New York Secret: The American Academy and Insitute of Arts & Letters

Probably the most elegant and secret setting in all of Northern Manhattan is the landmarked Audubon Terrace, at Broadway & W. 155th Street. It’s the home of several institutions including Boricua College, The Hispanic Society and the fabulous American Academy and Institute of Arts & Letters, whose past and present members include many of the great artists and writers.
It’s located in a landmarked, glorious 1907 Beaux-Arts complex, thru gates and a plaza which places it mere feet (yet worlds) apart from the mean streets of Washington Heights around it.
I’ve been to many exhibitions, openings and events here and met the elegant Executive Director Virginia Dajani.  The exhibits and art shows are open to the public but check their website or call first because the public hours vary.
A partial list of past & present members and honorees include:
Frank Lloyd Wright, Booth Tarkington, Edith Wharton, Thornton Wilder, Woodrow Wilson, Carl Sandburg, Theodore Roosevelt, Eero Saarinen, Mark Rothko, James Whitcomb Riley, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Archibald MacLeish, William S. Burroughs, Sinclair Lewis, Roy Lichtenstein, Julia Ward Howe, Allen Ginsberg, Cass Gilbert, Henry James, Charles Ives, Duke Ellington, Charles Dana Gibson and dozens more.


http://artsandletters.org/

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