FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.couriersun.com may 28, 2015 • THE COURIER SUN 3 Former New York Knick Anthony Mason honored by Merrick Academy in Springfield Gardens BY ANTHONY GIUDICE agiudice@ridgewoodtimes.com @A_GiudiceReport Merrick Academy in Springfield Gardens honored New York Knicks star and Queens native Anthony Mason by dedicating its basketball court in his memory on May 20. The court will now forever be known as “Mason’s Court.” Mason was born and raised in Springfield Gardens before making it to the NBA to play for his hometown team, the New York Knicks. Earlier this year, Mason died of a heart attack at the age of 48. Before Merrick Academy became Queens’ first charter school, the gymnasium Photo by Anthony Giudice Anthony Mason’s family and teammate join representatives from Merrick Academy to dedicate the school’s basketball court in honor of Mason. Jamaica to welcome artists with free residencies BY ANGELA MATUA editorial@queenscourier.com @QueensCourier In keeping with their mission to become a one-stop shop for artists, the Jamaica Center for Arts & Learning (JCAL) is partnering with Exploring the Metropolis (EtM) to provide free workspace residencies for choreographer-composer duos. EtM, the only New York Citybased nonprofit focused exclusively on workspace issues for the performing arts, has created a new program in partnership with JCAL to address these problems. “We are extremely excited to partner with EtM in this pilot program for Queens artists,” said Cathy Hung, JCAL’s executive director. “It aligns with JCAL’s founding vision to serve artists, especially emerging Queens artists. This program also expands our residencies program from visual art, dance, to music.” The EtM Choreographer + Composer Residencies will provide 120 hours of free rehearsal space to four choreographer and composer teams at JCAL, and the winners will also receive a stipend. The teams will have access to three months of free rehearsal space beginning in September 2015. Though the residencies are for teams collaborating on new work, the application process is also open to choreographers working alone. At the end of the residency, artists will perform a free public program at JCAL or the Jamaica Center for the Performing Arts. This opportunity is a result of the Queens Workspace Initiative, a project conducted to help ensure that the performing arts offerings in Queens are thriving, according to EtM Executive Director David Johnston. The nonprofit surveyed performing artists and cultural facilities and held focus groups to gauge the needs of performing artists in Queens and to learn if local facilities were meeting those needs. “We discovered from the study that Jamaica had a lot of resources that weren’t really being maximized as far as space for artists,” Johnston said. According to the report, Queens has approximately 96 nonprofit performing arts spaces compared to 274 in Brooklyn and 2,721 in Manhattan. Queens’ city-owned cultural institutions receive the lowest amount of per capita arts funding. The report found that Jamaica is the best neighborhood in Queens to engage artists because the increased funding in public transportation improvements and underutilized residential spaces provide easy access to performing arts organizations and artists. Applications are due July 1 and Johnston said that a panel of judges will begin to look over the applications in August. EtM has decided to give preference to Queens artists and is seeking people with a wide range of genres in dance, people with expertise in music and overall artistic merit. According to Johnston, the Mertz Gilmore Foundation has pledged to provide multiyear funding for this program so that it can continue to exist for at least two rounds. belonged to a church in the neighborhood where Mason spent his youth shooting hoops. “Anthony Mason was a member of this community, and it’s wonderful to be a part of some communities that are producing great people who have achieved a lot in life,” said Gerald Karikari, chairman of the board of trustees for Merrick Academy. “While he was taken away from us too soon, we want to honor his spirit because we want you to know that if you play basketball on this court, you too can do anything you want.” Mason’s family and former teammate on the Knicks, John Starks, were present at the ceremony to honor Mason’s memory. “This is only fitting that this court will be named after him, in this community,” Starks said. “Anthony came from this same community that a lot of you guys come from and he learned, just like you guys learn. And he was able to reach his goals and his dreams through school,” Starks told the students in the gym. Mason’s son, Anthony Mason Jr., spoke to the children about his father and following their dreams. “When you come in here and you see this gym, and you see Anthony Mason’s name, let it inspire you,” Mason Jr. said. “So when you see that name, know that your dreams will come true, and can come true, through hard work and being dedicated.” After the ceremony, both of Anthony Mason’s sons, Anthony Jr. and Antoine, took the ceremonial first shots on the court, followed by some shooting by Starks and the children who were in the gymnasium. Photo Courtesy of Jamaica Center for Arts & Learning JCAL and EtM will be providing free artists residencies from September to November to choreographer and composer teams.
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