New York – Feb 07 2019

NEW YORK’S LEADING ROLE IN THE FIELD OF ART IN PUBLIC SPACES. A TOOL FOR CHANGE AND COMMUNITY IN SUSTAINABLE CITIES

This panel discussion addresses the singularities of public art as a tool for change and social engagement, focusing specifically on New York City’s commitment to art in public spaces as exemplified by recent outstanding projects such as Coolture Impact.  For those who do not know Ana Calvo de Luis (YET!!), she is a longtime EuroCircle member from the lovely region of Rioja, Spain.

  • With Kendal Henry, Director of Percent for Art Program, and Ana Calvo de Luis, Founder and CEO at COOLTURE IMPACT.
  • Introduced by Juan José Herrera de la Muela, Consul for Cultural Affairs.

Whether driven by the community or municipal agencies, public art moves beyond improving aesthetic quality within neighborhoods, by reinforcing social connections, fostering community revitalization and economic development. Cities across the U.S., including New York, have instituted “Percent for Act” programs, which mandate that a portion of the budget for city-funded construction projects is used to fund and install public art. In 1983, New York City launched its Percent for Art program, and has since commissioned over 300 site-specific, permanent public art works in schools, courthouses, police precincts, and transit sites.

The participants will discuss the singularities of public art as a tool for change and social engagement. Among other outstanding projects, they will discuss Coolture Impact, the large interactive public platform for cultural content and social engagement recently opened on street level in New York City’s Times Square area.

Discussion will be followed by cocktail reception.

ADMISSION:  FREE

 

New York – Feb 03 2019

FINNS ON ICE

Come skate with friends and family in the first ever Finns on Ice family fun day on Sunday, February 3rd! The skating rink is located at LeFrak Center at Lakeside in Prospect Park, 171 East Drive, Brooklyn.

Admission is free, but registration through Eventbrite is recommended.

You can bring your own skates or rent them for $5 on site.
TICKETS: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/finns-on-ice-registration-54822178612
Donations are greatly appreciated and can be made on site or through Givelify (https://www.givelify.com/givenow/1.0/MTI4MDk=/selection).
Donations will be used to purchase much needed new furniture for the use of The Finnish School of New York and Finnchurch NYC.
For $10 you can buy Finnish style pea soup and laskiaispulla or Runebergin torttu. Please reserve your soup beforehand through Eventbrite.

Worried about missing Super Bowl? We’re doing our best to have the game streamed in our party room on site.

This event is sponsored by Reaktor.

New York – Jan 25 2019

EuroCircle’s 20th Anniversary Drinks with Style at PHD Terrace at the top of Dream Hotel Midtown

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20 years ago the new CEO of Telemundo Ibra Morales had a dinner with a bunch of friends at Henry Meer’s new restaurant in Tribeca called City Hall.
When the owner came by to say hello Ibra smoothly made sure to get his friend Kaisa a space to get started with her idea – EuroCircle. She had talked
about for years so it was time for action. 6 days and many frantic calls and faxes later on Monday, Jan 11 1999 the first EuroCircle event took place in Tribeca.
There was no social media, no emails – she had to bring minimum 100 p otherwise she’d pay the rent.
185 people attended the event – Ibra Morales, Louisa Kennedy, Pierre Battu, Nora Kerppola, Eric Faltraco, Meike Schmidt, Christa Schantz, Jean-Yves Charriau, Rikard Strom,
Victoria Vinoku, Jim Kreissman and many more. They had great time – and the word of mouth starting going around NYC.

***NOTE: All guests MUST say  “EuroCircle” at the door in order to receive a stamp/wristband for the drink special.

Cash Bar

$10 vodka drink special

HOSTED BY:

Jelena Ignjic
Sherry Kumar
Jane Schluter
Valev Laube
James Kähn

Invite more Europeans and Europhiles!! Word of mouth is still our only way of finding new members.

New York – Dec 18 2018

EuroCircle’s Annual Holiday Party

Join us for our annual holiday party at this midtown hotspot!

NO COVER with online RSVP by 5 pm on December 18 and saying “EuroCircle” at the door!
Attire: Holiday Chic

If you show up in a holiday color or some sparkly, you’ll look even more fabulous!

Let’s celebrate the holiday season this great rooftop & lounge!
There will be great music playing throughout the night!
The drink special: $10 Absolut cocktails. Food is available for purchase.

We will have some holiday surprises available for all guests!

Feel free to invite friends the more the merrier!

