A Labor Day Thank You for the Arts

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/30/arts/labor-day-weekend-art-events.html

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It’s the time of year when we start to shake off that summer lull. As you reflect on your cultural adventures over the past few months, consider the people who made it all possible. We have a lot of people to thank, and we’re introducing you to several of them. Some of the following excerpts from conversations have been edited. NICOLE HERRINGTON

Age: 49

Occupation: Director of facilities and conservation specialist at Storm King Art Center

Mike Seaman has worked at Storm King Art Center for almost 20 years. These days he oversees a team of seven that maintains the art, buildings and landscape at the 500-acre sculpture park in New Windsor, N.Y., about an hour north of New York City.

With his wide range of responsibilities, he is particularly aware of how the property’s pieces all fit together. “The sculptures at Storm King are surrounded by nature, and the landscape plays an active role in how you view a work of art,” he said. “I would encourage visitors to be mindful of how the landscape has been sculpted and tended specifically to display art.”

Mr. Seaman’s expert recommendation: Check out the view from the park’s Museum Hill, standing near Isamu Noguchi’s “Momo Taro,” facing north toward Alexander Liberman’s “Adam” and Alice Aycock’s “Three-Fold Manifestation II.” You’ll see the monumental sculptures framed by lush lawns and the Hudson Valley’s rolling hills.

Holiday weekends can be busy, Mr. Seaman said, “but there is so much to do and see, and lots of space for everyone.” Visitors can rent bikes, participate in family programs, take a guided tour or check out this year’s special exhibitions, “Indicators: Artists on Climate Change” and “Outlooks: Elaine Cameron-Weir.” Just don’t climb on or touch the art, he reminds guests. PETER LIBBEY

When: Storm King’s extended summer hours end this weekend, but the park is open through Dec. 9. 1 Museum Road, New Windsor, N.Y.; 845-534-3115, stormking.org.

Age: 32

Occupation: D.J. and producer affiliated with Discwoman, a collective that supports gender nonconforming artists, which has a set on Saturday at MoMA PS1’s Warm Up party

“This’ll be the first time I’m playing at Warm Up, but I’ve been to so many over the years. I love playing at institutions like museums because people come with a really open mind. At PS1, every time I’m there it feels like the audience is really a wild card: It’s such a mix of different people and backgrounds. I love being in places like that because you never know how people will interact.

“There’s a lot of research that goes into my sets. I do a lot of digging on YouTube. I really like to tell a story so there are different arcs and peaks and valleys. But at the end of the day, when I get into the space, I don’t always go as planned. I’ll vibe off the audience.

“What’s consistent in my set is really trying to amplify and give space to Latinx [the gender-neutral term for people of Latin descent] voices. Being first generation and growing up with this music — and considering what’s going on right now in the United States — it’s really important to create spaces that celebrate these voices rather than criminalizing them.” — As told to Andrew R. Chow

When: Noon to 9 p.m. on Saturday at MoMA PS1, 22-25 Jackson Avenue, Queens; moma.org.

Age: 61

Occupation: Violinist and executive and artistic director of Bargemusic, the floating concert hall next to the Brooklyn Bridge in Dumbo, which presents an annual Here and Now Labor Day Festival

“I became artistic and executive director in 2003, and that gave me a little more freedom. I thought, ‘Wouldn’t this be fun, to have a festival all by living composers.’ And things just started to happen.

“It takes over a year of planning, or more than that. You’re looking for pieces, and sometimes they’re ready and sometimes they’re not. Peri Mauer has written for contrabass flute and cello, which I thought was very neat, because I didn’t know anything like that. And I had lots of fun with guys like [the saxophonist] Daniel Schnyder and [the trombonist] David Taylor. They just did a duo album, and Daniel wanted to write something that I could play with them. So he wrote some interesting trios for the three of us.

“You have to stay open, read a lot, listen a lot, Google a lot. People keep in touch; they send their scores; they send their recordings. I already have ideas about performers I want to invite next year, and some pieces I want to ask people to write.

“The barge is never boring. You have to become a marine engineer — part electrician, part all this stuff. I say sometimes that I know about this stuff more than I ever wanted to know. But I wouldn’t call it problems; I’d call it challenges. And so far, thank God, it’s been around for 40 years.” — As told to Zachary Woolfe

When: 8 p.m. Friday, 6 p.m. Saturday and 4 p.m. Sunday at Fulton Ferry Landing, Brooklyn; bargemusic.org.

Age: 26

Occupation: Night manager at the Magnet Theater who runs “The Armando Diaz Experience,” a show in which a guest monologuist tells a story based on a suggestion from the audience then improvisers perform scenes based on that story

“As an employee of the Magnet Theater, my job is to make sure that the shows run on time while ensuring a safe environment for the performers, patrons and fellow employees. I also divide responsibilities among the interns who help clean and operate the box office and bar during shows, and count the money the theater made that night.

“As a comedian myself, I recognize that I am very fortunate to be getting paid to be around such a community of comedians who encourage art and look out for one another — I’ve never really experienced that anywhere else. I feel as if I am doing something important, and I appreciate every time I walk through that glass door.”

As for “The Armando Diaz Experience,” he added, “It’s great to see the scenes inspired by the stories and knowing that it’s a show that’s been going on since 1995, which really connects you with the history of improv.” — As told to Sopan Deb

When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Magnet Theater, 254 West 29th Street, Manhattan; 212-244-8824, magnettheater.com.

