24 times • MARCH 31, 2016 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.qns.com 34 The Courier sun • MARCH 31, 2016 for breaking news visit www.qns.com Victoria’s Secrets Dynamic $1500 off Lumineers $500 off Invisalign DENTAL WORK FREE WHITENING INcLuDED THE INVISIBLE WAY TO SOmE ExcLuSIONS AppLY STRAIGHTEN TEETH Third Generation Dentist 175-15 Jamaica avenue, Jamaica 718-297-4100 • 718-297-4106 Being Thanked Life for me is like a giant spider web - connecting me to new people and enhancing life as it grows. This is what happened when I went to China a few months ago with the Chinese american Hotel association and Chamber of Commerce. One of the leaders of the trip to beijing, shanghai, guangzhou and shenzhen was Charles wang who lives in Flushing. He knew I serve on the board of the Queens Museum and thought I’d like to meet his friend, world-recognized, Guangzhou-based artist wenji Zhang. Delightedly, when we arrived in that city, I accepted his invitation. The bonus was that she and I had another connection -- Wenji recently donated 40 sculptures to Queensboro Community College, creating a sculpture garden on its grounds. To add to the connections, she is being honored by Queensboro Community College President Diane Call on April 7 at my favorite Queens catering hall, terrace on the Park, for her substantial donation. While I was in Guangzhou, I had the opportunity to visit her studio in the suburbs along a riverbank. I saw her studio and gallery and how she creates her work. Her remarkable talents span from painting to sculpture to furniture and screens, as well as silk scarves and ceramic bracelets, making hers a unique body of work that’s been featured at museums around the world. The college’s unique art gallery is handsomely located on a hill overlooking the main campus is the 1920s Oakland Building, the former clubhouse for the Oakland Country Club that was renovated in 2004. The gallery has earned a great reputation under the leadership of Faustino Quintanilla, its resident artist, curator and educator. Queens is enhanced by the gifts of the world-class Chinese artist and we are appropriately saying thanks for her generous donation. Join us in the celebration! Victoria Schneps-Yunis vschneps@gmail.com tweet me @vschneps “New Mankind- Flower 15” sculpture by Wenzhi Zhang in the Queensborough Community College sculpture garden Father Romeo, Sister Theresa and Daphne and Charles Chan after their baptism, with their godparents Rita and Frank Castagna Receiving the sacrament Artist Wenzhi Zhang with her wearable art of bracelet and scarf Adding to the spider web of connections found me in st. Mary’s Church in Manhasset on the eve of Easter for what the pastor called “the mother of all services”! Through my friend seth kupferberg, I had met Charles and Daphne Chan a few years ago. They are in the real estate business and he owns the Dragon brasserie restaurant in the sheraton Laguardia east Hotel. With a home on Long Island and a business in Queens, our paths have happily crossed, so when they decided to be baptized in the Catholic faith, I was delighted to attend the service. I have attended many funerals in Roman Catholic churches and have repeatedly been moved by the beautiful opera voices singing the hymns, and I was profoundly impressed again by the singers accompanying the holiday service Saturday night. But, the brightest star of the night, in a sanctuary filled with people holding sparkling candles, was the pure joy and love on the faces of Daphne and Charles and their godparents, rita and frank Castagna. Daphne had studied for 16 months to prepare for the conversion and I think she never stopped smiling through the three-hour service. May she continue to feel the joy of her new religion! for all the news 24 hours, 7 days a week go to www.timesnewsweekly.com
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