Jackie DeDios, left, development manager of the Queens Council on the Arts, and dance artist Song Hee Lee spend time at the QCA’s open house last week. Photo courtesy Queens Council on the Arts
Some of the borough’s most creative denizens and organizations recently landed a financial boost to support projects ranging from film to music and dance, the Queens Council on the Arts announced last week.
The council, a nonprofit works to support artists throughout Queens, hosted an open house last Wednesday to celebrate the recipients of the 2014 Queens Arts Fund, as well as the Senior Partnering with Artists Citywide.
The annual event drew about 50 artists from all corners of the borough to the council’s space at 37-11 35th Ave. in Astoria, where attendees celebrated the performances and exhibitions that are slated to take place throughout Queens this coming year.
During the evening, QCA officials announced that the Queens Arts Fund will distribute more than $175,000 to 31 individual artists and 47 arts organizations in the disciplines of visual arts, film, theatre, multi-media, literary arts, dance, and music. Eleven artists were selected to partner with senior centers through the SPARC residency program.
The Queens Arts Fund provides funding for projects throughout the borough in a wide range of disciplines, enabling residents and visitors alike to experience high-quality art year-round. SPARC is a community arts engagement program that places artists-in-residence at senior centers across the five boroughs.
Artists who attended the event said they were thrilled to see creative endeavors being supported in Queens.
Roshani Thakore, a visual artist, said it was “exciting to meet with the QCA team, all the other QAF recipients, the SPARC artists, and more.”
Established in the mid-1960s by Jeanne Dale Katz, the mother of current Queens Borough President Melinda Katz, the Queens Symphony Orchestra, Queens Opera Association, Queens Borough Public Library, Oratorio Society, Queensborough Community College, St. John’s University, and other institutions, came together to form the QCA as an umbrella organization to promote cultural growth and development of the arts in the borough. Additionally, the group aimed to help artists and creative organizations present the borough’s diverse cultural resources to area residents.
Over the past four decades, QCA has evolved into a wide-ranging arts service organization that provides grants, professional development and education services.
By Anna Gustafson
