By Naeisha Rose
The Queens Council on the Arts has an open call for a new art residency at LaGuardia Airport’s Marine Terminal A, which will come to a close next Thursday.
QCA is collaborating with the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey for the ArtPort Residency, which will select four Queens-based artists throughout the year to spend three months producing work in a 110-square-foot space at the terminal.
Artists may come from the visual, literary and media world, according to the organization.
Once selected, the resident will have regular open studio hours where passengers can discuss the artist’s work and process while he or she is developing the piece.
Residents will receive a $3,000 stipend for their work.
Marine Air Terminal is the only active airport terminal dating back to the first generation of passenger travel in the United States, according to QCA.
The Art Deco building was designed in 1939 by architectural firm Delano & Aldrich, originally built to handle seaplanes.
It has a two-story rotunda with an attic, a rectangular entrance pavilion and two one-story wings on either side. The rotunda features a skylight and a 237-foot circular mural called “Flight,” by James Brook, which was started in the 1930s and completed in 1942.
Brooks was an abstract artist, painter and muralist.
The terminal was designated a landmark in 1980.
The QCA created the new program as a way to engage culturally with the thousands of travelers at LaGuardia Airport who use the facility daily.
Approximately 29.8 million passengers go to LaGuardia annually, according to the airport.
“An artist creating work in an airport can transform your commute into a journey,” said QCA Executive Director Hoong Yee Krakauer.
Members of the Queens art community and a panel of representatives from the Port Authority will choose residents for the ArtPort Residency.
For more information about the residency, contact Grants & Resource Director Lynn Lobell at (347) 505-3015, Queens Arts Fund Associate Dan Bamba at (347) 505-3017, or visit the QCA website.
The city’s Department of Cultural Affairs, the Greater New York Arts Development Fund and the New York City Council support the residency.
Reach reporter Naeisha Rose by e-mail at nrose
