Flushing Town Hall 2025 Arts Grants for Queens
This program is supported by the New York State Council on the Arts, Statewide Community Regrants Program (formerly the Decentralization program) with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature.
Community Arts Grant Recipients (Organizations)
| Bayside Glee Club will be holding two annual public concerts featuring a wide variety of music. In addition, they perform several charitable concerts throughout the year, especially during the holiday season, at venues such as Oznam Hall Nursing Home, SNAP Senior Center, Bayside Historical Society, and St. Alban's VA Hospital. For more info, visit: baysidegleeclub.org/bayside.htm BeingEgypt Cares, Inc. will present Artful Stories: Exploring Creativity Through Book Covers, engaging children in exploring essential social themes—such as kindness, anti-bullying, and community unity—through interactive and hands-on workshops at community events. For more info, visit: beingegyptcares.org Buena Onda Collective, fiscally sponsored by Laru Beya Collective Inc., will present Sandy Soils & Soundwaves, celebrating urban coastal ecology and community resilience. Through community workshops, participants will engage in soil studies, learning how soils sustain plant systems, waterways, and ecosystems essential to Far Rockaways’ unique ecology and climate resilience. For more info, visit: buenaondacollective.org/ Cayena Press Inc. will present their 2025 Hispanic Heritage Month Celebration, designed to engage both the Hispanic community and the wider public through various activities that honor and promote Hispanic heritage and culture. The celebration will include book readings, writing workshops, performing arts showcases, craft and artisan workshops, virtual book clubs, and collaborations with community organizations. For more info, visit: cayenapress.org
Centro Corona, fiscally sponsored by Desis Rising Up and Moving, Inc., will host a Dia de Lxs Muertxs event. The event will feature three major components: (1) community artmaking workshops to build paper flowers, altars, and banners that come from generations of indigenous Latin American traditions; (2) research, writing, and artmaking by cultural workers dedicated to highlight specific ancestors for that year; and (3) a public event that headlines performances and materials from local musicians, dancers, poets, writers, and educators to invite neighbors to join our altar and celebration. For more info, visit: instagram.com/centrocorona/ Centro Cultural Barco de Papel Inc. will present Cuentos Latinoamericanos Leidos por la Comunidad en Queens. This project is a cycle of short literary readings, combining classical stories and essays representative of Latin American literature. Each event will include between three and five short readings, followed by a thoughtful dialogue with the attendees. In addition, literary coaching sessions will be offered to train community members as vocal readers and hosts, fostering interpretation skills and confidence in sharing texts. For more info, visit: centroculturalbarcodepapel.org/frente/ Clipmode Connected Inc. will present Mixed Media Mondays, a free, 8-week art class in Rockaway Beach, Queens, offering high-level education in disciplines like drawing, painting, sculpture, collage, and more. Led by passionate instructors - Paul Godette and Alex Steel — both experienced artists with deep ties to New York City and the Queens community—this program welcomes participants of all skill levels, from beginners to seasoned artists. For more info, visit: mondaynightart.square.site/ Como un Lugar, fiscally sponsored by Point Zero Press, will host Fiesta de La Poesía Como un Lugar, a Bilingual Music and Poetry Festival for Latinx and Latin American communities. The festival will feature poets and musicians from a dozen (and counting) Latin American countries whose work addresses the complexity and intimacy of our interactions with the non-human world. Through their poetry and music, these artists imagine sustainable futures and an ethics of care in times of ecological collapse. For more info, visit: comounlugar.com/ Conch Shell Productions will present Conch Shell International Film Fest (CSIFF). The series will allow Conch Shell Productions to provide Queens-based Caribbean communities a free learning experience for community members of all ages to witness the success of a fellow Caribbean and for them to feel encouraged to pursue opportunities to tell their stories. For more info, visit: conchshellproductions.com/
