And how she passes down culture to her kids.
Sunny's New York Cultural Moment
My mother instilled in us a strong cultural appetite, even from a very young age. It must have stuck, as I went on to study art history in college with a major in Renaissance Art. I then spent one year in Florence, Italy studying the greats and later got a job at Sotheby's Auction House in New York.
As I got older, I began appreciating modern art. I also cherish any opportunity to sneak in an exhibit or show. (Of course, now I have children and I work, so my days aren’t as free to explore as they once were.) However, this past Fall I managed to take in an incredible work, Monochromatic Light at the Park Avenue Armory. This emotionally evocative, immersive piece by composer and conductor, Tyshawn Sorey is an homage to Morton Feldman’s “Rothko’s Chapel” but seen in a complete new way. With choreography by Reggie Gray and visual direction by Peter Sellars and artist Julie Mehretu, it was a collaborative, spiritual event meant to remind us all of the Black struggle and ancestral traumas of our not-so-distant past. I loved it. It was a New York moment that I don’t get as often as I’d like to.
When I’m not taking in incredible art, I’ll come to New York with my kids. I recently took my son to a New York Knicks game. We’ll walk around beforehand, stop by the NBA store, and they’ll even let me take them to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I’ll pick a few works to teach them and hopefully they’ll retain something. I try to select the pieces that aren’t boring, or have an interesting story. It’s a new way of learning about a time period that they might be studying in school.
Other than that, I would like to get back into seeing more plays. The last play I saw was Come From Away, which was amazing. Next on my list is High Jackman in The Music Man. I’d love to see that. And over Christmas, we always do a New York day. This time I think we’ll see Frozen or Wicked.