48 THE QUEENS COURIER • JUNE 6, 2019 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
world making the borough the
most diverse location on the
planet. Under the leadership
of Ellen Kodadek, appointed
Executive and Artistic Director
in 2008, FTH has fully embraced
this demographic change, continuing
to expand and diversify
its programs.
The organization has begun to
look to its past, and Flushing’s
history, to lay the groundwork
for its future. One of
the most significant efforts in
recent years has been to cultivate
a closer relationship with
the Matinecock tribe, the native
people of Flushing, who continue
to live and work in the area,
preserving and presenting their
cultural knowledge and history.
FTH is also inspired by the
Flushing Remonstrance (1657),
which set the tone for hundreds
of years of religious and cultural
tolerance in the neighborhood.
Arts Education, has grown
into a major focus, with programs
including field-trips,
residencies, after-school programs,
workshops and family
friendly performances serving
more than 22,000 school
children, senior citizens, disabled
populations and family
audiences in 2018. Kodadek’s
vision is that young people
deserve the same high-quality
artistic work as adults, and
that the multi-cultural student
bodies of Queens schools
deserve to see themselves represented
on stage. World music,
dance, and international puppetry
theater – with artists touring
from Spain, Nova Scotia,
Quebec, Taiwan, and England
– make up the school field trip
and family performance series.
These programs serve students
across all of Queens, as well
as from Brooklyn, the Bronx,
Manhattan, Long Island, and
Connecticut.
Continuing its role as an arts
council, FTH currently provides
programs and services geared
to artists. Space Grants offer
free use of the facility to artists
in any discipline looking
to develop new work. Circus
artists, visual artists, musicians,
actors, and dancers have all
taken advantage of the Space
Grant. Other artist services
include professional development
for teaching artists, Jazz
Jams, live drawing, annual visual
arts members exhibitions, and
gift shop consignment opportunities.
Partnerships with organizations
large and small, such as
the Korean Traditional Heritage
Society, the Indo-American Arts
Council, Queens College, and
Carnegie Hall, among many
others, remain important. FTH
also serves the community as a
low-cost rental space, and many
local organizations hold cultural
programs at Flushing Town Hall
– plus rentals for weddings, parties,
and meetings.
Community leaders continue
to step up, including Emily Lin,
Principal of Lin + Associates, a
major architectural practice in
the tri-state area. Ms. Lin has
given back to the community
through the Lin & Loveall foundation
and her community service
with organizations such as
the Queens Botanical Garden,
Garden of Hope, and the QEDC.
Lin will be presented the second
annual “Howard Graf
Award for Creative Design &
Architecture” at Flushing Town
Hall’s 40th anniversary gala on
June 6, 2019, along with Claire
Shulman, who will be given
the first annual “Jo-Ann Jones
Award for Devoted Leadership.”
*****
In addition to maintaining
its popular jazz programs
and increasing performing
and visual arts programs featuring
cultural traditions from
China, Korea, Latin America,
South Asia, and more, Flushing
Town Hall has developed new
cross-cultural programs, in an
effort to bring diverse audiences
together.
FTH’s vision for the future
is exemplified by “Global
Mashups,” which have taken the
cross-cultural approach to a new
level: the music series brings
together two bands representing
widely different cultural traditions
for one night of joyous
wonder. Each band offers a
dance lesson to warm the audience
up, then each performs
solo, and then both bands jam
together in a third set – finding
common ground and making
new discoveries. Mashups have
included “India meets Brazil,”
“Japan meets Puerto Rico,” “Haiti
meets China,” “Korea meets
Greece,” and “Balkan Punk meets
West Africa.”
“When you have bands that
are from totally different geographies,
it brings an audience
in from all different parts of the
world, creating a communal
space that I relate to… it’s the
kind of world that I want to live
in,” said Mark Marczyk of the
Lemon Bucket Orkestra. “That’s
exactly what we are aiming for,”
says Kodadek, “We’re trying to
show the world how people from
widely different backgrounds
can relate to each other by sharing
culture. Queens itself has
become a global mashup, and
we’re embracing that as we move
toward our next 40 years. If
Jo-Ann Jones were here today,
she’d be proud of how far we’ve
taken her original vision.”
For a schedule of events, membership
and sponsorship opportunities,
visit www.flushingtownhall.org.
Global Mashup Audience Quote
Indian dance residency
Anne makes up Rafiki for a CASA performance
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