Flushing Town Hall's Summer Lineup Keeps Audiences Entertained

Flushing Town Hall has unveiled an all-new lineup of virtual programming for audiences to enjoy from the safety of home this July and August. All you need is a good internet connection and a comfy couch (or backyard or front stoop)!

“We love our artists and audiences and can’t wait to welcome everyone back, but until our doors open again, we are proud to continue providing online programs that educate and entertain,” says Executive & Artistic Director Ellen Kodadek. “Our global community has experienced great hardship this year. As a service to the public, we are offering the majority of our virtual content free of charge. The arts uplift our spirits in dark times and remind us that we are not alone. Join us online and be part of our global community!”

Upcoming, free programs through FTH at Home! will include Facebook watch parties featuring Flushing Town Hall’s wildly popular 2018 Global Mashups, streaming weekly on Tuesday evenings starting July 28. World music fans can tune in for a diverse lineup of incredible bands together on stage in unusual combinations, like Egypt meets Haiti and The Balkans meet El Barrio.

On July 18 and 19, audiences can tune in to Concert for Cuba, for which Flushing Town Hall is a co-presenter and social media partner hosting a Facebook watch party. The concert features Orquesta Aragón, Susana Baca, Jane Bunnett and Danae Olano, Los Van Van, and Arturo O’Farrill, among many other great performers, as well as notable speakers, including Michael Moore, Danny Glover, and Congresswoman Barbara Lee.

On August 6 and August 13, in collaboration with Queens Council on the Arts’ Artist Commissioning Program, Flushing Town Hall will present two virtual showcases of works in progress. The first is Jaime Sunwoo’s “Specially Processed American Me,” featuring SPAM, the famous canned meat, in a surreal performance that explores the artist’s Asian American upbringing and her family’s experience of the Korean War. The second work in progress will be Marcus Yi’s “Lucky 88 The Food Court Musical,” inspired by the food courts of Flushing. Both completed works will premier this fall as part of FTH at Home!. Both works, selected by a group of art commissioners who are community members of Flushing, tell untold stories that highlight underrepresented protagonists.

Fans of Flushing Town Hall’s monthly Louis Armstrong Legacy Jazz Jam can look forward to its return on August 12. Up to 20 musicians may register to play (or sing!) in the virtual jam session held over Zoom, and all members of the public may watch in the audience. For participants selecting their tunes, the theme for August’s jam will be “unity.”

Also this summer, FTH Teaching Artists will participate in the #ArtsAreEssential social media campaign, a citywide effort to advocate for the arts, and for artists, amidst the pandemic.
“The arts sector is vital to our city’s mental, physical, and economic recovery,” says Gabrielle M. Hamilton, Director of Education and Public Programs, “and arts educators are uniquely equipped to help our children process their trauma, build resiliency, and rekindle their innate joy and curiosity. Flushing Town Hall’s master teaching artists from around the world support students with cross-cultural programming that helps unify our community.”

Beginning this month and continuing through September, Flushing Town Hall will share across its social channels a series of one-minute #ArtsAreEssential videos in English, Mandarin, Korean, and Spanish. In these videos, FTH Teaching Artists explore why “arts are essential” to them with engaging music, dance, visual arts, theater and puppetry activities. Each video is supported with complementary activities and worksheets to engage learners of all ages.

For those looking for more formal instruction, Flushing Town Hall is excited to offer its first-ever Virtual World Dance Camp, the only program for which it is charging a fee. Participants can register for introductory classes in traditional Indian dance, Mexican dance, Chinese dance, and American jazz dance, each offering daily, hour-long sessions for the span of one week, with separate groups for Children (age 12 and under), and Teens & Adults. Classes begin July 13 and run through August 7 and participants can register for however many they choose.

In addition to its virtual programming, Flushing Town Hall has launched a physical art exhibition, Call & Response: Grief, Resiliency and Hope, to showcase artwork submissions from the public along its Northern Boulevard fence outside the venue. New Yorkers are invited to create artworks for hanging that reflect this defining moment in time and that give expression to their experiences of the COVID19 pandemic, racial injustice, and the Black Lives Matter movement. Amateur artists and professionals are invited to hang their artwork directly onto the fence or submit images of their art by email. For specifications and instructions, visit: http://www.flushingtownhall.org/call-and-response.

Finally, Flushing Town Hall will continue to host its weekly Zoom Artist Hang for Queens artists of all disciplines on Fridays at 5:00 PM.

Flushing Town Hall’s facilities are temporarily closed to the public in accordance with COVID-19 safety regulations. Flushing Town Hall’s latest statement pertaining to COVID-19 can be found here.