Past Exhibitions & Events - 2025
Tales of the Virtuoso
Chamber Music @ RIVAA Gallery
April 27, 2025 @ 3 PM
Sunday, April 27 at 3 PM
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Hilda Huang, solo fortepiano recital
With Alyssa Campbell, period violin
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Works by Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin​
Hilda Huang, first prize winner of the Leipzig Bach International Competition, is about to complete her doctoral work at The Juilliard School, and is currently a Fulbright Scholar at the Amsterdam conservatory of music.
Alyssa Campbell is an accomplished period violinist who performs internationally and studied at Juilliard and Royal Conservatoire of The Hague.
They will be performing gorgeous solo and chamber masterworks from the late Classical and early Romantic periods, on an original 1830's Viennese fortepiano by Biber.
All are welcome at RIVAA Gallery. There is no entry fee but a suggested donation of $25 for adults and $10 for students / seniors.
Solo Exhibition: In the Making
Works by Dan Nistor @ RIVAA Gallery
April 4 - 27, 2025
Opening Reception: April 5th from 6 - 9 PM
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Closing Reception: April 26th from 6 - 9 PM
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Dan Nistor’s paintings capture fleeting moments of emotion, light, and atmosphere with immediacy and intensity. This collection reflects not just recent works, but a series of visual explorations shaped by the artist’s experience in the studio–where music, mood, and memory influence the brushstrokes. Avoiding anecdotal narratives, Nistor’s work invites viewers to engage with form, movement, and process, each piece offering its own quiet dialogue between painter and observer.
The exhibition runs at RIVAA Gallery from April 4-27, 2025. Please join us at the opening reception on Saturday, April 5th from 6-9 PM.
Candlelight Concert: The Arrow Quartet
Chamber Music @ RIVAA Gallery
April 19, 2025 @ 7 PM
The acclaimed musicians of the Arrow Quartet present the dramatic and contemplative Seven Last Words of Christ by Joseph Haydn, a masterwork consisting of musical movements which expound on these final utterances from the biblical text. In this special candlelit experience, an atmosphere of reflection and contemplation invites audiences into an immersive and unique musical performance.
Program: Joseph Haydn: The Seven Last Words of Christ, Op. 51
Musicians: Amelia Sie - Violin | Alyssa Campbell - Violin | Jimmy Drancsak - Viola | Chelsea Bernstein - Cello
Admission is Free | Suggested Donation: $25 General, $10 Students & Seniors
24th Vernissage
24 Year Anniversary Exhibition @ RIVAA Gallery
March 7 - March 30, 2025
​​​Opening reception: Saturday , March 8
6 - 9 PM
Like a good friend, we're here for you!
RIVAA is proud to celebrate another year as a Roosevelt Island nonprofit organization. We wouldn’t be here without you, our loyal Island art lovers and supporters. So we thank you and hope that you’ll celebrate with us by bringing your family and friends to our Vernissage 24 exhibition.
Whimsical and Wonderful
Chamber Music@ RIVAA Gallery
Sunday, March 30th, 3 PM
The previously cancelled chamber music concert is back! We're pleased to invite you to the upcoming chamber music concert curated and directed by Roosevelt Island resident Yi-heng Yang, who is faculty at The Juilliard School of Music and a leading historical keyboard player, the concert features two classical quintets performed by the Quodlibet Period Woodwind Ensemble. The sounds and colors of the music of Mozart and Sayve come alive with historical flute, natural horn, bassoon and clarinet, and a copy of a Mozart fortepiano. MUSICIANS: Aaron Goler - Bassoon | Kelsey Burnham - Flute | Elise Bonihivert - Clarinet | Rachel Nierenberg - Horn | Yi-heng Yang - Fortepiano PROGRAM August de Sayve Quintet for Winds and Piano op. 15 W. A. Mozart Woodwind and Piano Quintet in E-flat, K. 452 There is no entry fee but a suggested donation of $25 for adults and $10 for students and seniors.