Alexandra and EuroCircle New York Team

 

 

Meet Igor Orlovsky, from the USSR to Entrepreneur & Art Dealer at the Chelsea Art Group

I had the pleasure of interviewing Igor Orlovsky, Golden Keys Concierge at Baja Off the Grid & Art dealer at the Chelsea Art Group.

What is your “backstory”?

I Immigrated from the USSR as a Jewish Refugee in 1980 from Kiev, Ukraine. When I was 17 I got a scholarship to Georgetown to Study Linguistics. After completing my studies at Georgetown, I (then) went to Paris to study Art at the Sorbonne.

After studying art, I ran the Russian Language Program for the National Geospatial Agency (CIA of Satellites) and then moved (back to the states) to Los Angeles be more creative and got a degree in Graphics and Brand Management.

My first job after I got my degree was as a Jr. Designer. I quickly moved up in the ranks and became the Creative Director at Smart Planet (Manufacturer of Kitchen Wear & Appliances). While I was at Smart Planet I was recruited by the Chelsea Art Group and became a high end art dealer.

Ten years ago I fell in love with Baja and started taking care of Baja Off the Grid on the weekends and on vacations. Three years ago I had the privilege of became the Concierge and Property manager.

Can you tell me about the most interesting projects you are working on now?

Currently, I am designing and supervising the expansion of Baja Off the Grid, as well as implementing our new summer camp and converting the property into a 5 star resort and wedding destination.

What is your definition of success?

Building a legacy that shifts global perspective one guest at a time.

How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?

Everyone who comes to Baja Off the Grid leaves transformed in one way or another.

They realize how little one needs to actually be happy or how easy it is to save our planet by adding a few solar panels to your roof, or simply choosing local products with minimal packaging, OR my favorite — they wake up and realize how amazing the moment is and how beautiful life can be, if you just pay attention and are a little more mindful.

Living by the ocean off the grid and relying on Mother Nature wakes people up people and pulls them out of their routine and their the numb robot automation state.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”?

“The Stinkier the pile, the bigger the diamond”, my own quote.

Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

Whenever something horrible happens to me, I say thank you to the universe, because I know a great gift is coming my way.

I was going through my separation and I totaled my car right in front of my office. I took it as a sign that the universe wanted me to change my life. So I quit my Creative Director job and moved to Spain with no understanding of Spanish.

Now I am fluent in Spanish, had an amazing two year adventure, am running one of the best resorts in Baja while living a fantasy that I never would have thought possible. All because I totaled my car during my separation.

What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started my career” and why. (Please share a story or example for each.)

1. Do what you do best and pay everyone to do everything else.

2. In business, nothing is better than Opium (OPM) Other people’s money. If others won’t invest in you THERE IS A REASON WHY!

3. Be the first one in and the last one out.

4. Take a siesta every day. I used to park my car under a tree and take a siesta for 15 min after lunch. It’s like 2 days in one, a mini reset where you can do or restart anything that you didn’t in the morning.

5. Don’t come to people with problems, come to them with solutions.

Original article was published on Medium.com 

Some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this 🙂

OPRAH — — OPRAH — — OPRAH

She is my definition of success. She has shifted global perspective more than any other person of our time. She has been an inspiration of mine for decades and she is an Aquarius just like me.

To reach Igor: info@bajaoffthegrid.com and Instagram:@bajaoffthegrid

For more information on Baja Off the Grid — https://www.bajaoffthegrid.com/

Do You Know What It’s Like to Be an Immigrant in America?

TESSA LENA
Tessa Lena, who wrote this article, is an immigrant artist, writer and entrepreneur living in the East Village of New York. She is the founder of VulnerableWin, a community in a community initiative designed to restore the art of dialogue and to help people talk to each other over disagreements and cultural differences. Her motto is, “See a fellow human.”
Overnight, many of my friends have become great experts on the culture of my home country — a place they have never visited.

When I was 5 years old, my Soviet teacher announced that America wanted to nuke us for our freedom, and that a missile could hit any moment. That day, I couldn’t focus on my homework, and I couldn’t sleep at night. I was just staring at the window in fear, waiting for the nuclear missile to fly in and burn us all to ashes. I didn’t want to die.

Later on, I learned that it was a blatant lie. Nobody was trying to nuke us. When I came to the States and told this story to my American-born friends, I discovered that they, too, had lived in fear of being nuked. We laughed about the glitch, and life went on.

Fast-forward 20 years, and the Russians are at it again. Vodka-drinking GRU operatives with heavy accents are waging cyberwar against America and inundating us with fake news. I call America home now, and I don’t feel so good.

