Flushing Town Hall To Receive $60,000 Grant From The National Endowment For The Arts

National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Jane Chu has approved more than $80 million in grants as part of the NEA's second major funding announcement for fiscal year 2018. Included in this announcement is an Art Works grant of $60,000 to Flushing Town Hall for performing arts programming. The Art Works category is the NEA's largest funding category and supports projects that focus on the creation of art that meets the highest standards of excellence, public engagement with diverse and excellent art, lifelong learning in the arts, and/or the strengthening of communities through the arts.

"The variety and quality of these projects speaks to the wealth of creativity and diversity in our country," said NEA Chairman Jane Chu. "Through the work of organizations such as Flushing Town Hall in Queens, NEA funding invests in local communities, helping people celebrate the arts wherever they are."

"Flushing Town Hall is deeply grateful for the generous support of the National Endowment for the Arts," said Executive & Artistic Director Ellen Kodadek. "This grant will allow us to continue to bring global arts to a global community, and to provide a platform for diverse and talented local, immigrant, national, and International Artists."

The NEA funding will support 17 public performances, 10 school group performances, 13 workshops, and one pop-up exhibition, reaching approximately 6,000 audience members, including 2,500 school children. Approximately 140 artists will be served by the grant.

Flushing Town Hall's NEA project will examine the theme of "journeys" and the resulting changes they bring. This series of performing and arts education programs will include global music, dance, international children's theatre, and multidisciplinary family and school programs. The artists selected each have a unique expression of their home culture and the varied influences acquired through their journeys. The series celebrates the making of new connections alongside retaining things of value from one's origin. A few highlights from the series include:

• Inkarayku: Linking the past, present, and future of Andean arts, through the performance of indigenous music forms that have evolved into the contemporary mestizo music heard today.
• FEI Music: A Fusion Music Concert: Award-winning Feifei Yang leads this ensemble, an exciting meeting of Chinese folk instruments with western and popular music.
• Global Mashups Series: Five evenings, each featuring two dance lessons, two bands each with their own set, culminating in a third "jam" set. This year, Flushing Town Hall will look at specific examples of how cultures came together through migration and resulted in a new form, such as the emergence of the ukulele in Hawaiian music after its introduction by Portuguese sailors.

The theme of "journeys" will resonate with audiences in Queens, where a majority of residents have established new homes at the end of long journeys. The goals of the program are: to expose audiences to a wide range of cultures; to promote discussion among artists and audiences; to celebrate the heritage of our community and its people; and to bring people from different cultures together through the arts.

For more information on projects included in the NEA grant announcement, visit arts.gov/news.

Flushing Council on Culture and the Arts dba Flushing Town Hall is a not for profit organization which receives major support from the National Endowment for the Arts; New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature; New York State Assembly Member Ron Kim; New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, Mayor Bill de Blasio; Queens Borough President Melinda Katz; Council Members Adrienne Adams, Costa Constantinides, Daniel Dromm, Barry Grodenchik, Peter Koo, Karen Koslowitz, and Paul A. Vallone; and the Howard Gilman Foundation, the Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, and the Lily Auchincloss Foundation.

Support for our programs is also provided by Cathay Bank, Michael Cheng / Epos Development, Dr. Hsing-Lih Chou / New York Institute of Culture and the Arts, Con Edison, Crossings TV, Culture Center of TECO in New York, Exploring the Metropolis, Jim Henson Foundation, Kuang-Yu Fong, Barbara Garii, Heather Harrison, Raymond D. Jasen, Ellen Kodadek, Nelson Lee / Flushing Bank, James S. Liao, Emily Lin / Lin & Loveall Foundation, Anita Liu, Arthur Liu, Materials for the Arts, William McClure / Queens College, the NYC & Company Foundation, New York Community Bank Foundation, Northwell Health, Queens Courier, Roslyn Savings Bank, Paul Ru, Mike Sperendi & Jan Schneider, Tina Seligman, Vincent Toomey, Veronica Tsang, Tai Wang, Jay Wegman, Edwina & Eldwin Wong, Minwen Yang, and Hank Yeh.

This engagement of La Patronal is funded through Southern Exposure: Performing Arts of Latin America, a program of Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts.

This engagement of Rio Mira is funded through Southern Exposure: Performing Arts of Latin America, a program of Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts.

This engagement of Explosion Negra is funded through Southern Exposure: Performing Arts of Latin America, a program of Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts.

Flushing Town Hall (FTH) presents multi-disciplinary global arts that engage and educate the global communities of Queens and New York City, 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 to restore, manage and program the historic 1862 landmark on behalf of the City of New York. FTH 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.