Basswood and Steel Sculpture
@ The Octagon
January 5 – March 28, 2025
​​​Opening reception: Thursday , January 9, 6 -9 pm
The Octagon Gallery, 888 Main Street, Roosevelt Island, New York City
The exhibition Basswood and Steel Sculpture features sculptures Waterfall, Ascent, and Foxtrot by Victoria Thorson whose artistic practice centers on a search for abstract forms.
Thorson works with basswood valued by artists for its soft, fine, even texture. It is in the process of making that she discovers the final form.
The artist explains: “With minimalistic precision basswood is cut into tilting planes. Next, it is carved, shaped, and smoothed to a softness of touch. I sense the wood’s strength and flow by intuitively feeling the lines of energy in the grain, cracks and knots of the wood. Each form is then anchored by a repurposed, found steel object that is the right proportion, weight, and aesthetic to become part of the sculpture.”
Klezmer is back!
Sunday, March 23, 2025
3 PM @ RIVAA Gallery
Klezmer is back! The previously postponed Klezmer concert has been rescheduled for Sunday, March 23 at 3 PM.
Make RIVAA Gallery your Sunday afternoon destination, and familiarize yourself with this lively music. See you on Sunday at RIVAA.
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Open Doors Book Release
March 20, 2025 @6 PM
@ RIVAA Gallery
OPEN DOORS’ long awaited poetry anthology is here!
Wheeling and Healing 2: Holding the Mic in the Middle of the Storm includes writing from friends and allies near and far. Hosted by renowned slam poet Steven Willis, we bring to you a night of poetry sharing featuring many of the talented poets who contributed to this anthology.
Join us for a special book release party on Thursday, March 20th at 6 PM at RIVAA Gallery.
All are welcome.
RSVP (optional) here
The Lives That Made The Life We Live
Saturday, March 1, 2025
Closing Ceremony @ RIVAA Gallery
Closing Ceremony: March 1, 2025
6:00 - 9:00 PM
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Curators: Amazia Thompson | Angie St. Louis | Bleu Pablo | Dhierry Clermont | Saundra Lamb
Back by popular demand! Join us for the closing reception of The Lives That Made The Life We Live, RIVAA's Black History Month exhibition, showcasing the creativity and talent of local artists. Experience an evening of artwork, artist talks, music, live painting, and community as we honor the stories and legacies that shape our lives.
Donations are encouraged. RSVP here: Eventbrite link
We look forward to celebrating with you!
The Lives That Made The Life We Live
February 7 - March 2, 2025
Celebrating Black History Month @ RIVAA Gallery
​​​Opening reception: February 8th, 2025
6:00 - 9:00 PM
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Closing Ceremony: March 1st, 2025
6:00 - 9:00 PM | Suggested Donation - $5
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The Lives That Made The Life We Live is an exhibition highlighting unlauded Black inventors and their silent impact on our way of living. Through this exhibition, artists explore the effects of Black inventions on the physical world and human psyche in mediums ranging from paint and textiles to photography and film. Serving as a tribute to these forgotten legacies, it calls for recognition and respect for Black creators who touch every part of our lives, often missed and taken for granted, spanning culture, technology, medicine, and everything in between and beyond.
The Romantics:
Piano Quartets of Fanny Hensel and Johannes Brahms
3:00 PM @ RIVAA GALLERY
Sunday, February 16, 2025
On Sunday, February 16 at 3 PM, the brilliant Aisslinn Nosky, concertmaster of the Handel and Haydn Society, returns to RIVAA Gallery's concert series with Yi-heng Yang, fortepiano, Maureen Murchie, viola, and Sarah Stone, cello, in a program of Romantic-era chamber music on period instruments. On the program are Johannes Brahms' Piano Quartet No. 2 in A Major, Op. 26 and Fanny Hensel's Piano Quartet in A-Flat Major.
There is no entry fee but a suggested donation of $25 for adults and $10 for students / seniors. Your donation supports the musicians and RIVAA programs.