June 5 marks the official beginning of this 400th anniversary celebration with a flotilla of vessels in the New York Harbor. In the coming months, communities large and small will feature special cultural events. See NYStateARTS.org, NYC-ARTS.org and the official Quad site, ExploreNY400.com.

To encourage visitors and valley residents to discover the lively contemporary culture as well as the many historic sites, the Alliance has published The Hudson Valley: A Cultural Guide, Quantuck Lane Press, 2009. For more information, visit QuantuckLanePress.com. To pre-order the book, visit Amazon.com.

YOU'RE INVITED TO THE ALLIANCE'S 2009 BENEFIT

At its 2009 benefit, the Alliance for the Arts will celebrate the performing arts in New York City by recognizing three of its leaders: Frederic S. Papert, the founding president of the 42nd Street Development Corporation, the Jerome Robbins Foundation and the late Gerald Schoenfeld, longtime head of the Shubert Organization. The informal dinner event will be held at the Central Park Boathouse on Monday, September 14, with cocktails at 6:30 pm and dinner at 7:30 pm. For more information, click here.

THIS MONTH ON NYC ARTS

The Muslim Voices: Arts & Ideas
This festival celebrates the extraordinary range of artistic expression in the Muslim world through performances, films, exhibitions, talks and other events--ranging from the traditional (calligraphy, storytelling and Sufi chanting) to the contemporary (video installations and Arabic hip-hop). The 10-day event stretches across city boroughs and into the most esteemed cultural institutions of the city. Asia Society, Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) and New York University Center for Dialogues present Muslim artists and speakers from as far away as Asia, Africa and the Middle East and as near as Brooklyn. Events will be held at the presenters' venues and at partner sites across the city. For more information, click here.

Museum Mile
Eight world-class museums that make the stretch of Fifth Avenue "Museum Mile" throw their doors open free to the public and take over the avenue as well, in an annual party that dates to 1978. This tradition unites the artistic community up and down Fifth Avenue for an evening of food, fun, live performances and the best art-viewing of any given mile in the country. The evening's opening ceremony takes place on Tuesday, June 9 at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum at 5:45 pm. For more information, click here.

IN THE NEWS

HARLEM COMMUNITY ARTS FUND APPLICATIONS DUE JUNE 16

SUMMER LECTURE SERIES SCHEDULED
The Institute of Classical Architecture & Classical America is offering a summer lecture series dedicated to the Hudson River Valley. Beginning June 10 and running through July 8, The Hudson River Valley: An Allegory of its Architecture, Landscape and Artistic Legacy, 400 Years After the Voyage of the Half Moon will feature the ICA&CA 2009 Fellows. For more information and to register, click here.

WORLD SCIENCE FESTIVAL IN NYC
The World Science Festival will feature panel discussions, family activities, a street fair and exhibitions and performances at dozens of partner venues throughout New York City. Over 130 speakers and performers are scheduled to participate in the festival from June 10-14. Three talks at the Metropolitan Museum of Art describe the science behind art research and painting and actress and playwright Anna Deavere Smith performs one-woman vignettes depicting two influential scientists: Nobel Laureate and co-discoverer of DNA, James Watson, and the father of biodiversity and sociobiology, E.O. Wilson. For more information and to purchase tickets, click here.

CAREER DEVELOPMENT IN THE ARTS
The Center for Arts Education Career Development Program is offering a 30-hour, graduate level course for high school educators and counselors from August 10-14. Educators will develop strategies to connect with New York City's arts industry and receive teaching guides with instructional methodology based on New York State Learning Standards and the New York City Blueprint for Teaching and Learning in the Arts. For more information and to register, click here.

PEOPLE

Rocco Landesman has been nominated as chairman of the National Endowment of the Arts. He is currently president of Jujamcyn Theaters.

James Leach has been nominated as chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities. He is currently a professor at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and served as a Republican congressman for Iowa from 1977 to 2007.

Deirdre Scott has been appointed executive director of the Bronx Council on the Arts. She was previously director of technology at the Studio Museum in Harlem.