Looking for the Perfect Valentine's Day Gift?

Why not get your sweetheart some Art? This Valentine's Day, RH Gallery and Foolsgold Arts are teaming up to spread their love to the animals at the Brooklyn Animal Rescue Coalition. Foolsgold Arts, founded by Shanan Campanaro and Maria Kozak, raises money through benefit auctions to support neglected animals and the environment

This auction will feature work by 48 New York based artists around the theme of love. All works will be sold by silent auction on the evening of February 14th, during the opening from 6-8 pm. The artists are:

Emily Adams, Soledad Arias, William Bolton, Julie Brady, Jessy Brodsky, Shanan Campanaro, Jessica Cannon, Julia Chiang, Alex La Cruz, Myla Dalbesio, Bonnie DeWitt, Michael Dickey, Jackie Dingle, Theodora Doulamis, Joel Dugan, Tamar Ettun, Alexandra Evans, Micah Ganske, John Gordon Gauld, Jason Sho Green, Jane LaFarge Hamill, Loretta Hirsch, Aliene de Souza Howell, John Jacobsmeyer, Michael Kagan, Kevin Kay, Myeongsoo Kim, Ryan Kitson, Maria Kozak, Tracey Langfitt, Christian Little, Charles Ly, Panni Malekzadeh, Benjamin Martins, Rosalie Stone Morris, Gary Murphy, Peter Ngo, Keri Oldham, John O'Reilly, Jacob Rhodes, Rachel Rossin, Richard Saja, Mike Schreiber, Talia Shipman, Andy Smenos, Gordon Stevenson, Mark de Wilde and Aimee Wilder.

Joseph Herscher's amazing Rube Goldberg Machines

Kinetic artist and Brooklynite Joseph Herscher has been getting a lot of attention recently for his incredible Rube Goldberg Machines. Accomplishing the simplest tasks in the most complicated (and yet simultaneously elegant) way is definitely worthy of performance art status. With a past appearance at the 2011 Venice Biennale under his belt, I look forward to seeing what will come next.

Brooklyn Royalty - Fashion Week Launch Party

Independent label Brooklyn Royalty is collaborating with killer website Brokelyn on a new apparel collection that is set to launch during September 2011 Fashion Week. The launch party will be Friday, September 16th from 7:00-10:00 PM at Mission Dolores, a great bar and event space at Fourth Avenue and Carroll Street. The men's and women's tees & tanks being launched will be sported by models and also available for sale to the public.

In keeping with the Brokelyn ethos, nothing will be over $20 and as part of this inaugural launch, each shirt will come with a package of neighborhood discounts available for those sporting the Brokelyn collection. There will also be delicious drink specials, fashion week-related prize giveaways, and free temporary tattoos if you want to blazon yourself Brooklyn pride (at least for the night...)

Discounts Include:
* 2-for-1 beer or coffee at Flying Saucer on Tuesdays
* 2-for-1 drinks at Bocca Lupo after 10:30 on Friday and Saturday nights
* 2-for-1 beer at karaoke Wednesdays, MikNic Lounge
* A free one-bite appetizer at St. Austere restaurant in Williamsburg
* And way more than we can list here!

To contact Brooklyn Royalty designer Bob Bland, email brooklynroyalty@gmail.com. You can also reach Brokelyn founder Faye Penn at faye@brokelyn.com. Mission Dolores is located at 249 4th Ave at Carroll St.

Love Brigade “Defends Their Neighborhood”

In a bid to raise awareness of all locally-owned businesses, Brooklyn-based fashion label Love Brigade is launching its “Defend Your Neighborhood” campaign next week, to include campaigns for each of the three surrounding neighborhoods, “Defend Williamsburg”, “Defend Greenpoint”, and “Defend Bushwick”. Specific custom designs have been issued, with each neighborhood getting its own iconic battle ship graphic to remind us all to put our money where our house is and “Support Our Local Everything”.

In a city filled with corporate-owned chains, locally owned businesses are struggling for survival, and the recent opening of Duane Reade directly across from locally owned 9-year old King’s Pharmacy on Bedford Avenue had an emotional impact on the Owner and Senior Designer of Love Brigade, Alyssa Key. “I have seen this type of thing happen before, in my hometown neighborhood. First it was a Subway, then a Starbucks. Every local competitor had to shut their doors within two years. Our hopes are that we can remind locals to revolt the giants.” Love Brigade is committed and passionate about promoting their community and preserving the integrity of their at-risk neighborhood. Starting April 1st, Love Brigade began offering t-shirts to all local businesses with the messages printed on the front. To truly help their neighboring businesses, Love Brigade will be providing these t-shirts to fellow locally-owned restaurants, coffee shops, bars, clothing boutiques, music stores, and pharmacies at cost and will be encouraging up-sell to the community at large by advertising the items all throughout the three neighborhoods. The Williamsburg community thrives on its originality and unique enterprises, so what better way to remind everyone to support local business than through wearing something with pride? The T-shirts will be available online as well as Love Brigade’s self-branded retail store at 230 Grand Street, Brooklyn, NY 11211.