More than 150 Queens-based artists, collectives and small nonprofit organizations have been named recipients of this year’s Queens Arts Fund (QAF), receiving a combined total of $493,350 in support for public projects that will be presented throughout the borough in 2025.
Administered by the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) in partnership with the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA), the QAF program awarded grants to 154 recipients through two categories: the Arts Access Grant and the New Work Grant. The program supports artists working in disciplines including music, poetry, painting, performance, film, sculpture, and social practice.
The Arts Access Grant provides funding to Queens-based small-budget 501(c)(3) nonprofits and unincorporated collectives to support public-facing arts projects. The New Work Grant supports individual emerging artists and collectives in the creation of new work.
All funded projects are required to include a public component, whether in-person, virtual, or a hybrid—ensuring residents across Queens can experience the results of the program throughout 2025.
This year’s fund reflects a 15% increase in support from DCLA’s FY25 Cultural Development Fund, part of the city’s broader investment in local arts councils across all five boroughs.
“Through the Queens Arts Fund, we’re honored to invest in the creative community in one of the most diverse places in the world,” said NYC Cultural Affairs Commissioner Laurie Cumbo. “We thank NYFA for their stewardship of these funds, which we were proud to increase by 15% this year, and congratulate the 154 artists and small arts groups who are receiving QAF awards.”
Michael Royce, CEO of NYFA, added, “We’re thrilled to help support and uplift Queens-based artists, arts collectives, and small nonprofits through the Queens Arts Fund. It’s an impactful program—not only for the artists but also for the communities who get to experience their work throughout 2025.”
Below is a list of some upcoming Queens Art Fund events:
May 24 – Taplife Hero Foundation, Inc. (QAF Arts Access ’25)
Event: National Tap Dance Day Celebration – Queens Edition
Location: George Seuffert, Sr. Bandshell, Forest Park, Forest Hills
An afternoon of live tap dance performances, music, and tutorials. TikTok tap dance advocate Shelby Kaufman was honored.
May 25, May 31, and August 31 – Eric Hagan (QAF New Work ’25)
Project: “Cocoons”
Location: 31st Avenue Open Streets, Astoria
Hagan’s public sculpture installation invites residents to explore themes of safety and transformation through interactive yarn-based works.
June 1, June 15, July 13, August 10 – Rockaway Chamber Music (QAF Arts Access ’25)
Project: “Season Three”
Location: Rockaway Beach
A series of outdoor classical concerts featuring strings, bassoon, trombone, and percussion. Performances include four world premieres and youth participation from local nonprofit RISE’s “Shore Corps.”
Below is the list of recipients for 2025:
Arts Access Recipients
Abang-guard (Maureen Catbagan + Jevijoe Vitug), Makibaka – Salakot Sweat Power: Family Tour and Workshop
Alliance for Paseo Park, Paseo Park Portraits Public Exhibition
Bayside Glee Club, Inc., 2025 Spring & Winter Concert Series
buena onda collective dominika ksel & camila a. morales, Sandy Soils & Soundwaves: A Far Rockaway Soils Festival
Cayena Press, 2025 Hispanic Heritage Month Celebration
City Gate Productions, POTUS, or Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive
