Norwegian Seaman's Church and Trygve Lie Gallery: 52nd Street between 1st and 2nd Avenues

On first glance, you might miss the fact that the Norwegian Seaman's Church is also the location of the Trygve Lie Gallery open to the public.  I visited the gallery yesterday and was pleasantly surprised that there was such a lovely resource here in Turtle Bay.

"Bird with a View"

The gallery was opened on September 19, 2003 by the then-Norwegian Ambassador to the U.S. with the mission to promote Norwegian, Norwegian American and Scandinavian art to a broad audience.  It is named after Trygve Halfdan Lie (1896-1968), the first Secretary General of the U.N., who before the end of WWII was the first to propose an alliance of free democratic nations.  And like its namesake and the U.N. the Seamen's Church and the Trygve Halfdan Lie Gallery value the "human struggle for freedom and justice for all."  They make available art to the public in an effort to express these values and create a contemporary reminder of those ideals.  These are pretty lofty claimed goals, and while not immediately evident, upon reflection I would say there is merit to the effort.

"Looking Over Me"

The gallery has new Scandinavian art installations each month (although the current one appears to have been up since May 2011), and currently, there is a photography exhibit by Sigrid Thorbjornsen of New York City scenes.  Like the gallery at the Brazilian Endowment for the Arts down the street, this gallery also has original artwork for sale.  The current exhibit's prices range from $100 to $450, and although I am no expert, I really felt the mood of the photographs and they appealed to me (see above left and right).  The photo at right takes me back to Stephen Moffat's famous "Doctor Who" episodes about the Weeping Angels--but I digress.

The facility is spacious, clean, and well lit.  Although the gallery is small, if you are in the neighborhood, it is well worth ringing the buzzer for entry and taking a look.  Who knows, maybe you'll find a piece of art you'd like to buy/invest in?  When I went, one staffer just turned on the gallery lights and left me to my own devices.  No pressure at all.  It was quite nice on a rainy day.

United Nations along the East River (1st Ave and 46th St)

I've walked past the UN headquarters regularly for over 5 years walking my dog, but never ventured past the gates until today. 

Like the permanent missions to the UN, whose flags fly in English alpha order (Afghanistan to Zimbabwe) in front of the headquarters, the 18 acres of the UN headquarters is international territory.  Except for the lobby and the basement level coffee shop, book store and gift shop (which has fabulous jewelry and interesting other gifts from all over the world), it is not open to the public except by guided tours (http://visit.un.org/wcm/content/).  Tours are offered in Arabic, English, Chinese, French, Spanish and Russian.  Tours in Italian, Japanese, German, Korean and other languages are offered upon request.  Tickets are $16 for adults, $11 for seniors and students, and $9 for children 5-12 (no children under 5). 

I took one of their English guided tours (60 mins) during which our group of 12 was informed about the UN's history beginning after WWII; the designers of the headquarters (which included renowned architects like France's Le Corbusier and Brazil's Oscar Niemayer); its six principal organs (International Court of Justice (not in NYC), Security Council, General Assembly, Economic & Social Council, Trusteeship Council, and Secretariat (which is the administrative body that operates out of the tall, skinny building--39 stories above ground and 3 below); and the amazing collection of art gifted to the UN by its various member nations (which number 192 at present).

The tour was well worth the $16 and the time (of which there never seems to be enough).  Besides the incredible art and artifacts (the huge ivory carving from China that took over 2 years to carve is awe inspiring--see right), the breadth of issues and the reach of the UN through all of its organs and its affiliated organizations (like UNICEF and The World Bank) are truly amazing.  They are tackling global issues such as war, hunger and poverty, women's rights (see below), childhood disease and mortality, climate change, nuclear disarmament, and the global economic crisis.  All of these things seem insurmountable, and perhaps they are, but the UN and its affiliated organizations are working on them.

I have never been a big fan of the UN, as it has seemed pretty ineffectual to me (and when the general session is IN, our neighborhood traffic is a mess, all the nice restaurants in the City are packed, and all the trash cans in the area are eliminated so I have no place to dispose of my dog's poop bags on our walks).  But our tour guide gave me something to ponder when she paraphrased Kofi Annan (Secretary General from 1997-2006) answering a reporter who questioned why the UN was so ineffectual as compared to God who was able to create the world in 6 days by saying that God had the benefit of working alone.  Yes, something to ponder in this world that feels ever-smaller with increasing technology.