Quantcast

Long Island City opens up its art community

By Tammy Scileppi

With 500 artists showcasing new works in many unexpected locations throughout western Queens, the fifth annual LIC Arts Open promises to be the grandest one yet.

The event’s founder and executive director, Richard Mazda, and his hard-working team are in the final stretch of preparations for this year’s festival, which runs Wednesday through Sunday. Thanks to expanded publicity fueled by a much-needed Queens Council on the Arts grant, heightened awareness of the borough’s art scene and Long Island City’s growing popularity as one of the largest artistic communities in the city, Mazda feels confident that this year’s festival will attract more art-loving folks from far and wide than ever, starting with curious locals who have heard about the festival but never experienced it.

“The LIC open has become more professional in its organization and has a fresh new look, with a redesigned logo,” said Mazda.

As visitors get off the subway near the Court Square Diner, they will discover a welcoming station providing information to all the different sites open to explore.

Two of the more interesting highlights this year, Mazda said, are exhibitions set up in the Falchi Building and Factory LIC, both located on 47th Avenue.

“We’ve taken over tens of thousands of square feet in those buildings,” Mazda said.

In the Falchi Building, visitors can view exhibitions on the third and fourth floors, the atrium and an additional 5,000-square-foot space at the back of the atrium.

Works by more than 80 artists will be displayed, including paintings, mixed media and large installation pieces.

Over at Factory LIC, more than 100 artists will take over the ground floor and two large spaces on the fourth floor.

Special dance performances will take place on the 10th floor, said Mazda, who indicated there will be more than 65 venues total, all of which will house either artists’ studios or exhibitions. That includes places people already know, like The Secret Theatre. New places such as Court Square Studios — an independent film studio set to display 120 works — are also part of the mix this year.

“We’ll have shows there, so Friday night, we’ve got three local jazz acts. We’re calling this concert ‘Jazz at LIC,’” Mazda said. “And on Saturday night, we have a rock concert, which features three different acts. Sunday night is our closing party at Court Square Studios. I’ve got a very special event for that one, with an Astoria country band called Two Thirds Goat.”

Other live performances scheduled include a show from an LIC comedy troupe and a special concert version of the musical “Hair.”

Ensemble members from The Secret Theatre’s January production of “Hair” will be joined by actors from the original 1968 Broadway and 2009 revival productions.

Exhibits will slip over into numerous restaurants, galleries and businesses along Vernon Boulevard, including Alobar, Manducatis Rustica, Douglas Elliman Real Estate and Matted LIC.

Although the festival runs for five days, Mazda expects the peak times, when all of the artists’ studios will be open to the public, to be Saturday and Sunday afternoons.

After producing such a large-scale event, Mazda admits he is exhausted and not quite sure how he and his team do it all.

“We work really hard,” he said. “I would like to give some credit to my events/exhibitions coordinator Karen Carolina Penafiel, who has been amazingly supportive.”

If you Go

LIC Arts Open

When: Wednesday, May 13 – Sunday, May 17

Where: At venues across Long Island City

Cost: Free

Website: www.licartsopen.org