Divya Jyoti Association will present The Diwali Motorcade, an annual cultural procession celebrating the Hindu festival of Diwali, the triumph of light over darkness. The event highlights will be decorated floats showcasing Hindu mythology, traditional performances, traditional foods and beverages, and community participation through interactive exhibits, henna, and workshops. For more info, visit: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=10006732885324 Edgemere Farm Works will present four free educational workshops and arts events as part of their 2025 Arts Programs: 1) An "Intro to Basketry With Invasive Vines" workshop, 2) A natural dye workshop, 3) A sound bath performance/installation and 4) A dance/music performance focused on themes of climate change. For more info, visit: edgemerefarm.org/works En Construcción will host three reading sessions in April, October, and December. At each session, five Latin American writers present an unfinished, unpublished work for 15-20 minutes. Writers are encouraged to share insights into their creative process—the inspiration behind their ideas, challenges they’ve faced, and their current concerns—inviting constructive conversations with the audience and fellow writers. For more info, visit: enconstruccionnyc.com/ Flamenco Latino, Inc. will present their Más Allá Series, an innovative cultural conversation, merging traditional and modern art forms. It transforms flamenco by blending it with the genres of tap, jazz, blues, salsa, and developing our 3-year exploration of flamenco with hip hop. It enriches the Queens cultural scene, engaging a diverse audience in celebrating artistic fusion and expression. For more info, visit: flamencolatino.com/ Glow Community Center, Inc. will present a free, 90-minute multicultural concert showcasing local AAPI talent as well as other global music and dance performances, both contemporary and traditional in style. The concert will be complemented by informative presentations led by keynote speakers and and an outdoor resource fair with a focus on combating discrimination and violence against minority groups while celebrating diversity through arts and entertainment. For more info, visit: glownyc.org/ HCJ Teen Drama Group will produce a full-scale musical theater production of a Broadway musical featuring Queens teenagers, ages 13-19. Teens can choose between cast and crew, and can audition to play a musical instrument in our orchestra pit while participating in either cast or crew. Teens participate in singing, dancing, acting, set design and construction, sound and lighting, and stage crew. For more info, visit: instagram.com/hcjteendrama/ Headwall Theatre Company will present a new play that follows the story of a young mother who, after a breast cancer diagnosis and a double mastectomy, must recover from surgery before beginning chemotherapy. This will be an in person 4 performance event at a local Queens based theatre in October 2025 to coincide with Breast Cancer Awareness Month. For more info, visit: headwalltheatrecompany.org/ Jackson Heights Beautification Group will present Summer Sundays in the Park, a series of 8-9 free outdoor concerts feature musical groups that reflect the incredible range of ethnicity and musical styles prevalent in Jackson Heights— a true crossroads of the world in Western Queens. For more info, visit: jhbg.org/summer-sundays/
Jackson Heights Mural Project will present a large scale mural on 84th and Roosevelt. The mural will center around the themes of diversity, community solidarity, and nature. It will portray the immigrant experience and the idea of transformation, depicting individuals from various backgrounds working together, celebrating together, and sharing their unique cultural contributions. For more info, visit: instagram.com/jhmuralproject/ LaMicro Theater will present ESCENA SUR: Plays Sessions, a free two-day presentation of new plays at Librería Barco de Papel. Five writers will present plays excerpts to live audiences. In the presentation, LaMicro Theater will collaborate with directors and actors to read and perform excerpts of plays in development. This presentation will also include video images and a talk back with the audience who can give feedback to the writers. For more info, visit: lamicrotheater.org/ New Music Horizons will present 2 concerts, followed by an audience Q&A at Sunnyside Community Services in the fall of 2025. This concert series will help give people a greater appreciation for new jazz and classical composition and build followings for the composers. For more info, visit: newmusichorizons.org/ New York Kathak will present New York Kathak Festival Pop-Up!, a concert that features local kathak dancers and musicians taking place in Queens in the fall of 2025. Through this concert, they seek to honor Kathak tradition, while providing artists with the room to interpret traditional