Courtesy of Flushing Town Hall
By MOHAMED FARGHALY
mfarghaly@queensledger.com
Flushing Town Hall (FTH) is leading an exciting new initiative, backed by funding from
the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA), to craft a dynamic Cultural Map of
Queens. This project aims to capture and celebrate the borough’s rich tapestry of arts
and culture, offering a deeper look at the creative energy that pulses through its diverse
communities.
The Queens Cultural Mapping Project, launched in May 2024, aims to highlight the
diverse artistic contributions of the borough while addressing the unique challenges
faced by local artists and organizations. The initiative includes conducting interviews with
artists, cultural organizers, and social leaders to understand both their successes and
struggles, as well as their needs for additional resources.
“We were invited by the New York State Council on the Arts, NYSCA, to be a partner for
this program,” said Dan Bamba, Director of Arts Services at Flushing Town Hall. “The
goal of this was to learn more about the Queen’s arts and culture community in terms of
their successes, but also the challenges they’re encountering while working in the
borough.”
To date, the FTH Arts Services team, led by Community Coordinator’s Natalie Bedon
and Amara Thomas, have conducted over 100 one-on-one interviews with individuals
from all disciplines of the arts across Queens. These conversations aim to uncover not
only the experiences of artists but also the ways in which they overcome obstacles.
“We’ve been conducting a series of one-on-one interviews with artists, cultural
organizers, social leaders in the borough,” Bedon said. “We’ve met with over 100 people
since May. The plan is to have [the map] by June.”
A central component of the project is the creation of a digital map that will showcase the
physical locations of arts and cultural spaces across Queens. The map, which is
expected to be live by June 2025, will serve as a dynamic resource for artists,
organizations, and the public. In addition to the map, a comprehensive report will be
developed to address the broader trends and challenges identified during the research
phase.
Bamba explained that the mapping effort is not just about gathering data but about
telling the stories of Queens’ artistic community.
“Our hope is that this map can really bring a lot of visibility to different areas of Queens,
there is so much happening here,” Bamba said. “We hope that funders and other
organizations that are supporting the arts in Queens can take a look and maybe help
them support our borough a little bit better.”
Many artists have expressed the need for more physical spaces to host events,
performances, and exhibitions. Bedon highlighted that a lack of affordable venues for
presenting work is one of the most common challenges faced by local creators. She also
pointed to the financial difficulties that many organizations encounter, especially those
seeking funding to sustain their operations.
“Two top challenges that people have brought to the table are just the lack of spaces,
one to present work, and also just to have events and meetings,” Bedon said. “A lot of
the work is really lonely, that artists and arts organizations feel that they’re working really
in silos.”
In their interviews, the team has encountered a wide range of creative solutions to these
challenges. Bedon noted that some artists have transformed their living spaces into
galleries, while others have turned their studios into after-school programs for local
youth. Many individuals and groups have invested their own resources to create spaces
that benefit their communities.
As the project continues, it will also explore disparities in access to resources across
different neighborhoods. Bamba and Bedon both acknowledged that some areas, like
Southeast Queens and the Rockaways, face more barriers than neighborhoods like
Long Island City, which is often seen as a cultural hotspot in the borough.
While the Cultural Map of Queens project is scheduled to be completed by June, both
Bamba and Bedon emphasized that it will be an ongoing resource. The map will remain
a living document, with opportunities for new organizations and artists to be added as
the project progresses.
“The plan is for it to be a living resource that, when we’re finally able to release it online,
there will be an opportunity for people that aren’t in the initial version of the map to
submit their information to be included in the map,” Bamba said. “That’s our plan for this
map, that even after this first year was done, it should continue on to be this resource for
the for the borough moving forward.”
Bamba hopes that the project will not only benefit Queens but also serve as a model for
other boroughs in New York City.
For now, FTH is still collecting data from local organizations and artists through meetings
and surveys, and they are open to additional feedback through the end of April 2025.
“I think there’s so many people that are doing incredible work in Queens that is really
necessary for the communities that live here, and just necessary to keep communities
thriving and connected to their culture and their heritage, to continue to support youth
like growing in our communities,” Bedon said. “You know, as a Queen’s kid myself,
growing up here, there was not a lot of arts and cultural programming, and I did have to
go to Manhattan to try to find that. So, it’s really nice to be able to see that there’s so
much happening here and that kids who are growing up today might not have to leave
their borough to participate in museum programming, or any kind of like arts
administration, like internships or things like that, or just learning from people who have
a lot to share.”
Artists, cultural organizations, and community members interested in participating in the
project or contributing information can contact Flushing Town Hall for further details. For
more information, visit Flushing Town Hall’s website at flushingtownhall.org.
“Honestly it really is just being able to tell our story and celebrate what we’re doing in
Queens, but also highlight what we’re looking for as this is what the arts community in
Queens is looking for in terms of support, and we hope that funders and other
organizations that are supporting the arts in Queens can take a look at that and maybe
help them support our borough a little bit better too,” Bamba said.
