By Kate Bobby
A score of special guests braved last Thursday's snowfall to celebrate the 2000 .Queens Community Arts Fund Awards ceremony held at the Queens Council on the Arts headquarters at Oak Ridge, Woodhaven.
Collectively, the fund awarded more than $170,000 to 90 individual artists and not-for-profit arts organizations as QCAF Awards recipients. The awards are made possible through public funding from the New York State Council on the Arts, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs through the Greater New York Arts Development Fund, and the office of Queens Borough President Claire Shulman. Additional support is provided through the contribution of private monies through the Chase SMARTS Regrants Program.
“This is a major event offering recognition for a job well done,” explained one of the evening's speakers, Richard Schwartz, chairman of the New York State Council on the Arts, who was joined by a roster of speakers that read like a Who's Who in Queens, including Herb Chain, QCA president.
“This is definitely a feel-good evening,” said Chain, who credited the DCA, the Chase SMARTS Regrants Program, the New York State Council on the Arts, and Borough President Claire Shulman for their collective support. “We are thrilled at the support that has been shown to the cultural community of Queens.
Another guest of the evening, Aida Gonzalez Jarrin, director of cultural affairs for the Queens Borough President's Office, added a few words of praise on behalf of Shulman: “My boss is very happy to lend her support to the many programs and artists represented here tonight.”
“It's great. We all feel like Santa Claus here today,” said Suzanne Parker, acting executive director of the QCA, who has assumed responsibility for the post since the recent departure of Terri Osborne, who left the QCA to become regional executive of the Eastern Division of the American Cancer Society.
“I'm also thrilled in general at the turnout tonight,” said Parker, about the event's standing-room-only attendance despite the inclement weather. “I'm grateful they all made it here. It shows how important this event is to the arts community.”
In addition to Chain, Jarrin and Parker, other speakers of the evening included: Lynn Lobell, QCAF coordinator for the QCA; Lorraine O'Neill, with the QCA's board of directors; Melinda Katz, director of Queens community boards; Kathleen Hughes, with the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs; and Barbara Fitts, with the Chase Manhattan Foundation.
Through the New York State Council on the Arts, annual QCAF awards were presented to individual Queens artists, including: Lynn Elson; Maria Spector, and Tracie Spellman. The NYSCA also lent special support to two borough programs, the ChaRosa Foundation Corporation and the Latin American Cultural Center of Queens.
Other NYSCA awardees included: the Alliance of Queens Artists; American Vocal Ensemble; Astoria Big Band; Ballet Los Pampas, Inc.; Bayside Historical Society; Black American Heritage Foundation; Caribbean American Repertory Theatre; Con Brio Ensemble; Flushing Jewish Community Council; Foundation for Filipino Artists; Free Synagogue of Flushing; Fresh Meadows Poets; Greater Astoria Historical Support; Institute for Korean-American Culture; Institute for Theatre-Learning, Inc.; Jackson Heights Arts Club; Jackson Heights Development Corporation; JASA/Brookdale Village Senior Center; Kerri Edge Cultural Arts Collective, Inc.; Latin American Cultural Center of Queens; Latin-Jazz Coalition; Ledge Poetry & Fiction Magazine; Long Island City Artists; New Jerusalem Baptist Church of Jamaica; New York Educational Service Team, Inc.; New York Ensemble Theater and Film Co.; New York Free Music Committee; Onipa Abusia, Inc.; Oratorio Society of Queens; PTA of the Renaissance School; Queens Festival; Orchestra Association, Inc.; Queens Historical Society; Queens Library Foundation; Queensborough Community College Fund; Queensborough Orchestra; Reach Into Cultural Heights, Inc.; Rockaway Music & Arts Council; Sacred Music Chorale of Richmond Hill; St. Luke's Lutheran Church; St. Marks Community Services, Inc.; Stitches From the Heart, Inc.; Sunnyside Community Services, Inc.; The Forest Park Trust, Inc.; The Learning Tree Multicultural School; The Lewis H. Latimer Fund, Inc.; Trinity Players of Queens, Inc.; Variety Boys & Girls Club of Queens.
The DCA lent its specific support to individual artists including: Rikki Ascher, Charles Camilleri, Karen Fitzgerald, Stephen Kaplin, Robyn Love, and Michael Ritchie. The DCA also lent its support to the following Queens-based arts organizations: the Anakawona Association; Astoria Big Band; Children's Orchestra; Chinese Theater Workshop; Con Brio Ensemble; Drumsongs Productions, Inc.; Fourth Dimension Dance, Inc.; Fresh Meadows Poets; Gold Mountain Institute; Ilya Gaft Dance, Inc.; New York Educational Service Team, INC; Onipa Abusia, Inc.; Queens Festival Orchestra Association, Inc.; Rajkumari Cultural Center, Inc.; Senior Theater Acting Repertory; Shasmaqam Bukharan Jewish Cultural Group, Inc.; Something Special; St. Marks Community Services, Inc.; The Salvation Army Greater New York; the Trinity Players of Queens, Inc.; the Variety Boys & Girls Club of Queens.
Chase SMARTS Regrants Program awardees included: Con Brio Ensemble; Drumsongs Productions, Inc.; Fourth Dimension Dance, Inc.; Gold Mountain Institute; Greater Astoria Historical Society; Jackson Heights Art Club, Inc.; Library Action Committee of Corona-East Elmhurst; LIC Artists; Queens Festival Orchestra Assoc., Inc.; St. Marks Community Services, Inc.; Trinity Players of Queens.