stories in the new contexts they live and work in, and present this for diverse Queens audiences. For more info, visit: kathakfestival.com/ New York Mandarin Playback, Inc. will present Playback Performance, a performance based on the spontaneous enactment of personal stories. There are no “pre-set” scripts. The playwrights are audiences who share their personal stories and feelings to other audiences and actors. With the guidance of a conductor (or event host), actors and musicians present the stories with the Playback Theatre systematized forms, “Play-IT-back” to the storyteller and the audiences. For more info, visit: nymplayback.org/ No, YOU Tell It! is producing two 2025 shows, during which the storytellers will engage with Queens history from the Greater Astoria Historical Society (GAHS) archives to inspire and, if desired, incorporate it into their personal stories. For more info, visit: noyoutellit.com/welcome/ Point Zero Press will present a writing and collage workshop for Spanish and Indigenous language speaking immigrant women living in Queens. It consists of carrying out four bilingual narrative and poetry workshops in Spanish and indigenous languages for up to 12 participants. For more info, visit: instagram.com/point.zero.press/ Queens Collaborative will present The Free Art Fridge Network, a circular program that invites community members to share creative materials with each other via a series of public structures—much like a Community Fridge. This project will launch as a pilot program in Astoria, Queens with four locations spread throughout the neighborhood. At each location, Queens Collaborative will build a small “fridge” structure from which members of the community can take art supplies. For more info, visit: https://www.queenscollaborative.com/
Rochdale Village Community Center will present Art for Life, a twelve-session After-Summer Day Camp program that explores art fundamentals, digital media, upcycling, jewelry making as well as other art projects using a multi-disciplined approach. During the 12 sessions, students can expect to explore a combination of art genres and styles through the eyes of renown artists as well as discovering their individual learning style. For more info, visit: rochdalevillage.com/ Rockaway Artists Alliance's Young Artists Workshop at Fort Tilden offers a unique and enriching two-week experience for families with children ages 6-10, addressing a growing need for creative opportunities on the peninsula. With limited programs like this currently available in the area, the initiative provides a rare chance for children to explore artistic and innovative activities, inspired by the local environment. For more info, visit: rockawayartistsalliance.org/ Rockaway Chamber Music will present their third season of four chamber music concerts throughout the summer of 2025. RCM will commission composer/performers Clarice Jensen, T. J. Robinson, and John Hadfield to write new chamber works for two free concerts to be presented next summer. In addition to these particularly unique performances, RCM will have two more traditional mixed-ensemble chamber music concerts at Arverne Cinema. For more info, visit: rockawaychambermusic.org/ Salvatore Larussa Dance Company, Inc. will present a Queens Outdoor Dance Festival & FREE SUNDAY PERFORMING ARTS. Both are free dance festivals for the Queens/ Middle Village community to experience dynamic and easily accessible live dance performances for all. The two festivals brings eleven dance companies, of all forms, to perform live at their Queens studio, located in Middle Village. For more info, visit: sldt.org/ Senior Theater Acting Repertory (STAR) is a touring company of seniors, ages 60s-90s, that provides FREE performances in a variety of venues. STAR performs in venues throughout Queens, where the audience members reside, such as assisted living, rehab, nursing home facilities and the VA. STAR also performs in libraries, senior centers and other community organizations. For more info, visit: star-queens.org/ Stephen Street Gallery will host an array of public events in 2025. Their proposed public program is 10-12 free exhibitions and performances, as well as occasional workshops. All events will be free, open to the public, and fully handicap accessible. For more info, visit: stephenstreetgallery.com/ Sunnyside Community Services will invite Queens artist Ines Ruiz to lead a multimedia art workshop series that centers the themes of immigration and identity in the current political climate. SCS will recruit 15 Queens-based immigrant participants, who will create mixed media artworks reflecting on their personal experiences, immigration status, and feelings and mental states as a tremendous immigration policy change looms and is enacted in real-time. For more info, visit: scsny.org/ Taplife Hero Foundation, Inc. will present a National Tap Dance Day Celebration, honoring tap dance as a vibrant art form. Held at the George Seuffert, Sr. Bandshell in Forest Park, Queens, this event offers students and professionals the rare chance to perform on our state-of-the-art O’Mara Sprung Wood Floor, enhancing dancer health and artistry while providing audiences with a transformative experience. For more info, visit: taplifecompany.com/taplife-hero-foundation
