Exhibit Celebrated In Long Island City
Hoping to quash the stereotype that New Yorkers are just not nice, Priscilla Stadler, a LaGuardia Community College administrator and local artist, is spearheading a project challenging the people of Queens, and beyond, to defy the myth by doing “FAVORS” for friends, family and strangers during April.
To kick off the project, City Council member Jimmy Van Bramer proclaimed last Friday, Apr. 19 the “Day of Favors” at LaGuardia Community College’s “FAVORS Party/Party FAVORS.”
At the fete, members of the Queens-based community organizations partnering in the project will share their stories of favors and sign up those who wish to participate in the project. The party was held at the LaGuardia Performing Arts Center (LPAC) at 31-10 Thomson Ave. in Long Island City.
During April, New Yorkers are asked to document their FAVORS through new or old media. From there, Stadler will take the FAVORS and add them to an online map of FAVORS, which she will then transform into a large-scale sculptural installation later this year.
“We are asking resident to send me the who, what, where and when of the favor,” said Stadler who explained that a favor should take three hours or under, should not involve any kind of money or coercion, and must be legal. “Every participant in this project will be a co-creator of this dynamic, interactive demonstration of positive spirit and generosity in New York City.”
Stadler, through drawing, sculpture, installation and interaction, explores experiences and questions that connect us as humans. In addition to her studio work-primarily drawing and sculpture-she creates interactive situations.
Her work has been featured in many exhibitions and screenings, including the Itinerant Performance Festival, the Queens International 2012 at the Queens Museum of Art, the FAVORS project 2011 at Mess Hall in Chicago and the Oracle of Random Quotes installation at Local Project in 2009.
The project is being funded by a Queens Council on the Arts grant and supported by eight community organizations, which will each bring unique perspectives to the theme of doing favors. They are: LaGuardia Performing Arts Center, which integrated FAVOR events into its Rough Draft Festival, a showcase for exciting new work; The Flushing High School Drama Club, which will recognize school’s unsung heroes by doing anonymous FAVORS for them; Sunnyside Community Services Volunteer Program and Senior Programs will do FAVORS; Immigrant Movement International, which will offer a workshop for its mothers’ group and is encouraging dialogue about the meaning of favors in their community; Rockaway Waterfront Alliance is running a workshop and information event to encourage people to discuss favors in the wake of Hurricane Sandy; Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning is conducting activities related to FAVORS; Long Island City Artists is encouraging its artists to do favors creatively; and Jackson Heights Green Alliance is encouraging its members and communities to do favors. Download Favors Event Flyer.
To learn more about the project or to participate, visit www.facebook.com/ FAVORS, www.twitter.com/doingFAVORS, www.instagram.com/doingFAVORS, doingfavors.tumblr.com; email dowhen ingFAVORS@gmail.com; call 1- 646-543-4715; or write to Prescilla Studio, 44-202 23rd St., No. 421, Long Island City, NY 11101.
