Flushing Town Hall Sets Summer Performances, Family Programs & More

Spend your summer at Flushing Town Hall, which is presenting a fun and dynamic lineup of performances and special events this coming season, providing global arts for a global community in Queens and beyond.

This July through early September, the venue will offer programs for a multigenerational audience, featuring everything from drumming under the moon and The Moth StorySLAM to family programming and an adult puppet show.

"This summer, we have something fun and fantastic for everyone at Flushing Town Hall: a chance to be amazed by our first-ever poetry and adult shadow puppet slams, dazzled by marionettes, and entranced by global performances," said Flushing Town Hall Executive and Artistic Director Ellen Kodadek. "We're also launching an appealing array of new projects, such as a summer-long workshop for artists who then can showcase their works in our Gallery. This summer is sizzling!"

This summer, audiences at Flushing Town Hall also will be able to share their memories of Queens and get family photos digitized for free as part of the Queens Public Library system's "Queens Memory" initiative. The Queens Memory team will scan photographs, postcards, and other memorabilia and save them to a thumb drive that visitors can take home. Queens Memory events will take place on July 19, and August 6, 7, and 18.

"Flushing Town Hall has an outstanding summer schedule planned and Queens Library's 'Memories of Migration' programs will make a great addition. We're inviting the public to bring their photos and mementos to be digitized, so we can preserve them for future scholars. Queens Library, Flushing Town Hall and the community will be making history together this summer," said Dennis M. Walcott, President and CEO, Queens Library.

Additionally, Flushing Town Hall is participating in Astoria Bank's initiative to collect school supplies for students. Audience members are encouraged to help local students whose families struggle to afford school supplies they need to perform well and excel in the classroom. Through August, people can bring new school supplies to Flushing Town Hall or Astoria Bank branches.

Summer Schedule:

Yoga in the Garden

MORNING SESSIONS: WED, JULY 6 & FRI, JULY 8; 9:30 AM

EVENING SESSION: FRI, JULY 8, 6:30 PM

$6/FREE for FTH & Yumcha Yoga Members

Practice yoga under the trees in Flushing Town Hall's garden. (Rain location: Gallery) Yoga practice will be led by teachers from Yumcha Yoga, Flushing's most interesting yoga studio. Bring your mats and pack your snack for a post-yoga picnic in the garden. Enjoy a friendly and interactive community musical performance after the evening yoga practice.

Poetry Slam!

THUR; JULY 7, AUG 4 & SEPT 1; 6 PM

$5/FREE for Members

Open mic for poets of all ages, free style rappers and emerging artists of all kinds. Hosted by poet and storyteller Bobby González.

Painting & Collage Workshop

SATURDAYS, JULY 9, 16, 23 & 30 (9:30 AM); AUG 6 (9 AM)

$160/$125 Members (all 5 sessions; materials included)

Painting and collage in a given theme can be challenging but Steve Palermo, a Queens artist and Flushing Town Hall Teaching Artist, will show you that you can paint and create collage. This 5-week series is for those who either want to renew a lost love for art or ignite their creativity. The program culminates with your artwork displayed in the Visual Arts Member's Exhibition, "World within a World," opening on August 7th.

Full Moon Drumming Workshops

TUE, JULY 19, 7 PM: Korean Drumming

THUR, AUG 18, 7 PM: Chinese Drumming

$25/$20 Members (per workshop)

Celebrate the Full Moon with a drum circle in Flushing Town Hall's garden with master drummers from Korea and China. Begin with workshops led by Song-Hee Lee, Senior Artist at the Korean Traditional Performing Arts Association on July19th, and Nan Bao, Director of the East Wind Percussion Music Academy on Aug. 18th; then jam with the entire group under the moon. Space is limited to 20 participants per workshop. Drums provided. All are welcome from beginner to professional, just bring your enthusiasm and participate!

The Moth StorySLAM: Neighborhood

MON, JULY 25, and MON, AUG 22; 8 PM

Tickets: $10

The Moth StorySLAM is open to anyone with a true story to share on the night's theme: Neighborhood (7/25) and Back to School (8/22). When the doors open, storyteller hopefuls put their names in The Moth Hat. A half hour later, names are picked, and storytellers take the stage. Each person has just five minutes! Ten featured stories are scored by teams of judges selected from the audience, which picks the StorySLAM winner. Your story may be heard on NPR. Sign up or just enjoy the show! Doors open at 7:30 PM and stories start at 8 PM.

39th Asian American International Film Festival (AAIFF)

TUE, JULY 26 - THUR, JULY 28, 6-11 PM

FREE

AAIFF is the first festival in the U.S. to showcase the film and video work by artists of the Asian Diaspora; 39 years later, the AAIFF has grown to include films and video from more than 30 countries, a variety of topical panels and workshops, industry mixers, staged reading, exclusive interviews, receptions and more. Check www.flushingtownhall.org for schedule details.

1st-Ever New York City Shadow Puppet Slam!

FRI, JULY 29, 7 PM

$10/$6 Members

A sampling of the best contemporary practitioners of the ancient art form of shadow puppetry, with multiple puppeteers exploring new and groundbreaking work - bringing together the luminous, the laughable, the shady, the digital and the ancient analog image in motion. For ADULT audiences. Interested in performing? Contact: chinesetheatreworks@gmail.com. Not a puppeteer? Come and marvel! Curated by Chinese Theatre Works' co-artistic directors, Kuang-Yu Fong and Stephen Kaplin.