Clipmode Connect, Mixed Media Mondays
Conch Shell Productions, Bluelight Series
Danie Kohn, People in Public
Divya Jyoti Association, Diwali Motorcade
Edgemere Farm Works, 2025 Community Arts and Education Program at Edgemere Farm
Gotham Dance Theater, Summer Suite 7.0
Harmony 4 All, Inc., Raising Awareness: Accessible Music for Queens
Headwall Theatre Company, Hyper Bare It by Lesley Shires
Hyewon Yi & Eun Young Choi (Members of SOUP 숲 Collective), Sarang-bang
International Girls Ensemble, “Voices of Queens: A Youth Ensemble Performance”
Jackson Heights Beautification Group, Summer Sundays in the Park
Kofago Dance Ensemble, Kwanzaa Celebration 2024: Kélé Kungo – Strong Tradition
LiberArte, Afro-Diasporic Ocean Festival
New Music Horizons, Collaborative Artists in Concert
Point Zero Press, Nuestras Historias, Nosotras Mismas – Our Stories, Our Selves
Project Connect, Swing Out In The Jazz Era
Queens Fiber Arts Festival/Stitches, Queens Fiber Arts Festival 2025
Quest Players, The Shakespeare Project
Ridgewood Off Kilter Film Festival, Ridgewood Off Kilter Film Festival
Rockaway Chamber Music, Rockaway Chamber Music: Season Three
Salvatore LaRussa Dance Company, Inc., FREE SUNDAY PERFORMING ARTS | QUEENS OUTDOOR DANCE FESTIVAL 2025
Senior Theater Acting Repertory – STAR, Bringing Live Theater and Songs to Queens
Sharlene Chou/ Magic Ming Studio, Chinese Calligraphy, Paper Cutting, and Art-Craft Workshop for Celebrating Lunar Year of the Snake
Son Jarocho NY, The 15th NY Son Jarocho Festival
Sounds of Cyprus, An Evening of Diasporic Cypriot Music and Dance
Street Works / Make Justice Normal, Street Works Earth 2025
Taplife Hero Foundation, Inc., National Tap Dance Day Celebration – Queens Edition
The Blue Bus Project, Shred & Create Mobile Bin
The Dream Unfinished, VITALS
The Garage Art Center, Creative Voices 2025: Connecting Artists and Community Through Educational Programming
The Motor Company, Communal Spaces: a garden play festival
Wawakuna, Semillas del Sur_Second Generation
WhyWOW Studio and the Queens Center for Gay Seniors, Our Stories Are Alive
New Work Recipients
Jillian Abbott, Urban Gardener
Symin Adive, How To Make Friends In The Water (When Both The Water And The Friends Can Drown You)
Sumaiya Aftab Ahmed, A New Dawn for Bangladesh and its Diaspora: An Evening of Readings at the Astoria Bookshop
Amawta Roots, Amawta Roots
Michael Assiff, Concrete Flowers
Hyeonseon Baek, Jazz Bridges: A Cross-Cultural Jazz Concert Experience
Diana Bejarano, Matrescence
Ali Bello, Ali Bello & The Charanga Syndicate
Marina Berio, Ten Photography Lessons for a Dead President
Shwarga Bhattacharjee, Where I belong!
Miggy Buck, “Sounds of the East River”
Nick Capezzera, Personal Archiving in the Digital Age: a Multimedia Presentation and Q&A
Mijounga Chang, Something, Other, Is Invisible Here
Abagael Cheng, The Hunger & The Haunt
Citation Needed, Unstandardized Studio Art Studio
Claire Ozmun Band, Debut LP
Melanie Beth Curran, Songbook of New York’s Irish Riviera
Maeve D’Arcy, Ogham: The Ancient Alphabet and the Language of Abstraction
Susannah Dalton with PinProductions, Little Library in the Woods: The Brave Little Tailor
Mimi Doan and Cole Stapleton, 1-Way Mirror
dolltr!ck, Horizon: Songs of the Sisterhood
Dr. Evilletown, Together We Can
Ilya Dynov, Ilya Dynov New Quartet @Flushing Town Hall
Alessandra Expósito, Tiny Trophies
Libby Fabricatore, Disquiet City / World Of Tomorrow
Kelly Jean Fitzsimmons and Zach Rothman-Hicks, Prom Queens