The other day somebody posted a link to a Russian restaurant with a comment, “Russian food? NO, THANK YOU.” I said nothing, and bitterly unfollowed. I guess they have never tried my mom’s borscht.

Overnight, many of my friends have become great experts on the culture of my home country — a place they have never visited. To avoid argument, I have trained myself not to interrupt them with passionate tirades against stereotyping. I am frustrated with being pigeonholed in a whole new way — the Russian bear now has Vladimir Putin’s head — yet I know that my friends are acting in self-defense. I remember.

But there is something else I will never forget: The year is 2002, and I am in the back of an immigration van, handcuffed to two young Chinese girls who are crying at the top of their lungs, scared even more than I am. Me, playing tough, and the girls, wailing like crazy.

“I hate Chinese people. Why do they come here?” These are the words the driver utters, as he makes sure to drive rough so that our helpless, chained bodies hit the walls of the van.

I feel bad for the girls. They don’t speak English, and in their eyes I can see undiluted animal fear. As for myself, what am I doing in the back of an immigration van, chained to two strange women, listening to a sadist in uniform? Why am I in shackles? Sadly, I married the wrong guy. He was kind and charming when we were dating, then turned abusive on the day we got married. When he realized that he could no longer control me, he brilliantly decided to take care of the “problem” by getting me deported. “They won’t believe you,” he said. “You are a nobody. An immigrant. I am an American.”

Do you know what it feels like when four armed men walk into your apartment, grab you by the hands, cuff you and walk you out of the door as a criminal? If you haven’t lived it, I bet you don’t.

As an immigrant fighting with teeth and claws for every set of papers, hopping from one visa to another, infinitely applying for something and infinitely waiting for something, you get used to excruciating uncertainty — you never know where you are going to be tomorrow, you live in-between worlds. But I know I followed the rules. I followed the rules religiously. And there I was, in the back of a van, banging my head on the hard surface with each rough turn, and listening to the screams of the young women chained to my arms.

Do you know what it feels like? You don’t, do you? Fear and uncertainty sitting heavy inside your chest. No rights. “But Tessa, this was just a mistake. Clearly it was wrong but it was just a mistake. Mistakes happen.” Reasoning sound great when it’s not about you or your family. But when you are on the receiving end, it’s hard to theorize. For a long time, I thought it was just a mistake, my individual tragedy, a one-off horror, something I was going to receive an apology for — any minute now.

But as years went by, I came to believe that the way I was treated was not an exception. Xenophobia toward subhuman immigrants is the default. That’s what they do. They teach us a lesson.

When the news began exploding with numerous immigrant tragedies in the past year, it broke my heart in a familiar way. I know every step of the process, and I know how much it hurts. I have seen this movie before anyone was talking about it. Inhumane treatment of immigrants is not new. Contempt toward caged animals is not new, either.

Yes, I’ve moved on, and when my friends make prison jokes, I laugh with them. I am no longer bleeding, but I remember. I remember crying inside of a jail cell because something is hurting unbearably, because you’re scared. After a while, a guard checks on you, and says: “There is nothing I can do now but if it still hurts tomorrow, we will take you to a hospital.”

I remember the fear of being locked up as a faceless number forever. The fear of being tortured. Food that tastes like urine. Hopelessness.

I remember sleeping on a metal bed in a cold room with next to no clothes on, begging the officer for a blanket. But no luck with that, because the officer doesn’t feel like it.

I remember the hopelessness.

You are an animal who is putting on a smile so that other people think you are not afraid. The callous federal agents who try to break you down, just like they do in the movies. “You must be kidding,” you say. “I am not working for any government. It’s my husband, it’s my cruel husband who arranged for me to be here!”

“Oh we don’t care about that sort of thing,” they say. “Your husband is for you to deal with. So tell me, are you going to cooperate?”

Me, with my crushed middle-class arrogance, my useless 4.0 GPA, and too little experience in street fighting, eating it all up. You are an animal who has to put on a smile so that they don’t eat you. It’s a mob feeling. Cruel, infectious, senseless.

In my case, it ended well. I won. I am innocent. I am in America, and I am here to stay. But when I celebrated my victory, I did not think that years would pass, and other immigrants would be living my humiliation, while I would be freshly stereotyped based on my ethnicity.

Back in the day, I was saved by the power of friendship. As I was going though my ordeal, many of my coworkers at the time wrote powerful letters in my defense. Others chipped in for a lawyer. It took a village to save me, and I know I wouldn’t have been able to win without their trust and their support. I can’t help but wonder whether they would still feel good defending me if it happened today. In the age of collective anxiety and social media, would it be acceptable to trust a Russian-American? I don’t know — do you?

