[field notes nyc] things to do in new york: mar 16 - 22
Art house cinema week, murder mystery on the dance floor and DIY Labubu*
Ongoing
Art House Cinema Week (through 3/26)
Cinema Week is a city-wide celebration of independent cinemas, featuring special screenings, events, and programs designed to bring audiences back to the movies and spotlight the cultural value of local theaters. Featuring the Angelika, Paris Theatre, Film Forum (Agnes Varda retrospective) & more. Several theaters have discounted showings and free tickets! Hosted by Art House New York.
Monday, March 16
The Unsolicited Opinions Hour
6 - 8pm | 368 9th Ave, Brooklyn
“Most people don’t actually have opinions. They have inherited positions, reiterated posts, or self-help platitudes disguised as insight. This event is for the people who do.
Each time, participants share one genuine, considered opinion they hold - something they’ve actually thought through, tested, or arrived at through real experience.
Something they actually believe and can defend. After each share, everyone positions themselves on a spectrum from “fully disagree” to “fully agree.” Then we have structured discourse: both sides get uninterrupted time to articulate their reasoning. The goal isn’t to win or be right - it’s to test ideas against other sharp minds and practice treating ideas as separate from the people who hold them.”
Tuesday, March 17
Mario Cucinella: Crafting a Sustainable Future Through 3D Printing
6pm | Italian Cultural Institute: 686 Park Ave, Manhattan | Free
“What happens when architecture embraces cutting-edge technology without losing sight of people, the environment, and quality of life? Internationally acclaimed and widely recognized, Mario Cucinella is the founder of MCA – Mario Cucinella Architects and SOS – School of Sustainability, and has long been a major voice in the global conversation around architecture, climate, materials, education, and social innovation. His work shows how design can be both a creative vision and a practical response to the defining challenges of our time.”
Wednesday, March 18
The Naomi Rosenblum ICP Talks Photographer Lecture Series with Kennedi Carter and Adraint Khadafhi Bereal
6.30 - 8pm | ICP: 84 Ludlow Street, Manhattan | $5+
“Photographer Kennedi Carter will be joined by artist and creative director Adraint Khadafhi Bereal. Carter will discuss the throughlines of intracommunal safety and Black interiority across the trajectory of her career followed by a discussion with Bereal.”
International Day of Glaciers and Poetry
6pm | Instituto Cervantes: 211-215 East 49th Street, Manhattan | Free with RSVP
“Join us for an immersive evening of poetry and live electronic music inspired by the sounds, voices, and fragile futures of the world’s glaciers. This year, in direct dialogue with the exhibition Guardians of the Glaciers by Peruvian photojournalist Ángela Ponce, experience: A new poem by Irma Alvarez Ccoscco, Quechua poet and cultural advocate, responding to themes of climate change, ancestral knowledge, the melting of Andean glaciers, and the collective memory of highland communities. An original electronic music composition by Tyler Postiglione, crafted from sound explorations that evoke glacier ecosystems, the loss of habitat, and the sonic fragility of disappearing ice.”
Art, Tech, and Representation
7.30pm | Brooklyn Academy of Music: 321 Ashland Pl, Brooklyn | Free
“How do the training data and algorithmic architectures that artificial intelligence (AI) relies on replicate and magnify racist, gender-based, and other biases? And what can be done to mitigate those effects as AI becomes increasingly integrated into daily life and the arts? Join MacArthur Fellows Annie Dorsen and Dr. Safiya Noble as they discuss the implications of emerging technologies on arts and culture.”
Thursday, March 19
Sound Ascent Vol 3: Climb Night
7 - 9pm | MetroRock Bushwick: 321 Starr St, Brooklyn | $25
“The third installment of Usal NY's indoor climbing series with MetroRock Bushwick. Live instrumental sound by a surprise musical guest rises and settles with the room, setting the tone for a community climb night, where people move between routes, rest, and fall into conversation as the evening builds.”
Make Your Own Labubu*!
