This is Your Sign to Leave the House
And meet someone IRL
Today’s newsletter is sponsored by Hinge - a dating app committed to helping young people spend more time building meaningful connections IRL. All other parties mentioned were curated exclusively by Vik’s Busy Corner which is not directly affiliated with any of them.
On a quiet Wednesday afternoon, just a couple of weeks before Valentine’s Day earlier this year, a group of NYC creatives gathered in a jam-packed common room of a buzzy co-working space in SoHo to listen to an artist talk by Jason Nocito. It was just around the time when everyone in the city started to push themselves out of the winter slump and into the streets in search of fun, love, and opportunities. So, Jason’s stories about shooting buzzy celebrities, like Ariana Grande and Nicolas Cage for the covers of The Fader and GQ and finding inspiration in the unlikely patterns and objects he found in puddles and debris around the city, were right on beat. A big part of his talk was also about the photos from his monograph I Heart Transylvania that documents four years (!) worth of trips up to Vancouver to see his then long-distance girlfriend, now wife, Meghan as she finished up nursing school, and how much meeting her and falling in love has impacted his art.
Surprisingly, there are quite a few parallels between searching for love and growing as a creative – the desire to find “your people”, the pressure to act likable, and the courage and patience it takes to consistently put yourself out there and be vulnerable. There’ve been so many times, both on dates and at creative gatherings, when I’ve felt like everyone else was having a blast, effortlessly chatting up the coolest people in the room while I was anxiously rattling off the same, kind of boring facts about myself to the person in front of me – what I do for work and what’s it like to split time between New York and Europe – and listening to their thoughts on the latest season of Industry or White Lotus. Whether I am standing in a room full of fellow creatives or sitting in front of someone at a restaurant table, my biggest hope is that the conversation won’t turn into an impromptu job interview.
My go-to trick for taking the pressure off and making real connections with people, both romantic and not, is to skip the usual coffees and dinners and invite them to some sort of event or exhibit that would give us something to talk about outside of our resumes. In general, I am a vocal proponent of getting out of the house to peruse the thoughtful curations of local shops, learn how to play chess in a buzzy downtown bar on a Tuesday night, or pop into someone’s event simply because no artsy self-help book or strategy report have impacted how compelling of a person and creative I am quite like getting to know the people who work and live around me. Some nights I had fun, some nights I learned a lot about unlikely subjects, like menswear and AI, and some nights made me realize how lucky I am not to be confined within the NYC downtown scene bubble.
So, as the city warms up both temperature and general attitude-wise, I hope you take every opportunity you get to look away from your screens and meet someone IRL – perhaps, that Hinge match you’ve been chatting with for a little while. And to help you have a fun time and learn something about yourself and others in the process, I curated a shortlist of events, club meetups, and experiences that you can use as creative date ideas or perfect excuses to put your best outfit on and get out of the house.
Artist talks and studio visits hosted by Homes and Studios
Jason Nocito’s talk that I mentioned in the very beginning was organized by a creative producer Rachael Yaeger and Isabel Münter who you should be already familiar with from an earlier newsletter about Pawn Chess Club. Together, they curate an archive of artists’ homes and studios as well as architectural gems around the world on their website and host studio visits and artist talks in NYC. “What makes these talks [and visits] special is how intimate of an experience it is,” Isabel told me. “The speakers are often established and accomplished, so getting to know them better in an intimate space for 1.5 hours humanizes them in a healthy way and puts them down from this celebrity pedestal.”
Most recently, Home and Studios organized a visit to Victoria Manganiello’s studio in Brooklyn to check out her abstract paintings and kinetic sculptures made with hand-woven textiles. This month, they will be going on a day trip to KinoSaito – an interdisciplinary arts center in Verplanck, NY – where their guests get to explore the life and work of a Japanese abstract painter Kikuo Saito, tour the current exhibitions, and meet the artists in residence. Grab tickets here and follow Home and Studios on Instagram for more upcoming events.
2025 Tax Party hosted by Family Office
Last year, Family Office, a design studio founded Diego Segura and Eliz Akgün, pulled together a wild mix of speakers, like an extremely niche cult-followed financial writer Jim Grant and KJ and Curtis of Dimes Square’s favorite podcast The Ion Pack, for a night of casual conversations about money – a touchy subject for any creative and any relationship. “It was super free form, 130 people attended at Spring Place, and truly — I know I'm biased — people loved it,” Diego told me.
This year, on Tax Day, they are doing it all over again but at an even cooler venue (perhaps, The Downtown Association – a historical social club in Lower Manhattan) and another wild mix of speakers. RSVP here and don’t procrastinate filing your taxes.
Sips and bites from local chefs, bakers, and makers
One of my biggest joys this past year has been watching people who make small batches of Italian sandwiches, artisanal teas, and fresh squeezed juices at home and slowly but surely scale their farmers’ market stands and weekend Citi bike deliveries into a full-time thing. Not only are these people real hustlers spinning up the coolest events in the intersection of food, art, and fashion, they are also anchors of their local neighborhood regularly bringing people across the city together over delicious treats.
