an Exhibition of Artworks by Queens College
Art Education Graduate Students
Community and Culture
In Partnership with Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning
Artwork: Ana Castro, Traffic, 2020.
This online exhibition is part of JCAL's Building Equity Project, funded in part by the New York Community Trust.
This class is a partnership between Queens College Secondary Education and Youth Services and the Queens College Art Department.
The artwork for the exhibition, Community and Culture, was based from a series of projects and field work that explored the notion of a community and how a place can be a site for amplifying art, community building, and self reflection.
Starting with Flushing, Queens as a model, the students explored its rich history beginning with the Flushing Remonstrance, a protest document for religious freedom, the connection to the Underground Railroad, and its current status as one of the most diverse neighborhoods in America. The students further engaged with Flushing by visiting its historical sites such as Bowne House, The Flushing Quaker House, Lewis Latimer House. It was not only to learn about Flushing’s history but to critically think about how to connect the current diverse community members to the site’s historical past.
As the students were turning the lens to their own community consisting of neighborhoods in Queens, Long Island, and Rockland County, the class was disrupted by COVID-19. It was as though the external circumstances forced us, individually and collectively, to redefine our definition of a community and our roles within it. It became a community that transcended physical space and time: the students' art addressed themes that expanded from family migration, language, historical site maps, and belonging.
What started as a continuation of the course’s theme on community and culture has since emerged as a timely and an important exercise on intimacy, care, and mindful reflection of one’s existence.
– Jamerry Kim, curator and instructor Queens College Graduate Art Education course: Community and Culture: Historical Perspectives in Art. (May 14, 2020)
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