Art Festival Heralds New Era
"Theres a rapidly developing art community in Queens," says Dan Andrews, spokesperson for Queens Borough President Claire Shulman. "The presence of the Museum of Modern Art and other art institutions, such a PS 1, is underpinning the transformation. Were having true growth in the northwest, and it should continue."
Expected to accelerate the tempo of growth is the high technology district that stretches from the Kaufman Astoria New Media Cluster to Queens Plaza and Court Square. The district is drawing high tech, new media and arts-related companies to Long Island City, further enhancing the cultural environment.
"We want to make western Queens a cultural destination," says Adam Rubin, special projects director for the LICBDC, the organization that hatched the festival with the Queens Council on the Arts. "We are moving toward the creation of an arts and cultural district. We have seven anchor museums and some 25 technical companies. These should stimulate further business, along with the arts." He cites the Cyber City@LIC Street Fair this weekend in Long Island City as more evidence of the business and cultural changes under way.
Gayle Baron, the executive director of LICBDC, emphasizes the attraction of business to the arts and the stimulation created by an arts environment. "The two interact in significant ways, each side adding a dimension to the other. Its always been this way. Were creating an arts corridor."
Art Frenzy starts this Thursday with an invitation-only gala at the Isamu Noguchi Garden Museum and an opening reception at the Metropolitan Building the same day.
The festival runs through Sunday, highlighting gallery exhibits, special programs from the Museum of Modern Art, the American Museum of the Moving Image, Socrates Sculpture Park, the Isamu Noguchi Garden Museum, PS 1, and the Fisher-Landau Collection. On the weekend, more than 50 artists open their studios to the public.
The program also includes Harley-Davidsons "Works on Wheels" motorcade, an urban walking tour, street fair and presentations at Kaufman Astoria Studios and the Womans Studio Center.
Fridays program takes in theater and film festivals, an arts and education event and a Modern Art Foundry opening.
The festival moves into high gear on the weekend with a multicultural line-up throughout western Queens.
The keys to customizing the festival to a visitors tastes and time are a new Art Loop Map (available Saturday at Court Square Park in Long Island City), which locates the sites of cultural institutions, galleries, restaurants and historic points, and the daily events calendar, also available Saturday. Those disinclined to walk can hop on one of the three free shuttle buses that ply the art loop this weekend.
The many film offerings include clips from the forthcoming independent production of "How to Go Out on a Date in Queens," a comedy written by Richard Vetere, a longtime Queens resident. The film, which stars Jason Alexander, "George" on TVs "Seinfeld," follows 10 characters confronting loneliness on a Super Bowl Sunday in Queens. The comedy is based on Veteres stage play by the same name and "Making Book," another of his plays. Vetere and the films director, Michelle Danner, will be on hand for comments and questions at the 2:30 p.m. Saturday screening at the Kaufman Astoria Studios.
The American Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria (AMMI), which focuses on the art, history and techniques of the visual media, adds museum tours for the festival and, with the price of admission, visitors can see, in a Brian De Palma retrospective, "Obsession" and "Body Double" on Saturday, and "Phantom of the Paradise" and "Dressed to Kill" on Sunday. Roman Polanskis classic film noir, "Chinatown," screens on Saturday evening.
Meanwhile, at Court Square in Long Island City on Saturday, 14 bands and multicultural ensembles perform in 45-minute segments from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. These include Carol Sudhalters six-piece jazz band, Egyptian and Middle Eastern dances, Pat Donahers jazz band, fusion Indian Classical and Hip Hop by Indo Funk, Deborah and John Watts Brazilian music and dance team, and traditional Spanish Zarzuela by the Thalia Spanish Theater. On the final day, 13 musical events are on tap, including three childrens performances, Curtis Elllers American Circus rock and roll band, the Goliard Ensembles rendition of American standards, and the Peelander Z Japanese punk band.
Also at Court Square, the Center of the Holographic Arts presents a group show highlighting the works of Ana Maria Nicholson and Dan Schweitzer. The three-year-old center promotes holography, a technique for filming and showing three-dimensional images.
