What’s Happening: In the borough where his presence is most strongly felt, the Oscar-winning filmmaker shares 400 objects and artworks that have shaped his impact on contemporary cinema—many of which are deeply entwined with Black history and culture.

The Download: Spike Lee’s presence can be seen, felt, and heard throughout Brooklyn, where the director, screenwriter, and actor spent many of his formative years: after living in Crown Heights, the Lees were the first Black family to move to the largely Italian-American enclave of Cobble Hill. The borough’s stately brownstones and chalk-drawn sidewalks became honorary characters in a multitude of his films—She’s Gotta Have It (1986), Do the Right Thing (1989), Crooklyn (1994)—that have become defining artifacts of youth culture, race relations, and social issues shaping Black American life. “I grew up here, it’s my home,” Lee once said. “It developed who I am and what I’ve become.” He once joked that he had collected enough ephemera to fill up an exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum.

He wasn’t exaggerating. “Spike Lee: Creative Sources,” opening there on Saturday, offers a rare look inside the manifold people, places, and ideas that inspired Lee’s incisive storytelling. Distilling his inspirations into an arc of 400 objects is no small feat, but curators Kimberli Grant and Indira A. Abiskaroon were up to the challenge, assisting Lee in donating historical photographs, album covers, movie posters, costumes, cultural artifacts, and film memorabilia that encapsulate his resounding influence on the landscape of cinema. Among the highlights: an African National Congress flag signed by Winnie and Nelson Mandela, tennis rackets belonging to Arthur Ashe, and Prince’s “Love Symbol” guitar.

The show’s biggest draw is Lee’s world-class art collection—many of which are deeply entwined with Black history and culture. The centerpiece, a Kehinde Wiley painting commissioned by Lee, depicts a Black man wearing a Brooklyn Dodgers jersey with the number 42, nodding to Jackie Robinson. (Mookie from Do the Right Thing wears the same one.) It’s joined by a Basquiat drawing of Satchel Paige, a Deborah Roberts collage of Trayvon Martin, and a Tim Okamura portrait of Toni Morrison, as well as photographs by LaToya Ruby Frazier and Richard Avedon. For Lee, who prioritized family both on- and off-screen, perhaps the most poignant comes from Carrie Mae Weems: a photograph of him and his wife, Tonya, with the inscription “From Carrie to Tonya and Spike with Love.”

In their Own Words: “We wanted to not only look at who his creative inspirations are, but also get inside of Spike’s mind, to see him from a different perspective,” Grant tells Thrillist. “People know him as a director, but [they] don’t know this other side of him. He’s a collector, a preserver, and presenter of culture. Specifically, American history through a Black diasporic lens.”

Surface Says: Seems like a much more tasteful outing than Hannah Gadsby.

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From Oct. 7-8, the Brooklyn-based artist Kambui Olujimi will bring the existential questions posed in his seminal exhibition, “North Star: Meditations on Weightlessness,” to life in a two-day symposium at Lincoln Center’s David Rubenstein Atrium. With “North Star,” Olujimi asked, “What does the Black body, devoid of the ‘inescapable’ gravity of oppression, look like?” Now, he continues the conversation with a series of panels and performances with the likes of Sanford Biggers, Naomi Beckwith, Arthur Jafa, and more. The symposium, which is free and open to the public, will also feature the world premiere of Olujimi’s feature film, North of Never.

Designing Delicious is produced in partnership with Dorsia, a members-only platform with access to reservations at the most in-demand restaurants in New York, The Hamptons, Miami, L.A., San Francisco, and London.

When Chef Evan Rich says “I like to keep it really simple,” he means it. The interiors of Rich Table, the San Francisco restaurant he co-owns with his wife, Chef Sarah Rich, are as earthy as a dewy spin around a Napa vineyard, with their tables made of salvaged wood and locally hand-hewn pottery by Jered Nelson.

The food is just as evocative of a pastoral time and place (no surprise, given that Evan and Sarah both honed their knives in Michelin-starred restaurants before earning one themselves). “We go to the market, we see what’s good, and we cook it,” Evan says. “We really focus on the details of being true and honest to our experiences.”

As the tenth Performa Biennial approaches on November 1, the organization is preparing to bring its Assaf Kimmel–designed hub to life in Lower Manhattan. For every biennial since 2009, the organization has tapped artists and architects to create its pop-up headquarters, called the Performa Hub. This year’s edition will come to life at the intersection of Broadway and Canal, with electric blue interiors that will create a dazzling backdrop for everything from the opening night artist party to “Protest and Performance: A Way of Life,” a series of commissions organized around performance art’s political power.

In addition to hosting screenings, artist talks, and performances, the Hub’s adaptive design will allow it to serve as a co-working space and lounge where biennial attendees can connect with each other. Much of the programming, such as a talk with Kimmel, “Protest and Performance,” and dozens more, will be free and open to the public.

This week, more than 400 artists, philanthropists, curators, and luminaries gathered in Chelsea to attend Dia Art Foundation’s Fall Night gala. The event, which helps support Dia’s installations and efforts to restore exhibition spaces and site-specific works, honored artists Mary Corse and Lee Ufan. Guests were welcomed with cocktails and hors d’oeuvres while exploring newly installed works by artist Delcy Morelos before sitting down for a candlelit family-style dinner. The event opened with remarks from Nathalie de Gunzburg, the chair of Dia’s board, who introduced a tribute to Ufan by Takashi Murakami. Jessica Morgan, Dia’s director, then introduced a tribute to Corse by Hank Willis Thomas.

When was it? Oct. 2

Where was it? Dia Art Foundation, Manhattan

Who was there? Wes Gordon, Frida Escobedo, Michèle Lamy, Nazy Nazhand, Matthew Barney, Anicka Yi, Jill Magid, Alicja Kwade, Monique Péan, Kulapat Yantrasast, Min Jin Lee, Thaddaeus Ropac, Jeppe Hein, Arne Glimcher, and more.

There’s a long-standing rumor that one’s first tarot deck must be gifted to them and not sought out. We’ve never been so thankful to find such hearsay disproven: Armani/Casa’s Tale tarot deck brings the house’s fine fashions and furnishings together in a one-of-a-kind 78-card collection. The major arcana are impeccably dressed in a mix of archival and contemporary Armani garments, and depicted among the house’s furniture and wall coverings, with each card finished in a gold profile. It’s the perfect gift for the hard-to-shop-for—or, one’s self. $350

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Founded in 2008, AUX Architecture designs the future for people, institutions, and communities. Led by Brian Wickersham, the Los Angeles–based practice brings craft and clarity to designs at every scale from hearth to urban realm. Collaboration is the soul of the studio—the 40-person team of architects and designers works closely with clients to produce sophisticated environments ranging from single and multi-family residential homes to commercial and cultural buildings.

Surface Says: Since AUX Architecture opened 15 years ago, the firm’s star has risen continuously. It’s a rare treat to see a home-grown studio so deftly rise to the occasion of projects spanning residential, the arts, civic spaces, and beyond.

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