip. Premiering on Sunday, July 5, at 9 p.m. ET/PT, HGTV and DIY Network stars Nicole Curtis (Rehab Addict), Josh Temple (House Crashers) and David Bromstad (My Lottery Dream Home) act as hosts, judges and mentors to four rival teams as they compete to renovate rundown waterfront bungalows with outdated décor, loud wall colors and awkward layouts into spectacular properties in just eight weeks. The team with the highest increase in property value as determined by the region’s top appraisers wins the $50,000 grand prize and a spread in HGTV Magazine.

“Beach Flip offers fans teams to root for, home improvement tips from our star experts Nicole Curtis, Josh Temple and David Bromstad, and it doesn’t hurt that it’s a competition with an ocean view,” said Allison Page, general manager, HGTV and DIY Network.”

David Bromstad (left), with contestants on HGTV’s Beach Flip. (Image courtesy of HGTV)

Josh Temple (right), with contestants on HGTV’s Beach Flip. (Image courtesy of HGTV)

Nicole Curtis (far right), with contestants on HGTV’s Beach Flip. (Image courtesy of HGTV)

Armed with a $40,000 budget, the teams must manage their time and money to renovate their assigned two bedroom/two bathroom property from top to bottom. In addition, the teams vie to win additional funds by competing in weekly challenges, including a full kitchen reno, a complete living room redesign, a guest room makeover based on chosen inspirational pieces and the addition of a multifunctional office/den space.

In the season premiere, the contestants’ must renovate and redesign the master bedrooms. At the end of the challenge, mentor David Bromstad evaluates the overall look of the space, quality of the renovation and total value added through smart design decisions.

The talented teams in HGTV’s Beach Flip include: long-time sweethearts from Chicago, wealth management expert Martha Montross and experienced builder Alex Borre; long-distance couple, Melissa Llewellyn from Los Angeles and Mahdi Alston from Philadelphia, who are in the process of flipping their first house; married duo Sarah Roussos-Karakaian, the professional organizer, and Nick Karakaian, a handyman with a background in architecture, from Astoria, N.Y.; and longtime best friends Lucy Farmer, a designer, and Daphney Massey, a real estate agent, from Birmingham, Ala.

“Each team has great ideas for how they want their spaces to look,” said Bromstad. “Time management is really going to determine the winner of these weekly challenges and that extra money for the renovation budget is a huge advantage.”

Fans also can learn more about the teams by visiting hgtv.com/beachflip, as well as watch contestant interviews and behind-the-scenes outtakes with David Bromstad. In addition, online visitors can participate in weekly fan polls and even live tweet during the series premiere using #HGTVBeachFlip.

“Sargent: Portraits of Artists and Friends” at The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Throughout his career, the celebrated American painter John Singer Sargent (1856–1925) created exceptional portraits of artists, writers, actors, dancers, and musicians, many of whom were his close friends. As a group, these portraits—many of which were not commissioned—are often highly charged, intimate, witty, idiosyncratic, and more experimental than his formal portraiture. Brilliant works of art and penetrating character studies, they are also records of relationships, influences, aspirations, and allegiances.

John Singer Sargent (American, 1856–1925). The Fountain, Villa Torlonia, Frascati, Italy, 1907. Oil on canvas; 28 1/8 x 22 1/4 in. (71.4 x 56.5 cm). The Art Institute of Chicago, Friends of American Art Collection

Sargent: Portraits of Artists and Friends (June 30–October 4, 2015) brings together about ninety of the artist’s paintings and drawings of members of his impressive artistic circle. The individuals seen through Sargent’s eyes represent a range of leading figures in the creative arts of the time such as artists Claude Monet and Auguste Rodin, writers Robert Louis Stevenson and Henry James, and the actor Ellen Terry, among others. The exhibition features some of Sargent’s most celebrated full-length portraits (Dr. Pozzi at Home, Hammer Museum), his dazzling subject paintings created in the Italian countryside (Group with Parasols, The Middleton Family Collection), and brilliant watercolors (In the Generalife, The Metropolitan Museum of Art) alongside lesser-known portrait sketches of his intimate friends (Vernon Lee, 1881, Tate). The exhibition explores the friendships between Sargent and his artistic sitters, as well as the significance of these relationships to his life and art.

John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)
In the Generalife, 1912
American,
Watercolor, wax crayon, and graphite on white wove paper; 14 3/4 x 17 7/8 in. (37.5 x 45.4 cm)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Purchase, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, 1915 (15.142.8)
(http://www.metmuseum.org/Collections/search-the-collections/12116)

The exhibition is made possible by The Marguerite and Frank A. Cosgrove Jr. Fund and is organized by the National Portrait Gallery, London in collaboration with The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Accompanied by a catalogue and an Audio Guide