7 - 9pm | Brooklyn Roots Collective: 255 Randolph Street | $25.15
“*what’s a labubu? In our culture it’s any sort of freaky keychain hanging from your bag! It *can* be a tiny monster, but it can also be a beautiful fidget toy, a tiny pair of pants, or a little guy in any shape or size. Join textile artists Maddie Pelz and Emma Singer at this Brooklyn Creative Reuse workshop as we create our own labubus. We’ll have all reused scrap fabric, ribbon, ric rack, beads, and fringe to play with! This is the perfect way to feel a part of the trend in an intentional and sustainable way, while saying no to fast fashion.”
Friday, March 20
Murder on the Dance Floor
7pm | KGB Bar: 85 E 4th St, Manhattan | $39+
“Four corners. Four suspects. WHODUNNIT? A crime has been committed—and you’re part of the investigation. Murder on the Dance Floor is an immersive, glamour -soaked fundraiser that invites you to dance, sip, and sleuth your way through a mystery unfolding all around you. Engage with performers, listen to a set by DJ DEF NOIZ, and piece together the story for a prize. Not into sleuthing? Kill it on the dance floor instead.”
Annual Distinguished Lecture on the Arts of South and Southeast Asia: Gods at the Gate of Modernity—Religious Arts in Colonial Calcutta
6 - 7pm | The Met | Free with RSVP
“In Calcutta, the cosmopolitan colonial capital of 19th-century India, artists and artisans adapted new technologies of mechanical reproduction to render the Hindu gods more accessible and affordable. During this time, they pioneered the chromolithographic religious print, a form of popular devotional imagery that became ubiquitous in twentieth-century India. This lecture explores how this new genre emerged and proliferated into the pervasive visual language of modern India.”
Opus House: Plot Twists & Possibilities
7.30pm - 12.30am | Studio1514: 1193 Atlantic Ave Floor 1, Brooklyn | $22.5
“Plot Twists & Possibilities centers the unexpected — the line that lands harder than you thought it would, the song that pulls you closer, the moment the room changes because someone names what everyone’s been feeling. Spoken word, live music, and live art unfolding in real time. This isn’t a sit-back-and-observe kind of evening. It’s a space you move through — linger where you like, follow what pulls you, and feel the temperature shift as the performances unfold.”
Saturday, March 21
Ragtime to Jazz: Stages in Harlem - A Walking Tour
11am - 1pm | Harlem | $28.52
“In the early 20th century, Harlem’s “hip-hop” was Ragtime—driven by young Black and Jewish musicians shaping America’s sound. By 1914, Harlem was the nation’s second-largest Jewish community, where composers like Gershwin, Hammerstein, and Rodgers collaborated with African American greats such as W.C. Handy, James Reese Europe, and Duke Ellington. Together, they forged America’s songbook. Explore their neighborhood—Mt. Morris Park, 125th Street, the Apollo Theater, and other landmarks tied to these legendary creators. Led by John T. Reddick, a long time resident of Harlem and a noted scholar of its architecture, ethnic and music cultures.”
SWEAT #07: A Sauna & Sound Pop Up (through Sunday)
Times vary | La Plaza Cultural: 674 East 9th Street, Manhattan | $25 - use code ‘fieldnotes’ for 15% off!
“For our seventh installment of SWEAT, we're back at our beloved La Plaza Cultural Community Garden for another full weekend of sweat, sauna, sounds, sandwiches, and souuuup. This time we've got some old and new friends joining us in the park: dark and groovy selections from DJ Gilly, a live Afro-futurist Gnawa performance by Imal Gnawa, ear seeds by Christian Pedretti, and everyone's favorite translucent sauna where you can sweat while taking in the elements.”
Dead Lover: Stink-O-Vision show + Q&A moderated by Sarah Sherman
7pm | IFC: 323 6th Ave, Manhattan | $19.95
“A lonely gravedigger who stinks of corpses finally meets her dream man, but their whirlwind affair is cut short when he tragically drowns at sea. Grief-stricken, she goes to morbid lengths to resurrect him through madcap scientific experiments, resulting in grave consequences and unlikely love. The DEAD LOVER Stink-O-Vision screenings turn cinema into a full-body experience. Each audience member receives a scratch-and-sniff card created by scent artists, unleashing a carefully choreographed bouquet of aromas—funky, foul, seductive, and downright unholy—that sync with key moments in the film.”
stoma feast: potluck and zine launch
6pm | Brooklyn Peace Center: 23 Marcus Garvey Blvd, Brooklyn
“Join us for a communal potluck dinner. In addition to food there will be readings, live music, and the launch of Stoma’s Cookbook Zine! We encourage you to bring a dish that is meaningful to you. In societies centered on production rather than connection, eating has become a means to an end. Food is treated as fuel, to be consumed as efficiently and pragmatically as possible, as an emotional sedative, or as a signal of cultural capital, a performance prop. This night is an invitation to reclaim the aesthetics of food and everything that occurs around it. In times of conflict and apathy, we want to inhabit rituals that illuminate the humane and spiritual aspects of sharing a meal.”