The Cat Came Back: Stories and Songs with A Jazzy Twist

SAT, JULY 30, 10:30 AM

$13/$10 Members/$8 Children/$6 Member Children

Enjoy musician, storyteller and winner of a 2015 Parents' Choice Award and Flushing Town Hall Teaching Artist April Armstrong and her friends; Mario Sprouse on piano; and, Napoleon Revels-Bey on drums. In this family performance, April and her trio adds a new spin to some of our favorite folktales and nursery rhymes, including: Ananci and the Sky Chief's Daughter, Chicken 'Licken, Old Mother Hubbard's Blues, The Cat Came Back, and more! For ages 8 and under.

Visual Arts Member's Exhibition: World within a World

SUN, AUG 7 - SAT, AUG 20

OPENING RECEPTION: SUN, AUG 7, 2-4 PM

Gallery Hours: SAT & SUN, 12-5 PM

Suggested Admission: $5/FREE for Members & Students

Our annual Visual Arts Members' Exhibition explores the theme of multiple worlds. Artists are curious about the world around them, interpreting experiences and observations through their art, whether it's "their" world, the world of Flushing, and the spiritual, microscopic and "real" world. Most artworks are for sale; proceeds support our Visual Arts program.

SALON SATURDAY: SAT, AUG 13, 2 PM

FREE

Artists in any discipline are invited to share examples of their work in this fun and informal networking session. Come and meet our local artists! Facilitated by Flushing Council on Culture and the Arts Teaching Artist Steve Palermo. Refreshments are served.

Yuhan Su Jazz Quintet: Mythology

FRI, AUG 12, 8 PM

$16/$10 Members & Students

After the release of her second album A Room of One's Own, a native of Taiwan, NY based-vibraphonist Yuhan Su has written a new series of compositions inspired by Chinese Mythology Kua Fu, a giant who decided to chase & catch the Sun. DownBeat calls them, "Intelligence, sensitivity and a haunting sense of tenderness."

Make Your Own Wind Chime

SUN, AUG 14

2 PM - 3:30 PM (for families and kids over 7)

4 PM - 5:30 PM (for adults and artists)

$10/$5 Members & Children (per session)

Create musical Wind Chimes from found objects with Exploring the Metropolis Con Edison/Flushing Council on Culture and the Arts Composer-in-Residence and Wind Chime artist, Skip LaPlante. Some of Skip's imaginative wind chimes will be on display. Bring something special from home to attach to your wind chime (optional). Maximum 25 participants. Materials are provided.

Toshi Reagon

FRI, AUG 19, 7:30 PM

$16/10 Members

Toshi Reagon has been described as "a talented, versatile singer, songwriter and musician with a profound ear for sonic Americana-from folk to funk, from blues to rock" by critic/blogger Eva Yaa Asantewaa (InfiniteBody). "She masters each of these genres with vocal strategies that easily spiral and swoop from the expressively sinuous to the hard-charging, a combination of warmth and mischief."

Jack and the Beanstalk: Maritime Marionettes (Nova Scotia)

SAT, AUG 20, 10:30 AM & 2 PM

$13/$10 Members/$8 Children/$6 Member Children

Jack's incredible journey begins when he agrees to trade his cow for some magic beans. Maritime Marionettes from Nova Scotia retells the popular folktale that follows Jack's incredible journey from his humble cottage, up a giant beanstalk, to a castle in the sky. This lighthearted presentation features marionettes, shadow puppets, music, and storytelling. The story magically reminds us to appreciate what we have, and that it is how big we are on the inside that matters most of all. For ages 10 and under.

Benefit Brunch: Flushing Art & Antiques Auction

SUN, AUG 28, 11 AM - 4 PM

$45

Patrons of the culinary and fine arts won't want to miss this auction and brunch to benefit Flushing Town Hall. Enjoy an afternoon of exquisite food and drink while perusing exclusive offerings of art, jewelry, antiques, and memorabilia as you mingle in this Early Romanesque Revival building that was a focus of town functions from 1862 to 1900. Presented by New York Epicurean Events, this benefit will host a grand buffet and Bloody Mary bar.

The mission of Flushing Council on Culture and the Arts (FCCA) is to present multi-disciplinary global arts that engage and educate the global communities of Queens, New York and New York City, New York, in order to foster mutual appreciation. As advocates of arts equity since 1979, we support local, immigrant, national, and International Artists, developing partnerships and collaborations that enhance our efforts. As a member of New York City's Cultural Institutions Group (CIG), we serve as stewards of Flushing Town Hall, restoring, managing and programming the historic 1862 landmark on behalf of the City of New York. FCCA celebrates the history of Queens as the home of Jazz, by presenting the finest in Jazz performance. We are committed to arts education and hands-on learning, for the arts-curious, arts enthusiasts, and professional artists. We serve one of the most diverse communities in the world, and strive to uphold the legacy of inclusiveness that has defined our community since the Flushing Remonstrance of 1657.

For tickets and more information, visit www.flushingtownhall.org or call (718) 463-7700 x222.