CROSSING LINES: THE MANY FACES OF FIBER Founded in 1977 as a monthly gathering of six friends, The Textile Study Group of New York’s 2012 membership includes hundreds of basketmakers, crocheters, dyers, embroiderers, felters, knitters, knotters, lacemakers, papermakers, quilters, sculptors, spinners and weavers. “Crossing Lines: The Many Faces of Fiber” celebrates the group’s 35th anniversary by displaying over 50 works by TSGNY members which demonstrate the power and versatility of fiber art. A quilted collage of street signs, abstract art composed of sewing-machine stitches and towering masks made of threads are among the featured works. Curated by Rebecca A.T. Stevens, author and Consulting Curator of Contemporary Textiles at the Textile Museum in Washington, DC, the wildly diverse collection includes works both large and small, two- and three-dimensional, traditional and experimental.
Free. Through Feb. 19. Tues.-Sun., 12-4pm, at World Financial Center Courtyard Gallery. For more info, call 212-945-0505 or visit artsworldfinancialcenter.com.
FLUX THEATRE ENSEMBLE presents “MENDERS” Taking inspiration from (and liberties with) the Robert Frost poem “Mending Wall,” Flux Theatre Ensemble’s world premiere of Erin Browne’s “Menders” is concerned with the things we try to keep at bay — and the lengths to which we’ll go to for a sense of security. As new recruits Corey and Aimes mend the wall that keeps their city safe from an unnamed, unseen threat, they begin to question their teacher Drew’s ominous tales of the big, bad outside world.
Jan. 19-Feb. 11, at The Gym at Judson (243 Thompson St., at Washington Square South). Jan. 19, 20, 21 at 8pm; Jan. 22 & 24 at 7pm, Jan. 27 & 28 at 8pm, Feb. 1, 2, 3, 4 at 8pm; Feb. 5 at 3pm; Feb. 7 at 7pm; Feb. 9, 10, 11 at 8pm. For tickets ($18, $15 for students), call 866-811-4111 or visit fluxtheatre.org.
LUNAR NEW YEAR CELEBRATION The International Tai Chi Institute’s action-packed, three-hour variety show celebrates the Year of the Dragon (which marks the beginning of the 12-year cycle of the Chinese horoscope). Over two dozen acts are scheduled — including dancers, acrobats, musicians and demonstrations by Tai Chi Chuan and martial artists.
Sat., Jan. 21, from 1-5pm. At Pace University’s Michael Schimmel Center for the Arts (3 Spruce St., near City Hall). Tickets are $15 (no credit card payments accepted). To make a phone reservation, call 212-966-8830. Reserved tickets will be available at the box office on the day of the performance, but must be picked up by 12:45 p.m. The box office will open at 12 noon.
WALL STREET DIALOGUES Trinity Wall Street — the Lower Manhattan Episcopal church that knows a little something about what happens when Occupy Wall Street storms the gates — isn’t shying away from questioning our moral obligation to act upon ethical issues raised by the OWS movement. Presented by Trinity Institute and happening weekly through February 8, “Wall Street Dialogues” challenges a pundit to confront the audience with a provocative question whose Biblical origins have modern implications. Last week, Gary Dorrien of Union Theological Seminary discussed the distribution of wealth and power (“Economic Crisis, Social Ethics, and Economic Democracy”).
On January 18, priest and business economist Barbara Crafton wonders whether Jesus — who had a little table-tipping incident involving money changers at the temple — would pay taxes (“Paying Taxes: Privilege or Confiscation?”). On January 25, James Copland, of the Center for Legal Policy at the Manhattan Institute, mulls over the moral values of capitalism (“Capitalism, Inequality, and Scripture?). On February 1, Ben Roberts (occupycafe.org) asks what it feels like to have enough (“Occupy as a Leap of Faith”). The final installment, on February 8, has Yale Divinity School’s Kathryn Tanner contemplating what the Bible has to say about economic disparity (“Thinking Theologically about Income Disparity and the Gospel Response”).
Free. Every Wed. at 1:05pm, through Feb. 8. At Trinity Church (Broadway, at Wall St.; or watch online at trinitywallstreet.org). For info, call 212-602-0800.
COMPILED BY SCOTT STIFFLER
