Rachel Citron

Good morning, East Village.

And Happy Memorial Day.

Who needs to travel when so many cheap and interesting things are happening in your own backyard? This weekend the Theatre for New City hosted the Lower East Side Festival of the Arts for its 16th annual celebration. More than 100 artists participated in the event, offering live music, poetry, dance, and other performances — many for  free — for what has turned out to be the latest contribution to a colorful tapestry.

For another look at art in the village check out Celine Danhier’s documentary “Blank City.” It offers retrospective on the birth of the East Village’s  “No-budget” filmmaking industry — which should also be in quotes, seeing as all that was required to start out in those days was a camera and a willingness to shoot. The film revisits the work of those who were successful at it, and provides a look at the cultural dynamic of “No Wave” film; both in its heyday and as it evolved.

Also, it appears that the Landmarks Preservation Commission’s recent expansion of the study area for a proposed East Village Historic District could make the birthplace of drag a local landmark. DNAinfo reports that the site of the 1979 performance bar the Pyramid Club, where RuPaul was said to hone her craft, falls smack within the range of the broadened prevention effort.

Finally, two very different acts involving spray paint: while upcoming nuptials are celebrated on a mural on Avenue A and Second Street, the honeymoon is over for the ping pong table at Tompkins Square Park — someone has finally tagged it with graffiti.