From early vanguard constructivist works by Alexander Rodchenko and El Lissitzky, to the modernist images of Arkady Shaikhet and Max Penson, Soviet photographers played a pivotal role in the history of modern photography. The Power of Pictures: Early Soviet Photography, Early Soviet Film will examine how photography, film, and poster art were harnessed to disseminate Communist ideology, revisiting a moment in history when artists acted as engines of social change and radical political engagement. Covering the period from the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution through the 1930s, the exhibition will explore how early modernist photography and film influenced a new Soviet style while energizing and expanding the nature of the media. Through 181 works, The Power of Pictures will reveal how striking images by master photographers and filmmakers were seen as powerful propaganda tools in the new Soviet Union. Looking at photography and film together as influential and formally related media, the exhibition will be on view at the Jewish Museum from September 25, 2015 through February 7, 2016. Following its New York showing, The Power of Pictures: Early Soviet Photography, Early Soviet Film will travel to two other venues.

Bang on a Can: Repetition and Difference, a concert featuring violinist Todd Reynolds, will take place at the Jewish Museum on Thursday, July 9 at 7:30pm. Tied to the Museum exhibition Repetition and Difference—exploring how subtle disruptions in form, color, or design can reveal intriguing information about a work’s creation and meaning—the performance will highlight difference and repetition in music. This program continues the Jewish Museum and Bang on a Can’s partnership to produce a series of dynamic musical performances at the Museum inspired by the Jewish Museum’s diverse slate of exhibitions.

Showcasing an acclaimed work by the photographer Alfred Stieglitz (1864-1946), Masterpieces & Curiosities: Alfred Stieglitz's The Steerage continues a series of exhibitions focused on individual works in the Jewish Museum’s world-renowned collection. On view from September 25, 2015 to February 14, 2016, this exhibition focuses on Stieglitz’s enduring 1907 photogravure of steerage-class passengers aboard the ocean liner Kaiser Wilhelm II. This much-reproduced image has often been regarded as evidence of the poor conditions under which many immigrants arrived in America, but in fact was taken on a voyage from the United States to Europe. As such, it is a document of people who were likely denied entry and citizenship to the United States. Stieglitz's concerns, however, were largely aesthetic rather than social-minded: he was moved more by the picture's formal qualities than its subject matter. Stieglitz considered the work to be his greatest triumph in a long, illustrious career as a photographer, stating later in life, "If all my photographs were lost, and I’d be represented by just one, The Steerage, I’d be satisfied."

The Jewish Museum is presenting a fun-filled drop-in art workshop for families every Monday in July, inspired by works on view in its current slate of exhibitions. These workshops are FREE with museum admission.

The Jewish Museum presents the next event in its popular series of after-hours events, The Wind Up, on Thursday, June 25, from 8pm to 11pm. Featuring art, live music, activities, and an open bar, The Wind Up is inspired by Revolution of the Eye: Modern Art and the Birth of American Television, the first exhibition to explore how avant-garde art influenced and shaped the look and content of network television in its formative years. The event will celebrate American culture and television from the 1950s and 60s with art activities and refreshments including Pop and Op Art screen-printing, a retro TV photo booth, and throwback snacks. The evening features a performance by Brooklyn-based band Mainland, whose music combines classic pop and rock stylings with nostalgic references and contemporary grit.

The Jewish Museum's 2015 slate of lectures, discussions, and events continues in June with Wish You Were Here, a discussion between Groucho Marx, as presented by performer Noah Diamond and Jens Hoffmann, The Jewish Museum's Deputy Director, Exhibitions and Public Programs.  Other highlights include artists Hank Willis Thomas and Sarah Crowner in conversation about their work on view in the exhibition Repetition and Difference; a lecture on the history of painting by scholar Isabelle Graw; and the next event in the popular after-hours series, The Wind Up.

Whimsical Puppetry Wonders, a drop-in art workshop for families, will take place on Sunday, June 14 from 1pm to 4pm at The Jewish Museum.  Kids can design puppet characters inspired by classic tales of the Yiddish theater, combining tradition with imagination. Participants will use found objects, modeling clay, paint, colorful fabrics, and wire to sculpt these unique puppets. Afterwards, there will be an opportunity to bring the characters to life on a mini-stage! The workshop is co-presented with the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene as a part of KulturefestNYC.

Bang on a Can and the Jewish Museum are pleased to announce the second year of their partnership with the 2015-2016 season, producing dynamic musical performances inspired by the Museum’s diverse slate of exhibitions. The series will include five programs throughout the year, primarily in the Jewish Museum’s Scheuer Auditorium (Fifth Avenue and 92nd Street). The season kicks off with a free, outdoor performance by DJ Spooky at the Museum Mile Festival on June 9 and continues on July 9 with a concert by innovative violinist-composer Todd Reynolds in conjunction with the Museum’s exhibition Repetition and Difference, which explores artistic repetition and serialization. Other concerts throughout the season will include The Power Of Pictures featuring Bang on a Can All-Stars bassist Robert Black with the Hartt Bass Band and Friends (November 5), Unorthodox featuring the Mivos Quartet (February 4), and Brazil Gardens and Beyond (May, TBA).

The Jewish Museum’s exhibition series Sights and Sounds: Global Film and Video continues with a diverse lineup of month-long presentations featuring recent film and video works from around the world.  Upcoming programs include Nigeria (May 2015), India (June 2015), Cuba (July 2015), and New Zealand (August 2015).

This spring, mid-century culture can be found in museums across New York City in exhibitions focused on art, design, advertising, television, and popular culture from the 1950s and '60s. This nostalgia for mid-century culture has captivated the public interest through television shows like Mad Men and a recent resurgence of design from the era. In celebration, five museums are partnering on Mid-Century May NYC, offering a special culture pass for the month of May. Priced at only $30, the ticket grants month-long access to all five participating museums - Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, The Jewish Museum, Museum of Arts and Design, Museum of the City of New York, and Museum of Jewish Heritage - A Living Memorial to the Holocaust.

The Jewish Museum will present Revolution of the Eye Family Day, a fun-filled day of activities, on Sunday, May 17 from 12 noon to 4pm.  Kids can enjoy animated live music with Morgan Taylor of Gustafer Yellowgold; design wearable art inspired by Andy Warhol; illustrate superhero characters; act out scenes in a television photo booth; and discover classic television shows such as the first interactive children’s program, Winky Dink and You, and the 1960s Batman series in the exhibition, Revolution of the Eye: Modern Art and the Birth of American Television.

Revolution of the Eye: Modern Art and the Birth of American Television, the first exhibition to explore how avant-garde art influenced the look and content of network television in its formative years, is on view at the Jewish Museum from May 1, 2015 through September 27, 2015. From the late 1940s to the mid-1970s, the pioneers of American television – many of them young, Jewish, and aesthetically adventurous – adopted modernism as a source of inspiration. Revolution of the Eye looks at how the dynamic new medium of television, in its risk-taking and aesthetic experimentation, paralleled and embraced cutting-edge art and design.