Nyack Weekender: Climate Change, Pop Culture and 1984

This weekend Rockland goes green with an environmental and outdoor organization meet and greet, a photo exhibit from the People’s Climate March, a program on green investing and an interfaith panel on climate change. POPCON Nyack, the village’s first ever pop culture convention, debuts and The Walking Dead departs with a season finale watch party. You can also hear classical guitar or jazz and see one of the first performances of the Hudson Valley Ballet. If the national political conversation make you feel like Big Brother Is Watching You, go see 1984 on the National Screening Day. Last but not least, The Jewish Film Festival concludes this week with five new movies and an encore presentation.

Friday

• In conjunction with the Activism in Art: Art Changes Things exhibit, Rockland Center for the Arts presents Artists Talk: Activism in Art. Five artists will speak on the subject of artists as the observers of our society and their role in activism. Artists Vera Aronow, Kiri Laurelle Davis, Lisa Levart, Francesco Mastalia, and Wilfredo Morel respond to social injustice and environmental issues while using their art as a weapon to bring to the forefront issues they are most passionate about, bringing about community healing and change. 7p, 27 S Greenbush Rd, West Nyack.

• Classical guitarists Seth Himmelhoch and Gabriel Handy will perform solo and duo selections by Debussy, Bach, Domeniconi and others in the beautiful 19th century York Room at the Birch Mansion as part of the Ramapo College Open Door Concert Series. The event is free and open to the public. 7p, 505 Ramapo Valley Rd, Mahwah, NJ.

Saturday

• Do you want to give back and help the environment? At the Meet and Greet With Nature, Outdoor and Environmental Organizations at the Valley Cottage Library, seven local organizations will have tables with information and representatives to answer your questions. There will be an organizational “speed dating” style series of presentations to introduce you to what their focus is, what activities and events they offer, and how you can get involved. 10:30a – 2:30p, 110 Route 303, Valley Cottage.

• POPCON Nyack features vendors selling comics, vinyl, collectibles, and clothing. Meet Comics icon and Marvel/DC author Denny O’Neil from 1p – 4p. Participate in a Cosplay contest and win cash prizes. 10a – 4p, Nyack Center, 58 Depew Ave, Nyack.

• Opening reception for Photographs from the People’s Climate March. This photography exhibit from the 2014 People’s Climate March in New York City reflects the diverse, worldwide community fighting climate change/global warming. Many Rockland residents participated and made their voices heard. Statements from March participants will accompany the exhibit. This will give March participants another opportunity to express their views. 12:30p – 2:30p, Valley Cottage Library, 110 Route 303, Valley Cottage.

• Elliott Forrest Interviews Kelly Carlin. With rich humor and deep insight, Kelly Carlin, daughter of George Carlin, pulls back the curtain on what it was like to grow up as the daughter of one of the most recognizable comedians of our time. 8p, Nyack Library, 59 S Broadway, Nyack.

• The Robert Rodriguez Trio featuring Jorge Roeder and Ulysses Owens play Maureen’s Jazz Cellar at 8 & 9:30p, 2 N. Broadway, Nyack.

Sunday

• Do you want to learn about Green Investing? Mary Beth Gallagher will provide an overview of environmentally responsible investing for individual investors, and for institutional and organizational investors. You will learn tools to use with financial managers to align your investments with your values, as well as considerations for making investment decisions that promote environmental stewardship and how to use investments to mitigate climate change. 1p, Nyack Library, 59 S Broadway. Following the Green Investing conversation there will be an Interfaith Panel on Climate Change. This facilitated panel discussion will cover theological responses to climate change from a wide variety of perspectives both in terms of religion and culture, and in terms of addressing the many negative impacts of climate change. 2:30p, Nyack Library, 59 S Broadway.

• “Bring Out Your Dead” and join other walking deadheads at Dave & Buster’s for The Walking Dead Season Finale featuring a buffet, prizes, giveaways, happy hour specials and zombies. 8p, 4661 Palisades Center Dr, West Nyack.

Next Week

Tuesday

George Orwell’s portrait of a government that manufactures their own facts, demands total obedience and demonizes foreign enemies has never been timelier. Rivertown Film presents 1984 as part of a National Screening Day to show support for the arts and free speech. Why is April 4 a special date to coordinate a coast-to-coast cause-related screening? It’s the same date that 1984’s protagonist Winston Smith begins keeping a forbidden diary, his first act of rebellion against his repressive government. 8p, Nyack Center, 58 Depew Ave, Nyack.

Wednesday

Be one the first to see the newly-formed Hudson Valley Ballet in a free dance concert at the Cultural Arts Theater at Rockland Community College. Abdel R. Salaam of Forces of Nature Dance Theatre choreographed one piece for the performance, utilizing a unique blend of contemporary modern dance, ballet and traditional West African dance. Students will also perform Patriotic Suite, an excerpt from a new ballet by RCC faculty member Melissa Padham-Maass. Additionally, the show features student performances in modern, contemporary, jazz and hip-hop styles of dance. 7p, 145 College Rd, Suffern.

Thursday

Join Krishna Das and friends at the Tarrytown Music Hall for an evening of sacred kirtan music to benefit the Tibetan Home of Hope. Krishna Das is an American vocalist known for his performances of Hindu devotional music known as kirtan. The benefit will support the Home of Hope which provides shelter, healthcare and education to Tibetan children; a safe haven where children thrive academically and are also able to connect to their culture within a loving community. 8p, 13 Main St, Tarrytown.

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