Tom Wright of Tom’s Juice, for example, has become fashion’s go-to event partner, making fresh-squeezed juices for brands, like Nike and Jacquemus, but also slinging them at his store in the East Village and out of his bike trunk. My friend Arjun Narayen of Raazi Tea has spun up a cafe at the latest Tata Bazaar, and you can grab a delicious chai from him at the Fort Greene farmers market on Saturdays to break up your coffee routine and hear out his comedy bits. While you are there, you can also check out Lisbonata whose founders Kamila and Jorge just got the keys to their first brick-and-mortar store in Crown Heights. And if you are in the mood for a picnic, head to the Grover Cleveland Park for mouth-watering paninis from Salvatore La Rosa of Salvo’s on Saturdays that he sells out of the most adorable blue truck.
Exhibits and art spaces that don’t call for a rental car
On his episode of How Long Gone, comedian and the host of Subway Takes Kareem Rahma told Chris and Jason that his go-to first date move used to be a day trip to Storm King. After a bit of a debate about which one of the artsy destinations upstate are more romantic between Storm King and Dia Beacon, all three concluded the obvious – both feel more like a fourth or fifth date. Personally, I’ve gone on dates to both (the Storm King trip was more romantic but maybe I was just more in love then), so here is a list of local exhibits and art spaces that don’t call for a rental car:
The Loving Cup at Jacqueline Sullivan Gallery. On view February 14th - April 12th, 2025
Frieze New York 2025 at The Shed. On view May 7 – May 11.
Gordon Matta-Clark: NYC Graffiti Archive 1972/3 at White Columns. On view March 20 – May 10.
Leonard Baby’s The Babys and Colleen Barry’s Good Mud at Half Gallery. On view March 26th – April 24th, 2025.
Ben Wether’s Townworld at Amanita. On view March 6, 2025 – April 20, 2025.
Landline with works by Leonard Baby, Bernie Kaminski, Karyn Lyons, and Gösta Peterson at Turn. On view March 5th – April 25th.
Hope Atherton’s Umbra at Gratin. On view March 6 – April 12.
Screening and film clubs
The last movie I saw in a theater was Opus by Mark Anthony Green who used to be a writer at GQ prior to becoming a director and getting an A24 deal for this film. It had a stunning title card, John Malkovich acting like a diva in Rick Owens boots, great body horror and a couple of charmingly odd transitions that remind you that it’s MAG’s first feature film. Prior to watching the movie, I listened to the director’s Throwing Fits interview which, despite James’ and Larry’s risqué humor, nearly brought me to tears – it took a village and a lot of friendly favors to make MAG’s big screen debut.
There are a couple of other screenings I’d catch this spring brought to you by no less talented creatives whose work brings people together around the big screen:
Bad Film Club X Partiful. Screening of AIRPLANE! (1980) at 7:15, followed by a party at 9. Open Bar, Popcorn, Cake + goodies and photos by Partiful. Catch it at The Hancock in Brooklyn on April 24.
‘Welcome to Suburbia’ series at the Metrograph. To celebrate the 20th anniversary of Todd Solondz’s Palindromes, Metrograph will be screening a series of classics that explore the dark underbelly of American suburbs, including American Beauty, Suburbia and Harmony Korine’s Gummo. Surprise guest + a perfect opportunity to open up about your family during the debrief – on throughout April.
Stud Country line dancing parties
A little while ago, I found Elaine Constantin’s ‘Mosh’ photo series that she shot for The Face in 1997, picturing something that’s rare today – a bunch of sweaty young people dancing the night away at a Northern Soul music club with no phones in sight. “The person becomes locked into the record,” she wrote in Northern Soul. “The desire is just to experience the record in their own head, not to impress anyone. The music allows you to jump inside and escape. It takes you somewhere else.” Since then, I’ve been obsessed with the idea of chasing that high of feeling completely and utterly present, and that one clip from the Footloose (2011) dancing rehearsal that keeps coming up on my feed hasn’t been helpful.
Since Northern Soul isn’t up for a revival, I’ve been meaning to check out Stud Country – a queer line dancing club founded by best friends, Sean and Bailey, who teach partner dancing and classic era line dances from disco to nineties country while mixing in new genre pop songs. They just posted their event schedule for April, and you can follow them on IG for the dances and workshops coming up in May.
Flip through art books (or play a game of chess) at the city’s coolest bookstore
There is a bookstore I’ve been meaning to check out, called High Valley Books. The sweetest man Bill Hall runs it out of his house in Greenpoint — he and his family live upstairs, but his living room and basement are covered in stacks of vintage books. All visits are appointment only, and all first time customers get a private tour from Bill. Buying a book here feels like getting to keep something from his personal collection and at the end of your visit he will offer to take your picture to commemorate it.
Creatives spend so much time analyzing the way the internet has changed our relationships and dreaming about a more offline future that sometimes I am afraid that it takes away the energy that we could be putting into planting a flag somewhere and getting to know the people who live and work around us. So, I hope this guide gets off your phone and onto a great date, or at the very least – gives you an opportunity to learn something and have a fun time. Thanks to Hinge for sponsoring this newsletter, and if you or someone you know is hosting something fun in the city this spring – a lunch zine, an art show, or a bowling league tournament – drop a comment below!
This inspired me to get out my house, ty Viktoriia!
needed this