The Blue Bus Project will present Shred & Create Mobile Bin, a traveling recycling and art program that educates, engages, and empowers Queens communities through hands-on workshops focused on sustainability. Central to this initiative is the Mobile Bin, a shredding station that transforms clean #5 polypropylene (PP), commonly found in yogurt and takeout containers, into reusable materials for community projects. For more info, visit: thebluebusproject.org/ The Company We Keep Theatre Production, LLC. will host a reading of an original play Ice Factory. The play tells the story between a young hispanic female social worker working at a methadone maintenance clinic and the conflicting and tragic lives of the diverse clients and staff trying to find purpose in their lives. After the presentation, there will be a collaborative talkback with the audience to discuss the pros and cons of the play. Some of feedback will be incorporated to further development the play to take it to a full production presentation in 2026. For more info, visit: constellationsplay.com/ The Dream Unfinished will present VITALS, a free outdoor health and wellness festival that has successfully taken place for four consecutive years at the Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning. Now entering its fifth year, the festival’s unique approach combines live music with an array of local health resources, creating an entertaining, informative experience for the Jamaica community. For more info, visit: thedreamunfinished.org/ The Forest Park Trust, Inc. will present a free, 3-4 performance, concert series, featuring world-class area musicians performing traditional folk, jazz and original music. The musicians reside or have roots in Southwestern Queens. Each concert will be a free weekend matinee to make it easier for families to attend. The shows will include a Q+A with the musicians about their instruments and the historical context of their performances. For more info, visit: forestparktrust.org/ The Garage Art Center will present Art Connects 2025, a year-long public art program that brings together exhibiting artists and the diverse communities of Bayside, Queens. Through hands-on workshops and artist talks, the program advances The Garage Center's mission of empowering artists and enriching community life with accessible, high-quality art education. For more info, visit: garageartcenter.org/ Vivarta Arts, Inc. will present Garba Around the Globe 2025, celebrating the vibrant Indian festival of Navratri, a nine-day homage to Goddess Durga and the divine feminine. It begins with free dance lessons, offering an inclusive opportunity for everyone to learn garba and dandiya. Attendees can then enjoy a performance by Queens-based Vivarta Arts Performing Troupe, showcasing high-energy folk-inspired dances that reflect the vibrancy and artistry of South Asian culture. For more info, visit: vivartaarts.com/
Western Queens Community Land Trust (WQCLT) will produce Hamilton Rebooted, which takes a second look at the misconceptions that sustain Hamilton’s mythical status in the nation’s founding. This hip hop musical, performed by four local rappers, educates audiences about the real history we were never taught. For more info, visit: wqclt.org/ Women in Comics Collective International Inc. (WinC) will present WinC Creative Conference, an event that will showcase comic book creators across the borough. It will be a one day show that will include workshops on comic book writing and drawing, panel discussions featuring prominent comic book creators in the industry discussing their careers and the creation process. The event will also include a live drawing hour and an artist market. For more info, visit: womenincomicscollective.org/ Woodside Arts Collective will present International Dance Day, a part performance, part workshop experience at the Woodside on the Move Fall Festival in Woodside. Each dance participating dance company or school performs a short piece that is then followed by a 10 minute mini-workshop teaching the technique. For more info, visit: woodsideartscollective.com/ Yes Girls Create, Inc. will present Be Well Be Creative Girls workshops. The workshops are transformative, half day-experiences designed to inspire and empower young girls through the fusion of creativity, wellness, and leadership. Hosted in a nurturing, vibrant environment, the workshops will bring together up to 30 girls (in 4-6 sessions) and 10 women mentors for hands-on workshops, collaborative projects, and reflective wellness practices and photography. For more info, visit: yesgirlscreateinc.org/ |