Age: 43

Occupation: Hula dancer and teacher performing at Aloha Nights, a summer series at the New York Botanical Garden held in conjunction with “Georgia O’Keeffe: Visions of Hawai’i”

“I found out about Aloha Nights through my halau hula [hula school]. I love it. There are so many amazing groups who have been performing. It’s not only about hula, it’s also about other Hawaiian art, such as lei making, and other cultural traditions. I wish I could be there every weekend.

“We start off the evening by welcoming the visitors and then we perform about a 20-minute routine — all hula auana, meaning modern hula,” she said last weekend before a performance. “Then I will be sharing a hula that I choreographed myself, and I will be teaching the hula basics as well as the full choreography.”

“I’ve been performing for 26 years. I’ve taught many, many beginners. Some people pick it up easily and some people, it takes years for them to refine their technique. So it is challenging.

“So many people just think hula is a form of entertainment, but it’s very much deeply rooted to spirituality as well. There are some dances that are solely for ritual, and there are also dances for procreation. And then there are some songs that elicit romance.

“People who are interested in the art of hula, they become really dedicated to it, and they get immersed not only in the dance but also the culture of it. When I perform and I see people light up when they see the dance — that to me is very heartwarming and that’s in itself rewarding.” — As told to Sara Aridi

When: 6:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Saturday at the New York Botanical Garden, 2900 Southern Boulevard, Bronx; nybg.org.

Age: 67

Occupation: Silent film composer and accompanist at Film Forum

After 35 years of playing for hundreds of moviegoers, the composer and pianist Steve Sterner still gets excited about playing for the crowds at Film Forum. “Music is an enhancer,” Mr. Sterner said. “It’s basically my job to be faithful to the film — to enhance the film. Not to be a virtuoso who people say, ‘Wow, did you hear how beautifully he played the piano?’ I don’t need that. I need people to forget that I’m at the piano after five or 10 minutes and get immersed in the film. Sometimes, people will forget that I’m there, and 40 minutes later they’ll realize: ‘Hey, that guy is still playing piano. I forgot all about them!’”

“I’ve always enjoyed the 1920s and ’30s,” he said. “If I lived back then, I would have loved to have worked with someone like Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd or Laurel and Hardy. This is fulfilling a fantasy, because in a way I am working with them.”

His Labor Day weekend selection, Frank Borzage’s 1920 film “Humoresque,” is a rarity he wishes to share with more viewers. For the first time in his decades-long career, Mr. Sterner will be presenting his score with another musician, the violinist Maria Im.

“Adding another instrument means that we’ve got to set things down on paper,” he said. “I can’t play in the key of G with you playing in the key of E flat. I think there are eight different entrances of the violin in the film where we’re going to have to rehearse beforehand. The rest of the film, I could just improvise.” MONICA CASTILLO

When: 12:30 p.m. Sunday at Film Forum, 209 West Houston Street, Manhattan; 212-727-8110, filmforum.org.

Age: 20

Occupation: Assistant house manager, National Yiddish Theater — Folksbiene

“Our audience is very diverse — Yiddish speakers, people who don’t speak Yiddish but have some connection to Jewish culture — and we do have a number of older audience members, who do sometimes require a little bit of help. Of course one of the main challenges that arises is that our audience is very excited to be watching the show, and occasionally we’ll have someone who wants to remember the moment by taking a picture. Just the other day someone was about to film in the back row, and I just went up to him and gently got his attention and he very quickly put his phone away. When phones ring, we do the same thing, but we do occasionally have to manually show people — people will hand us their phones so we can turn them off for them.”

“I don’t speak a lick of Yiddish, and our opening night was the first time I had seen ‘Fiddler on the Roof.’ I was born and raised in the Piney Woods of East Texas, and grew up evangelical — my family attended a Southern Baptist congregation. I’m about to start my junior year at Harvard, studying theater, dance, and media, and last year, during spring break, I went to an internship fair and found the Yiddish theater. Once you get involved, it’s hard to leave — it’s a wonderful mishpocha, and after being immersed in the culture I realized I wanted to join the Jewish people, so I’m working on that and will be converting in the next two or three years.” — As told to Michael Paulson

When: “Fiddler on the Roof” runs through Oct. 25 at the Museum of Jewish Heritage — A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, 36 Battery Place, Manhattan; 212-945-0039, nytf.org.

Age: 44

Occupation: Curator of film at the Museum of the Moving Image who with the filmmaker Robert Greene organized the series “Workers of the World: Immigrant Labor on Screen,” running this weekend

“A lot of the programming that I try to pursue tends to be, if not straight up works of nonfiction, then works that kind of play around with notions of nonfiction. Though there’s great programming of that throughout the city, for this community in Queens, I hadn’t seen that approach yet.

“This year in particular felt like a really important time to focus on films that honor the immigrant labor force in the United States. But film allows you to kind of widen the scope beyond whatever a political moment could be. So even in a small program like this, we didn’t want to just do American immigrant labor. We wanted to also bring in “La Commune,” about France in the 19th century, and “Behemoth,” which is a contemporary Chinese film.

“Having worked weekends that are holiday weekends before, I actually think that probably the best part of my job is being present with an audience. This is who you do it for. You do all that work during the week to put on a show — you want to be there for the show.

“Watching these 35-millimeter prints on the screen and then also to be watching an audience react to it, and then having an audience want to have a conversation with you and the filmmaker and the curator afterward — that’s what it’s all for. Honestly, I’d love to be on vacation for the rest of it. But I’m happy to be working over a weekend like this when you get to see the magic happen.” — As told to Sara Aridi

When: Friday through Sunday at the Museum of the Moving Image, 36-01 35 Avenue, Queens; 718-777-6888, movingimage.us.