“On Production Design” with Dean Taucher
1pm | MoMI: 36-01 35th Ave, Queens | Free with RSVP
“MoMI welcomes acclaimed production designer Dean Taucher, who will present an inside look at the craft of building story worlds for the screen. In this illustrated talk, Taucher will share and discuss images of his set designs for television series including The Sopranos, Law & Order: SVU, and more, offering insight into the research, collaboration, and practical problem-solving that shape television environments.”
Cyanotype 101 w/ Praise Fuller
11 - 2pm | The People’s Forum: 320 West 37th Street, Manhattan| $75
“Students will spend this introductory workshop learning the cyanotype process from beginning to end. This one-day class covers the basic process of prep, choosing photos/objects, and exposure/printing. Cyanotype 101 is beginner-friendly and perfect for those who haven’t experimented with the medium before.” Hosted by Praise Fuller.
Sunday, March 22
Doomscroll (Live Show)
11.30am | The Whitney | $30
“Presented as part of the 2026 Whitney Biennial, Doomscroll is a podcast that explores online culture and politics in the 21st century. This live podcast will feature filmmaker John Wilson. Hosted by Joshua Citarella.”
Data Docs: Open Data on Screen
Firehouse Cinema: 87 Lafayette Street, Manhattan | $10 per film or $30 for all four films
“A day-long documentary screening program of films exploring issues New Yorkers care about — street safety, housing, child care, and urban nature — are each paired with NYC Open Data datasets and followed by panel discussions with data experts, City staff, community practitioners, and, where possible, the filmmakers themselves. Between screenings, attendees can visit a data help desk in the lobby staffed by Open Data Week volunteer. Data Docs brings together filmmakers, academics, civic technologists, and neighborhood residents around shared data and shared stories.”
Tidelands
7 - 9.30pm | Index Greenpoint: 698 Manhattan Ave, Brooklyn | $130
”An immersive gastronomic journey through the ecology of Sakhalin Island’s kelp forests and tide pools, told through the lenses of four converging cultures. The menu traces the rugged coastline of Sakhalin in Russia's Far East – a land shaped by the collision of Russian, Japanese, Korean, and indigenous cultures at the edge of a generous sea.”
The Evidence Scarf: Teaching Through the Garment
2 - 4pm | Pioneer Works: 159 Pioneer St, Brooklyn | $24.30
“In this two-hour workshop, educators, artists, and designers will explore fashion as evidence of labor, migration, value, and survival through both critical discussion and hands-on creation. The workshop is led by fashion designer, author, and educator Lesley Ware, whose practice centers on upcycling as an instrument for storytelling and cultural connection.”
Debbie Millman and Cy Gavin—Ecologies of Painting
2 - 3pm | The Met | Free with RSVP
“Join painter Cy Gavin and designer, author, and podcast host Debbie Millman for a conversation exploring art and nature. Highlighting a new rotation in the European Paintings galleries Ecologies of Painting (Gallery 638), which explores how human and nonhuman histories are intertwined, Gavin and Millman will reflect on the role aesthetics play in defining our understanding of the natural and built environments. Learn more about Gavin's practice and how he creates interpretations of sites that have been shaped over time by human intervention and geological or cosmic phenomena.”
Coming up soon…
Events you might want to RSVP to before they fill up:
Here Where We Live Is Our Country: Molly Crabapple with Naomi Klein
(4/7, Free with RSVP)Book Launch: Patrick Radden Keefe with Sarah Jessica Parker at 92Y (4/7, $60+)
THE FAMESICK TOUR Book Launch: Lena Dunham with Andrew Rannells at BAM (4/14, $60+)
Have an event coming up? Drop a comment below or share details via this form.