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Artists in Queens Grant Recipients (for Individual Artists)
Abagael Cheng will present The Hunger & The Haunt, an interdisciplinary new work that combines post-modern dance, spoken poetry, community interview clips, and classical art songs by exclusively AANHPI and Asian composers. Each performance will be complemented by a tabling event, where Queens-based AANHPI organizations will share information about their work and offer concrete ways to get involved. For more info, visit: instagram.com/abagaelcheng/
Alexa Hoyer will present Transitscape, a photography project documenting the urban landscapes and communities along the proposed route of the Interborough Express with a particular focus on Queens. Through a walking journey along the existing 14-mile rail corridor, she will capture the interplay between infrastructure, daily life, and overlooked spaces, reflecting on the cultural and environmental transformations this transit line may bring. Through portraits of people in adjacent communities, landscapes, and detailed observations, the project will explore how this new connection could unite diverse neighborhoods, fostering greater accessibility and shared experiences across boroughs. For more info, visit: alexahoyer.com/ Ari Wolff will present Unstandardized Art Studio, a socially-engaged publishing project and collaboration between Citation Needed and the Corona Public Library, offering a weekly pop-up art studio and decompression space for students during New York State standardized testing weeks. This studio will feature printmaking, drawing, collage, and sculpture stations, providing students with opportunities to play and/or reflect on their testing experiences. For more info, visit: ariwolff.work/citation-needed David Mills will research and write a chapbook of poems, Queens and Canada: Go Hand in Poetic Hand, about early-20th-century black poet Theodore Shackleford who lived his adult life in Jamaica, Queens and is buried in Kew Gardens’ Maple Grove Cemetery. David will write formal and free-verse poems that mirror Shackelford’s style and capture the triumphs and tribulations of his life. David will then conduct two public presentations/readings/talks within Queens. For more info, visit: davidmills.squarespace.com/ Emily Hockaday will present her new work I Dared the Storms to Come, a poetry collection set in Queens in three parts: connecting with nature during COVID lockdown; gardening and climate; and animal ecopoetry. This is a work in progress that over 2025 she will complete, assemble, and edit. I Dared the Storms to Come and her public component, a Gardening Poetry Workshop/Open Mic both focus on plant/garden life in a time of climate catastrophe parallel to the human emotional experience. For more info, visit: emilyhockaday.com/
Gabriel Chakarji will present a Venezuelan Music Workshop. Gabriel's proposal consists of a free performance, concert, workshop, and Q&A with his band formed of Venezuelan musicians, in which they will journey into different styles of Venezuelan music explaining their roots, geographic locations, and cultural significance. Aside from the educational aspect, they will also have a workshop section in which they will teach the youth basic parts of Venezuelan tambores and allow them to play these drums onstage with them. For more info, visit: gabrielchakarji.com/ Jason Stefaniak will present his film Language City, which tells the story of young people, elder speakers, activists, and linguists racing against time to discover, document, & preserve the mother tongues and endangered languages of NYC. The film will focus on Rasmina, one of the youngest Seke speakers in the world (an unwritten language from Nepal), working to bridge the gap between elders and the youth who are losing access to the language. It will also include members of Rasmina’s Seke community and volunteers from the Endangered Language Alliance as they do field work on the “international express” (the 7 Train) and work to compile the first Seke-English dictionary. For more info, visit: jasonstefaniak.com/ Nianzhang Liu will present Distances Unseen, a photographic exploration of the lives of teenage immigrants and ethnic minorities in