#PickoftheWeek | More than 30 activities at two-day Backlot Art Festival
BY QEDC It's In Queens
Get ready for the Mother of all Block Parties!
The Backlot Art Festival (BAF) will sprout up in courtyards, galleries, offices, restaurants, stores, and public locations within Astoria’s Kaufman Arts District (KAD) this weekend (June 24-June 25).
More than 30 events — including live performances, a fashion show, screenings, exhibitions, installations, tours, and even a cocktail-making class – will take place in such venues as Kaufman Astoria Studios (KAS), Museum of the Moving Image (MoMI), Queens Council on the Arts (QCA), RaR Bar, The Astoria Bookshop, and Tacuba Cantina Mexicana. All activities are free, except for those at MoMI, which will offer two-for-one admission to the three Steven Spielberg films it will screen.
“[KAD] produces a tremendous amount of extraordinary work across the artistic spectrum—painting, sculpture, theater, dance and music,” stated KAS Vice President Tracy Capune. “[BAF] is a great way to showcase this talent and remind our local community to explore all that is happening here and to encourage visitors to check out this unique and vibrant neighborhood.”
Some BAF events are scheduled for one day; others will take place on both days. (Aspiring participants still have time to apply.) Here is the lineup, which is subject to change.
Saturday: Art Exhibition (KAS, all day); Art Installation (RaR Bar, all day); Live Wall Murals by Father Steve (38th Street and 34th and 35th avenues, all day); Oscar Requelme Exhibit (Café Treskel, all day); Self-Guided Street Art Walking Tour (all day); Temporary Art Show (Studio Nova, all day); Green Oasis Public Gardening Workshop (Studio Nova, all day); Pop-Up Art Gallery (QCA, noon to 5 pm); Local Designer Showcase (Lockwood Market, noon to 6 pm); Martial Arts Mania Screening (RaR Bar, noon to 5 pm); Open Field and Coffee Tasting (Upper 90, noon to 4 pm); Screening of Spielberg’s The Color Purple (MoMI, 1 pm); Wearable Art Show/Performance Art (MoMI, 2 pm to 5 pm); Family Media-Making Workshop (MoMI, noon to 4 pm); Screening of Spielberg’s Empire of the Sun (MoMI, 4 pm); Screening of Work by Astoria Filmmaker Keith Bearden (KAS, 6 pm); Live Music (The Astor Room, 6 pm to 10 pm); and The Art of Cocktail Making (Mars, 6 pm to 10 pm).
Sunday: Art Exhibit (KAS, all day); Art Installation (RaR Bar, all day); Live Wall Murals by Father Steve (38th Street and 34th and 35th avenues, all day); Oscar Requelme Exhibit (Café Treskel, all day); Self-Guided Street Art Walking Tour (all day); Temporary Art Show (Studio Nova, all day); Green Oasis Public Gardening Workshop (Studio Nova, all day); Local Designer Showcase (Lockwood Market, all day); Pop-Up Art Gallery (Queens Council on the Arts or QCA, noon to 5 pm); Open Field and Coffee Tasting (Upper 90, noon to 2 pm); Frank Sinatra School Student Art Installation (Aurora Gallery, noon to 5 pm); Pottery Workshop (RaR Bar, noon to 4 pm); Violinist and Astoria Resident Josh Modney (Nomad Cycle, 1 pm to 3 pm); Astoria Performing Arts Center Reading of New Play by Christopher Torres (Tacuba, 2 pm to 5 pm); Music Theory and Song Writing (Energea Music Production School, 2 pm to 5 pm); Screening of Spielberg’s Always (MoMI, 4 pm); Book Crafting (The Astoria Bookshop, 4 pm to 6 pm); and The Art of Cocktail Making (Mars, 5 pm to 6 pm).
Representing an area bounded by 31st Street, 34th Avenue, Steinway Street, and 37th Avenue, KAD is administered by such members as KAS, MoMI, QCA, RaR Bar. The entity received official city recognition in 2014.
Click here for a constantly updated schedule.
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Images: KAD