Emma Foti, Gut Tissue
Sherese Francis, K(Reel)K2
Sam Friedman, Waterfront
Carlita Gay, Queens Songwriting Connection
Ash Goh Hua, Untitled Durian Film
Gwen Smith Projects, The Beachness of Blackness
Eric Hagan, Cocoons
Kelly Han, Bless This House – Bali
Hang Him to the Scales, Heteroglossia 眾聲喧嘩
Ali Hardy and Reckless Theatrics, Fail Risk
Amelia Heintzelman, Community Conscious: Collective Practices in Embodied Movement & Language
Joshua Hernandez, Chulo
Rafael Herrin-Ferri, All the Queens Gardens
Emily Hockaday, I Dared the Storms to Come & Gardening Workshop/Reading
Lily Honglei, KITES: Poems by an Immigrant
Takuya Ikezaki, The Scenery That Connects Us
Immigrantet, The Elements
Bonita Jackson, Black WOMBman
Satoshi Kanazawa, Forgotten Poet -The Life of Misuzu Kaneko-
Leekyung Kang, Entombed in Static
Catherine Kanjer Kapphahn, Miseducation of a Dyslexic Girl
Shushanik Karapetyan, Becoming a Mother
Iseul Kim, Two Voices Korea to NYC
Nikki Kimboko, HERE, this is the way
Yui Kitamura, My Happy Grandparents
Colleen Kong-Savage & Plushie, Language of Art
ManSee Kong & Yianna Dellatolla, Float
Ladies of Hip-Hop, Body Politics
Pilar Lagos, Latino Voices and Community Expressions Through Art
Cindy Lan, Sadness isn’t any louder than joy
Guillermo Laporta Castillo, Queens Log
franck lesbros, Mirage Hog Island
Rejin Leys, Touch Jamaica
Constanza Liberona, The Women’s Circle
Alicia Lieu, Pan Asian Instrumental Ensemble World Premiere
Cecilia Lim, Remember Y(our) Connection
Chan Lin, Generation FJ
Eleen Lin, Mythopoeia
Carla Lobmier, Garden Post
Aishwarya Madhav, Who am I?
Pratima Mani, Bug
Christina Masciotti, Liberty Scrap
Molly McCracken, Art in the Garden
Jesse Mineo, Fly Fight Crow
Kana Miyamoto, Duo Connections
Mortal Hearts, Surround Sounds Piano_QNS
Nitin Mukul, Glocalize 2025
Shervone Neckles, Steeping Memory
Jill Ohayon and Andy Li, The Garden Bridge
Okechukwu Okegrass Ofiaeli, ADD VALUE, CREATE WEALTH
Ashley Omoma, Now That We’ve Killed Me
Orchestra Futures, Strauss Transcriptions for chamber orchestra
steven palmore, A tribute to Richard Potter
Carson Parish, Body Language
Emily Pavacic, The Universal Threads That Connect Us
Mary Pinto, Guardians and Guides
Zahida Pirani, Anindita
María Elena Pombo, Palo de Campeche en el Dominican Hair Salon
Pri the Honeydark, The Skin I’m In
Helen Quinn, Hyper-Local Heraldry in Jackson Heights
Susannah Ray, Sea Chapel
Mars Ray, Mars Ray & The Raptures
David Rothenberg, Untitled Roses
Zach Rothman-Hicks, Our Stories/ Our Selves
Seamus Scanlon, Boys Swam Before Me
Yên Sen, ABORT
Guillermo Severiche, El rey del viento
Richard Shpuntoff, Julio Revisited
Kalli Siamidou, I am Kalli
Shauna Sorensen, Gossamer: Renewal
Micki Spiller, Dead Things
Springboard Collective, Trivial Pursuits Dinner Party: Sixth Edition
Priscilla Stadler, Crafting the Creek
Sunflower Lane Collective, Sunflower Lane Show
Chris Sunshine, In the Tall Grass
Jean-Sebastien Surena, What Home Was
syndicat.e x Blackberry Social, What Now
Rica Takashima, New York Love
Team MP3, Covers; Music, Migration, and Memory
KC Trommer, Paragones
Zonia Tsang & Mandarin Wu, Midnight at the Forbidden City
Sally Beauti Twin, ArcanaCrawl: Creek to River
Martin Vejarano & La Cumbiamba eNeYé, Gaitas Around The World
VERBAL ANIMAL, CONCRETE GULP
Maggie Waller, you came from the mother…
Augustina Wang, Red Canary Song
William Wiebe and Taufic, Puppies
Dennis Yueh-Yeh Li, Late Blooming
Lu Zhang, Herb Tam, Dream City 2.0
