50 THE QUEENS COURIER • BUZZ • AUGUST 23, 2018 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
buzz
Celebrate
the arts in
Kew Gdns.
on Sept. 9
BY KATHERINE NERI
editorial@qns.com
@QNS
Kew Gardens will celebrate
on Sept. 9 its sixth annual
Community Arts Day, an
event that looks to recognize the
abundant diversity of artists in
Queens.
Guests can expect to fi nd the
Kew Gardens Outdoor Art Fair,
a show exhibiting a comprehensive
range of work from the contributing
artists, in the center of
the neighborhood. Th is professional
Kew Gardens art show is
open to everyone. Th e fair runs
from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the
corner of Leff erts Boulevard and
Austin Street.
Th ere will also be sidewalk
chalk artists that children are
encouraged to join. Attendees
will also enjoy demonstrations
by multicultural artists at many
of the Outdoor Art Fair tables,
which will showcase how art is
infl uenced by culture.
Th e event will be comprised of
talented Queens painters, potters,
photographers, illustrators,
jewelry artists, glassmakers and
fi ber artists.
At 1 p.m., the Kew Gardens
Musicians, a group made up
of multiple musical genres, will
perform live in the Kew Gardens
Cinemas Park. Th en, at 3 p.m.,
there will be a Poetry Open Mic
on the New Homestead patio for
guests to both join and enjoy.
Additionally, Kew & Willow
Books on Leff erts Boulevard will
host a Japanese bookbinding
class, and guests can also take
in an intergenerational fence
art exhibit — created by Kew
Gardens’ senior citizens and
children — on Grenfell Street.
Th ere will also be a potter’s
wheel demonstration at Th e
Potter’s Wheel on 83rd Avenue
and fun activities at the art
tables, completed with a “Silly
Selfi e Station.”
Kew Gardens has a rich history
dating all the way back to
the 19th century when it was
acquired and declared to be a
planned garden community.
Th e project was offi cially completed
in 1950 and remains a
valuable part of the Queens
community.
For more information on the
festival, visit kewgardensarts.
com.
Lawmaker goes to Forest Hills riding facility to
help nonprofi t reach out with local veterans
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
edavenport@qns.com / @QNS
State Senator Joseph Addabbo recently paid
a visit to a Forest Hills horse riding organization
to learn more about their services and
help them connect with local veterans.
GallopNYC, located at 88-03 70th Rd.,
specializes in helping children and adults
who have developmental, physical, emotional
and social challenges overcome their
disabilities through horseback riding.
In addition to teaching participants
how to ride a horse, the trained staff at
GallopNYC helps the riders develop a bond
with the horse and learn life skills through
therapeutic horsemanship.
“When I visited the Forest Hills stable,
I saw fi rsthand the amazing work that
GallopNYC does,” Addabbo said. “I saw
children and adults excited to get on their
horse and take it for a spin around the stable.
I heard stories from volunteers about
how GallopNYC helped them overcome
their issues with physical ailments like multiple
sclerosis.”
GallopNYC also assists veterans who are
suff ering from PTSD and other ailments.
Aft er speaking to Nicole Cicogna, the executive
director of GallopNYC, about how he
can assist the organization grow, Addabbo
agreed to help them expand their presence
in the veteran community.
Addabbo, who currently is the ranking
member of the Senate Veterans, Homeland
Senator Joseph Addabbo, Nicole Cicogna, Motion the horse, Sol Reischer (Board Member) and James
Wilson (Director of Operations).
Security and Military Aff airs Committee,
invited GallopNYC to speak at his annual
Veterans Barbecue on Sept. 29.
“When I heard that GallopNYC works
with veterans and helps them deal with the
stresses of life aft er service, I was immediately
interested,” Addabbo said. “Helping
Photo courtesy of the offi ce of Senator Joseph Addabbo
the men and women who put their lives on
the line to protect our freedoms is something
I look to do every day, and hearing
about the innovative ways that GallopNYC
helps our veterans was fantastic.”
For more information about GallopNYC,
visit gallopnyc.org.
Jackson Heights musician’s one-day show highlights homeless children’s voices
BY JENNA BAGCAL
jbagcal@qns.com
@jenna_bagcal
A Jackson Heights musician and educator
will debut a program next month that recognizes
the actual voices of homeless children
in New York City.
Landon Knoblock conceived “A Voice for
the Voiceless” over the course of a year and
it will be presented at the Queens Th eatre in
Corona (14 United Nations Ave. South) on
Friday, Sept. 14 at 7 p.m.
Th e show features a set of 10 to 12 songs
that last about an hour long, according to
Knoblock, who currently composes music
for fi lm and television and runs a private
music teaching studio. Aft erward, there will
be a short Q & A session where the audience
will get an opportunity to learn more about
the show.
“We had over 15 children participate in
the music making sessions. Some of these
children wrote poetry, others participated in
conversations, and still, others just had fun
on the microphone. Most of the students
were Queens residents, but some of them
oft en transitioned between boroughs, from
Brooklyn, moving through Queens, into the
Bronx, and maybe back.”
Knoblock said that as a relatively new
Jackson Heights resident, he wanted to fi nd
a way to “engage with and give back” to his
community through music and education.
He fi rst became interested in the topic of
homelessness aft er reading reports of the rising
rate of homelessness and housing instability
among Queens’ public school children,
including the lesser-known topics of shelter
accessibility, doubling up and transitory
housing.
“When reading what our elected offi cials
were saying, what papers were writing, I felt
like I never heard from the children themselves.
I wanted to fi nd a way to give these
children a voice through music. More specifi
cally, I felt I could create music with their
voices, through recordings of their voices.
Th ese recordings would be the basis of the
songs and could share their thoughts, feelings,
and stories.”
Knoblock was awarded a commission
from the Queens Council on the Arts (QCA)
Artist Commissioning Program, allowing
him to carry out the project. With the help of
QCA art producers, he was able to connect
with organizations that were engaged with
the homeless community and pitched the
idea of hosting creative music-making sessions
for children in their programs.
“I took these recordings of their voices
and began composing music around them.
Sometimes I would deconstruct the voices to
create new sounds,” said Knoblock. “Other
times, a student would be inspired to write
a poem, which I would set to music. Leading
up to the performance, I will be working with
a band, rehearsing the music and exploring
creative ways to perform the voice samples.
Some of the students will even perform their
poetry with the band at the concert.”
He added that oft entimes, the children
that he worked with, especially those in
high school, were inspired by his “Voice for
the Voiceless” project and wanted to pursue
careers in art, architecture or poetry that
would allow them to give back to the community.
Ultimately, Knoblock wants the audience
to be aware of the children’s situation and
come away from the show with a “renewed
compassion” for them. He added that he
hopes that the music challenges listeners to
“reconsider how they defi ne homelessness.”
“Th ey attend public school right next to
students from stable homes. Th ey look and
sound exactly the same, he said. “Th eir predicament
is made even more drastic by the
fact that they do not have control over their
situation, have no voice in the community
and political system, and oft en have no adult
advocate to protect them. We can engage
with and support public schools and community
organizations that address this population
of children, and better give them an
opportunity to grow beyond their current
situation.”
Visit queenscouncilarts.org/calendar/
landon-knoblock to RSVP to the show.
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