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Flushing Town Hall’s Summer Lineup Will Keep Audiences Dancing, Clapping, and Learning from the Safety of Home

Flushing Town Hall has unveiled an all-new lineup of virtual programming for audiences to enjoy from the safety of home this July and August. All you need is a good internet connection and a comfy couch (or backyard or front stoop)!

“We love our artists and audiences and can’t wait to welcome everyone back, but until our doors open again, we are proud to continue providing online programs that educate and entertain, ” says Executive & Artistic Director Ellen Kodadek. “Our global community has experienced great hardship this year. As a service to the public, we are offering the majority of our virtual content free of charge. The arts uplift our spirits in dark times and remind us that we are not alone. Join us online and be part of our global community!”

Upcoming, free programs through FTH at Home! will include Facebook watch parties featuring Flushing Town Hall’s wildly popular 2018 Global Mashups, streaming weekly on Tuesday evenings starting July 28. World music fans can tune in for a diverse lineup of incredible bands together on stage in unusual combinations, like Egypt meets Haiti and The Balkans meet El Barrio.

On July 18 and 19, audiences can tune in to Concert for Cuba, for which Flushing Town Hall is a co-presenter and social media partner hosting a Facebook watch party. The concert features Orquesta Aragón, Susana Baca, Jane Bunnett and Danae Olano, Los Van Van, and Arturo O’Farrill, among many other great performers, as well as notable speakers, including Michael Moore, Danny Glover, and Congresswoman Barbara Lee.

On August 6 and August 13, in collaboration with Queens Council on the Arts’ Artist Commissioning Program, Flushing Town Hall will present two virtual showcases of works in progress. The first is Jaime Sunwoo’s “Specially Processed American Me, ” featuring SPAM, the famous canned meat, in a surreal performance that explores the artist’s Asian American upbringing and her family’s experience of the Korean War. The second work in progress will be Marcus Yi’s “Lucky 88 The Food Court Musical, ” inspired by the food courts of Flushing. Both completed works will premier this fall as part of FTH at Home!. Both works, selected by a group of art commissioners who are community members of Flushing, tell untold stories that highlight underrepresented protagonists.

Fans of Flushing Town Hall’s monthly Louis Armstrong Legacy Jazz Jam can look forward to its return on August 12. Up to 20 musicians may register to play (or sing!) in the virtual jam session held over Zoom, and all members of the public may watch in the audience. For participants selecting their tunes, the theme for August’s jam will be “unity.”

Also this summer, FTH Teaching Artists will participate in the #ArtsAreEssential social media campaign, a citywide effort to advocate for the arts, and for artists, amidst the pandemic.

“The arts sector is vital to our city’s mental, physical, and economic recovery, ” says Gabrielle M. Hamilton, Director of Education and Public Programs, “and arts educators are uniquely equipped to help our children process their trauma, build resiliency, and rekindle their innate joy and curiosity. Flushing Town Hall’s master teaching artists from around the world support students with cross-cultural programming that helps unify our community.”

Beginning this month and continuing through September, Flushing Town Hall will share across its social channels a series of one-minute #ArtsAreEssential videos in English, Mandarin, Korean, and Spanish. In these videos, FTH Teaching Artists explore why “arts are essential” to them with engaging music, dance, visual arts, theater and puppetry activities. Each video is supported with complementary activities and worksheets to engage learners of all ages.

For those looking for more formal instruction, Flushing Town Hall is excited to offer its first-ever Virtual World Dance Camp, the only program for which it is charging a fee. Participants can register for introductory classes in traditional Indian dance, Mexican dance, Chinese dance, and American jazz dance, each offering daily, hour-long sessions for the span of one week, with separate groups for Children (age 12 and under), and Teens & Adults. Classes begin July 13 and run through August 7 and participants can register for however many they choose.

In addition to its virtual programming, Flushing Town Hall has launched a physical art exhibition, Call & Response: Grief, Resiliency and Hope, to showcase artwork submissions from the public along its Northern Boulevard fence outside the venue. New Yorkers are invited to create artworks for hanging that reflect this defining moment in time and that give expression to their experiences of the COVID19 pandemic, racial injustice, and the Black Lives Matter movement. Amateur artists and professionals are invited to hang their artwork directly onto the fence or submit images of their art by email. For specifications and instructions, visit: http://www.flushingtownhall.org/call-and-response.

Finally, Flushing Town Hall will continue to host its weekly Zoom Artist Hang for Queens artists of all disciplines on Fridays at 5:00 PM.

Summer 2020 Schedule for Calendars:

CURRENT EXHIBITION
Call and Response: Grief, Resiliency, and Hope
http://www.flushingtownhall.org/call-and-response

MONDAY JULY 13 - FRIDAY AUGUST 7
Virtual World Dance Camp
http://www.flushingtownhall.org/virtual-world-dance-camp

SATURDAY JULY 18 & SUNDAY JULY 19 @ 8:00 PM
Concert for Cuba
http://www.flushingtownhall.org/fth-at-home-watch-party

TUESDAYS (JULY 28, AUGUST 4, 11, 18, 24) @ 7:00 PM
Global Mashups
http://www.flushingtownhall.org/fth-at-home-watch-party

THURSDAY AUGUST 6 @ 7:00 PM
ACP Live Presents: Jaime Sunwoo
http://www.flushingtownhall.org/acp-live

THURSDAY AUGUST 13 @ 7:00 PM
ACP Live Presents: Marcus Yi
http://www.flushingtownhall.org/acp-live

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 12 @ 7:00 PM
Louis Armstrong Legacy Virtual Jazz Jam
http://www.flushingtownhall.org/virtual-jazz-jam

FRIDAYS @ 5:00 PM
Zoom Hang for Queens artists
URL: https://zoom.us/j/283009195
Meeting ID: 283 009 195

Flushing Town Hall’s facilities are temporarily closed to the public in accordance with COVID-19 safety regulations. Flushing Town Hall’s latest statement pertaining to COVID-19 can be found here.

