XXXI (‘Thirty-One’) is ❶ a mixed-use community space for designers (and others) to exhibit, teach, and discuss self-initiated work; ❷ a shared studio space; ❸ a residency for designers; and ❹ an online (and sometimes physical) store. It purposefully lives outside (or against) the constraints of the city it exists in and traditional commercial practice to ask what design can do when its goal is not money.

I’m a big fan of libraries (tons of books, free to take out, I mean what’s not to love?) and even though you can’t actually take out any books at the big beautiful library in Midtown – it’s still worth a visit. I love walking around in the big halls, the architecture is so beautiful and there’s always small exhibitions or things to see. Don’t forget to look up when entering the main reading-hall. Feels like book-heaven!

1st Thursday of every Month from 6-9PM, I like to visit New York Art Center curated by Shane Townley, founder & director of the center and NYA Gallery. This is creative art public space in Tribeca where you can meet established, emerging artists, curators from all over the World and a nice and professional team of NYA Gallery and Gallery 104 - Lucy McCarron, Tony Huffman, Estefania Ochoa, and others - and introduce yourself to them. My solo exhibition New Tech Girls - Bikini Issue will open to the public on Thursday, July 4th with a reception the following week on Wednesday, July 10th from 6-9pm. The show will remain on view until Sunday, July 21st. Visitors may see my works during regular gallery hours: Monday through Sunday, 12-5pm.  -------------------------- On the photo: Olga Feshina's booth at NYAFAIR at New York Art Center May 02 - May 05 2019

I'm a huge Japanophile: if there's one other place I'd like to live, it's Tokyo. I must have been there seven or eight times, most recently just after the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. Anyway, EN is a gem on Hudson Street, serving real Japanese cuisine. It turns out that EN is a chain in Japan; there are a lot of branches making lovely bosky food in cosy neighbourhood locations. But their New York incarnation is grand in scale and ambition, with solid, warm interiors (not unlike if the Whitney were a Japanese restaurant, oddly) - a remarkable hybrid of this city, and the other one that I'd love to live in.

For a lovely Weekend to Connecticut - Grace Farms is a non-profit center in New Canaan, Connecticut that is dedicated to advancing faith, nature, arts, community and justice initiatives.