Queensboro, focusing on their school and living environments and the "distances" they feel from mainstream society, their homelands, and even their own communities. Distances Unseen will showcase portraits and urban scenes that reveal the subtle challenges of these individuals as they adapt to new surroundings while striving to maintain their cultural identities. For more info, visit: nianzhangliu.com/ Peter Douskalis will present Sounds of Cyprus, a performance of a new collection of compositions and arrangements of traditional and blended Cypriot folk music and dance. This project brings the rich traditions of Cypriot music and dance to Queen’s Gantry Park State Plaza with a free outdoor concert, display of traditional Cypriot dances by the Greek-American Folklore Society, and a Q&A talkback and educational resource-centered survey. For more info, visit: soundsofcyprus.com/ Priscilla Stadler will present Crafting the Creek. The proposal offers two or more hands-on “learnshops” inviting people to have fun crafting while learning about and responding to the Creek’s science and history, exhibits work from my research-focused art practice along with work made by learnshop participants, and encourages community dialogue, learning, and engagement with Newtown Creek. For more info, visit: priscillastadler.com/ Regine Leys will present Touch Jamaica, which explores neighborhood history through touch and material. By casting such things as public art, architectural details, their oldest tree, and a founding father’s tombstone using handmade paper, Regine will create a tactile timeline that reveals local history through their infrastructure and create three dimensional documents that record information in a different way than photos or written history would. For more info, visit: rejinleys.com/ Sally Twin will present ArcanaCrawl: Creek to River Parade, a joyful night parade in southwest Queens. More than 125 people will promenade along the Newtown Creek and East River from Hunter's Point to Gantry Plaza State Park and back. Before the parade, in four weekends' workshops, community artists and public will make costumes, paint and assemble giant puppets. For more info, visit: sallybeautitwin.cargo.site/
Shauna Sorensen will present Gossamer: Renewal, taking place in June at the New York Hall of Science (NYSCI). Gossamer: Renewal includes a dance presentation, digital art projection, and audience participation. The "Gossamer" series explores the ideas of rest and growth that happen within a community. During the public showcase, three elements of the "Gossamer" series, observing, composing, and creating, are presented. For more info, visit: shaunasorensen.com/ Shervone Neckles-Ortiz will present Steeping Memory: A Collective Offering, the next phase of the Creative Wellness Gathering Station (CWGS), a project that began in 2016. Originally a mobile herbal tea cart, the CWGS invited community members to engage in lively conversations on the health benefits of herbal tea and share their traditional herbal remedies. The new exhibition transforms the community's contributions into a textile installation featuring organza pouches with tea blends from past participants arranged in suspended quilts and wall hangings. For more info, visit: shervoneneckles.com Thomas Block will present a one-act play, A Great Wave: Sequel, at The Poppenhusen Museum in College Point. A Great Wave: Sequel highlights immigration to College Point and the vital place that the Poppenhusen Institute (founded 1868) played in the quality of life there. There will be overlap between the experience of immigrants in the Ellis Island era, and those coming today, as well as touching on issues such as women's rights (the right to vote then; freedom of choice today); gender roles, living in Queens etc. For more info, visit: tomblock.com/ Zachary Rothman-Hicks will present Our Stories / Our Selves. Our Stories / Our Selves creates a series of two different Oral History events celebrating stories from an intergenerational community of LGBTQIA+ Queens residents. Zachary and co. will gather audio stories about the importance of Pride as well as Coming Out / In stories. The two events will include a guided meditation, story listening session, and facilitated discussions. For more info, visit: gabbingwithgays.com/ Zahida Pirani will finish and present a new short film called ANINDITA, shot in Jackson Heights in collaboration with the local community and organize a free public screening in the neighborhood. ANINDITA is about a curious, creative girl who faces off with a privileged newcomer in her rapidly changing neighborhood. For more info, visit: elcarritofilm.com/ |
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