32 MAY 20, 2021 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Outdoor art exhibit returns in Kew Gardens
with colorful, hopeful and interactive artwork
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
CMOHAMED@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@QNS
Amy Handy, an artist and freelance book
editor, was excited to hear that the Kew
Gardens outdoor art exhibition was returning
for another show this year featuring
local artists in the community.
For this year’s show, Handy’s creation is a
painting on canvas with small sound objects that
was printed onto a large vinyl banner accompanied
by a piece of poetry that can be seen in the
“Kew Gardens Streets: Where Art and Poetry Met”
exhibition on the Lefferts Boulevard bridge and
between Austin and Grenfell streets.
“Having the art up on those facades really does
help to add some color and life to the community,”
Handy said. “Wherever art can be displayed in
the community, it gives people something to look
at and think about.”
Handy is one of 33 local artists to participate
in the multimedia exhibition which incorporates
images, words and sound to engage and delight
residents and passersby. The street banner project,
which also includes works from 16 children,
opened on April 25, and will remain in place for
the remainder of 2021.
The project is sponsored by a New York City
Council grant awarded by Councilwoman Karen
Koslowitz to the Kew Gardens Council for Recreation
and the Arts. The show is a follow-up to the
first banner show, “Here, There and Everywhere:
Art in Kew Gardens,” which was born in July 2020
during the COVID-19 pandemic.
It was a time of loss, separation, anxiety,
fear and economic stress when many shops on
Lefferts Boulevard and Grenfell Street in Kew
Gardens were shuttered or vacant, and residents
could not gather to enjoy the community’s annual
art activities, according to project coordinators
Carol Lacks and Tony Mavilia, of the Kew Gardens
Council for Recreation in the Arts.
Every year, Mavilia and Lacks would organize
an art event in Kew Gardens bringing together
friends and families, but when the pandemic hit
and people were in quarantine, they began to
think about what they can do to promote art and
give residents something to look forward to in
the community.
Together, Lacks and Mavilia came up with the
idea of displaying public artwork on abandoned
shop fronts and disused fences and gates in the
neighborhood’s business area. Oil and acrylic
on canvas, lithography, sculpture, watercolor
on paper, photography and computer-generated
imagery were on display in the show. Styles
ranged from almost photographic realism to
highly abstract photography with many stops
in between: realism, impressionism, primitivism,
photo collage and fantasy.
“That was our first time and it was really popular,”
Mavilia said. “We said it would be a summer
show and when we were going to take it down in
September, people in the community told us to
not take it down.”
Lacks, whose artwork is also featured in the
exhibition, said the first project — featuring a
range of professional artists and homemakers
who like to make art — had a tremendous impact
on the residents.
The Street Banner Project is a follow-up to the fi rst banner show, “Here, There and Everywhere:
Art in Kew Gardens,” that was born in July 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Courtesy of Carol Lacks
“Emotional places were depicted that people can
go to — the beach, boating, nature, ice cream parlors,
the Catskills,” Lacks said. “Everyday things
that people are familiar with were depicted in
the exhibit.”
When the Kew Gardens Council for Recreation
and the Arts received another grant for the following
year, Mavilia and Lacks thought about
how they could do the show again, but in a different
way.
For the second project, Lacks and Mavilia were
interested in color, introspection, hope, legacy,
nature and reflection.
“This time we enlisted artists and poets and we
asked the artists to submit work, but to also think
about poetry that would resonate with their
work,” Mavilia said. “We also created QR codes
printed on the banner so that people could listen
to the music and poetry on their phones.”
The kids’ artwork is hung on lower fences
along the street, while the banners are hung on
the storefronts. According to Mavilia, they have
been receiving positive feedback from residents
about the banners.
“They enjoy it and find it uplifting — some
people find it calming or consoling. They also say
that it makes the neighborhood look more alive,
and not an abandoned neighborhood,” Mavilia
said. “Sometimes we will walk by and see people
taking selfies in front of the banners, and it’s just
great to see it.”
Although the outdoor exhibition has been
a success, Lacks said they are unsure about
whether they will continue hanging the artwork
in the future, due to the fact that stores could
possibly be rented.
“It’s really up in the air to what’s going up in the
world and what’s going on in Metropolitan Avenue,”
Lacks said. “We are hopeful that the stores
are rented, because it means the community is
back and growing, and people wouldn’t need the
comfort of the banners as much also.”
According to Brad Marshall, who has been a
working artist his entire life, many artists suffered
a great deal in the past year losing their
livelihood. For this year’s outdoor exhibition,
Marshall’s painting — the skybridge that was
disabled by Madison Park — is accompanied by
a song lyric from “Don’t Wait Too Long” by Irving
Berlin.
“You couldn’t perform and for visual artists
like me, no one could go into the galleries,” Marshall
said. “Sometimes people react, saying why
are you spending money on art? But then again,
when people bypass public art, it makes the environment
so much better. It’s important to have
artwork around to support artists.”
Kew Gardens artist Brad Marshall and his oil on
canvas painting, “Sky Bridge.”
Courtesy of Marshall
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