This article was originally published on Fair Observer. The original article

NOTE:
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Fair Observer’s (or EuroCircle’s) editorial policy.
Fair Obeserver community consists of more than 1,900 contributors to publish your perspective, share your narrative and shape the global discourse.
In the US, the IRS recognizes Fair Observer as a section 501(c)(3) registered public charity, enabling our sponsors and donors to claim a tax exemption.
More about Fair Observer

MORE ABOUT TESSA LENA

Website: tessalena.com/speaking/
Twitter: #twitter.com/TessaMakesLove

New York – Nov 15 2018

COCKTAILS & CONVERSATION AT MAGIC HOUR ROOFTOP

Join us for our pre-thanksgiving rooftop party at this midtown hotspot with incredible views of the city, delicious food, extensive cocktail menu and even some put-put golf.

No Cover when you say EuroCircle at the door and RSVP by 5pm on November 15th
Dress Code: Festive Fall Colors (recommended but not required).

The event will be cash bar with $10 vodka special throughout the night and food available for purchase.

LOTS OF GIVEAWAYS for the first 50  guests.

Gift Bag Sponsors:

Red Cap Holistic – Newly Released Lip Balms
Follow them on Instagram @redcapholistic
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/redcapholistic/
Website: www.redcapholistic.com

AudioBooks BookShop – Audiobook vouchers for a free audiobook
Follow them on Instagram: @audiobooksbs
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/audiobooksbs
Twitter: @audiobooksbs
Website: www.AudiobooksBookShop.com

Halsa – Aromatheraphy Roll – Ons
Follow them on Instagram: @HalsaEssentials
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HalsaEssentials/
Twitter: @HalsaEssentials
Website: www.HalsaEssentials.com

GuestBox – Mini Giftboxes with an edible treat!

Follow them on Instagram: @ShopGuestBox
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ShopGuestBox
Twitter: @ShopGuestBox
Website: https://guestbox.co

Vitar Engergy – Energy Mints

Follow them on Instagram: @goviter
Website: www.goviter.com

Special hosts include:

Yaya Rey
Industry Rules Magazine
Maria Cervi, Greece

Feel free to invite friends, the more the merrier.

Alexandra and the EuroCircle New York Team

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New York – Oct 24 2018

EUROCIRCLE Presents:  Masquerade Party


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Join EuroCircle for our Masquerade Party at this hotspot!

No cover when you say EuroCircle at the door. When you arrive make sure to get a wrist band for the $10 Vodka drink special and you will be directed to an elevator to go to the rooftop. The rooftop is fully enclosed!

Wednesday, October 24, 2018
Time: 6pm-Midnight
Where: PHD Terrace @ the Dream Midtown

Dress Code: A Masquerade Mask, dress for ladies and nice suit for men (dress code is recommended by not required)

Food Menu available for purchase throughout the night!

Featured hosts:
Sonia Gradetzki, Bulgaria
Katarzyna Czarnecka, Poland
Ahmet Bodur, Turkey
Diana Cristea, Romania

Hope to see you on the 24th!

Alexandra and the EuroCircle New York Team

New York – Sep 25 2018

EuroCircle’s Fall Rooftop Party

Join EuroCircle for our annual fall rooftop party at this Midtown Hot spot and help our NY Organizer Alexandra Spirer celebrate her birthday!

No cover when you say EuroCircle at the door.  When you arrive make sure to get a wrist band for the $10 Vodka drink special and you will be directed to an elevator to go to the rooftop. On the East Terrace is the only area that you can get our drink special as that is where we have a reserved area. Food and their full cocktail menu are available for purchase. The rooftop is fully enclosed so the event will be on rain or shine!

Everyone is welcome to go to any part of the rooftop but won’t be able to get the drink special outside of the East Terrace as mentioned above.

Featured hosts:

Ahmet Bodur, Turkey
Maria Cevi, Greece
Diana Cristea, Romania

Models Against Addictions will be hosting with us and encourages everyone to take the catwalk challenge and spread the word.

Here’s how to take the catwalk challenge:

1. Film your #catwalk on your phone
2. Do not forget to use the hashtag #catwalkchallenge#modelsagainstaddictions
3. Please nominate 2 people to do the #catwalkchallenge
4. Upload your video on any of your Social media: Instagram or Facebook.

Feel free to invite friends the more the merrier!

We look forward to seeing you on the 25th!

Best,

Alexandra and the EuroCircle New York Team