Although we cannot list every donor, Flushing Town Hall is grateful for all gifts received and wishes to thank everyone for their ongoing generosity.

Flushing Town Hall greatly appreciates the supporters of our current campaign, Step Up for Flushing Town Hall, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. If you are able and willing to help, please click here to learn more and donate today. Special thanks to our Step Up Campaign donors with gifts of $100 and above: Karen Argueta, Maria Arias, Henry Assael, Christopher Banks, Barbara Banks Schwam, Beverly Bartow, Carol Bennett, Seth Bornstein, Larue Brathwaite, Anne Bresnahan, Claire Bullard, Jenna Capeci, Calvin Chan, Dongshin Chang, Christopher Chen, Cecilia Cheng, Jacob Eichenbaum, David Fesser, Ellen Fisher-Turk, Karen Fitzgerald, Paul Foster, Andrew Garson, Howard Graf (Graf & Lewent Architects), Heather Harrison, Alan Heilbron, Susan Hennessy, Raymond Jasen, Carmen Jimenez, Andrew Karl, Adrienne Kivelson, Bob Kodadek, Stephanie Lee, Anne Lewent, Judith Lewent, James Liao, Jeri Lim, Stephanie Long, Martha Ma, Frank Macchio, Rob Mackay, Sandra Mann, Pamela Marquez, Steven Mecca, Marsha Merkle, Lee Nash, Sandra Nash, Rochelle Nechin, TeHsing Niu, The Ong Family Foundation, Jessica Peña, Kimberly Phelan, Mary and Oscar Pollock, Ryan Powers, Richard Quatrano, Jeffrey Schenider, Tina Seligman, Dominique Sellers, Alice Sharp, Thomas Simmons, Mike Sperendi & Jan Schneider, Jean Tatge, Marsha Toma, Veronica Tsang, WAC Lighting, Tai-nin Wang, Jill Ward, Daryl Ware, David and Elsie Werber, Robert and Karla Wishnick, Lucy Wong, and Jon Yanofsky.

Flushing Council on Culture and the Arts dba Flushing Town Hall is a not for profit organization which receives major support from the National Endowment for the Arts; New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature; New York State Assembly Member Ron Kim; New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, Mayor Bill de Blasio; Queens Borough President Melinda Katz; Council Members Adrienne Adams, Costa Constantinides, Daniel Dromm, Barry Grodenchik, Peter Koo, Karen Koslowitz, Francisco Moya, and Paul A. Vallone; and the Howard Gilman Foundation, the Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, and the Booth Ferris Foundation.

Support for our programs is also provided by Acrobuffos/Seth Bloom & Christina Gelsone, Angela An, Robin Bell-Stevens, Viviana M. Benitez, Dongjiang Bi, Cathay Bank, Douglass Chan, Amy Mak Chan, Calvin W. Chan, Sharon Chen, Ginger Chinn, Dr. Hsing-Lih Chou/New York Institute of Culture and the Arts, Con Edison, Crossings TV, Exploring the Metropolis, Kuang-Yu Fong/Chinese Theatre Works, Barbara Garii, Matthew Goldner, Howard Graf & Kathy Donovan, Guru Krupa Foundation, Lily Han, Heather Harrison, Belinda Pilin Hsu, Alice & Steve Huang, Hung Pin Hung, Investors Foundation, Raymond D. Jasen, the Jim Henson Foundation, Ellen Kodadek, the Laura B. Vogler Foundation, Nelson Lee/Flushing Bank, Janet T. Leow, Anne Lewent, James S. Liao, Emily Lin/Lin & Loveall Foundation, Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation, Frank Macchio, Materials for the Arts, William McClure/Queens College, Mets Foundation, Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, Jassy Z. Min, New York Chinese Chorus, Northwell Health, TeHsing Niu, Carlos Ortiz, Queens Art Education Center/Arthur Liu, Richard Quantaro, Queens Courier, Resorts World, Camillo Reyes, RuDance/Asian American Dance Sport Corp., Dominique Sellers, Helen Shieh, Richard Siu, Curtis Smith, Mike Sperendi & Jan Schneider, Taipei Cultural Center in New York, Michael Tang, Veronica Tsang, Tai & Tony Wang/Glow Foundation, Jay Wegman, Constance Wingate, Lucy Wong, Anna Wu, Minwen Yang, Hank Yeh, Sandy Yeh, Shane Yeh, and Angela Qi Zhang.

Special thanks to Calvin W. Chan, Raymond D. Jasen, Ellen Kodadek, Anne Lewent, William McClure, and TeHsing Niu for underwriting a portion of FTH at Home: Global Arts for Global Kids.

About Flushing Town Hall
Flushing Town Hall (FTH), a Smithsonian affiliate, presents multi-disciplinary global arts that engage and educate the global communities of Queens and New York City, in order to foster mutual appreciation. As advocates of arts equity since 1979, we support local, immigrant, national, and international artists, developing partnerships and collaborations that enhance our efforts. As a member of New York City’s Cultural Institutions Group (CIG), we serve to restore, manage and program the historic 1862 landmark on behalf of the City of New York. FTH celebrates the history of Queens as the home of Jazz, by presenting the finest in Jazz performance. We are committed to arts education and hands-on learning, for the arts-curious, arts enthusiasts, and professional artists. We serve one of the most diverse communities in the world and strive to uphold the legacy of inclusiveness that has defined our community since the Flushing Remonstrance of 1657.
 
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