#Newsflash | Local talent shines at art show in Bayside
BY QEDC It's In Queens
It’s time to check out some beautiful items in a castle.
The Bayside Historical Society (BHS) will host an opening reception for its Winter Art Show on Sunday, Jan. 14, at 2 pm. The pieces will then be on display at the nonprofit group’s headquarters – The Castle in Fort Totten Park – until Jan. 28.
Now in its 17th year, the annual exhibition will feature a variety of work by Queens-based artists. Attendees can expect to peruse many genres, styles, sizes, and media, but paintings (acrylic, oil, pastel, watercolor), drawings, mixed media, photography, and maybe even a few sculptures (stone, metal, ceramic) will dominate the scene.
The free reception will include a gallery talk, an awards ceremony, and refreshments on Jan. 14.
Then the exhibition will be open to public on Thursdays and Fridays from 10 am to 4 pm and on Saturdays and Sundays from noon until 4 pm until Jan. 28. Admission is $5, and part of the proceeds from the sold artwork will support BHS.
Not into art? BHS has a fascinating story and an even more fascinating home in Fort Totten Park, which was an active Army base from 1857 until 1995. Founded in 1964, the group maintains two landmarked properties and advocates for the preservation and protection of historical spots in Northeast Queens.
One property is the former Fort Totten Park Officer’s Club, which is currently referred to as “The Castle.” Built in 1887 in the Gothic Revival style, the mansion served as a mess hall and club for the United States Army Corps of Engineers. (Address: 208 Totten Ave. on the park’s grounds.)
The other site is Lawrence Cemetery, which Dutch New Amsterdam Governor Willem Keift granted to the eponymous family in 1645. Located in a wooded area at the corner of 216th Street and 42nd Avenue, the graveyard is the final resting place of Cornelius Van Wyck Lawrence, mayor of New York City from 1834 to 1837, and others.
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Images: Bayside Historical Society