#PickoftheWeek | Celebrate Italian-Queens Culture with Art, History + Music
BY QEDC It's In Queens
Volare, cantare and that’s amore!
Queens Historical Society celebrates Italy, its culture and history, and the Italian-American experience via a live YouTube event on Sunday, Oct. 25, from 7 pm to 9 pm. The fun includes art, discussions, music, language exploration, and an online sale.
City Council Member Paul Vallone, whose last name translates as “Valley,” kicks off the festivities with a discussion on Italian-American contributions to the United States. (He might mention his grandfather, Charles J. Vallone, an immigrant who became a Queens County Civil Court judge and the namesake for P.S. 85 in Astoria.)
QHS Curator Daniela Addamo, whose parents hail from Sicily, is on the schedule to present a mini-lecture on the history of Italian immigration to Queens, followed by a discussion with linguists from the Endangered Languages Alliance on Sicilian and Neapolitan dialects.
Long Island City-based painter Clare Stokolosa gives the keynote presentation before leading an online sale of her pieces with 20 percent of the proceeds going to QHS. She specializes in landscapes, bridges, fields of flowers and other scenes in a wide palette of colors. In keeping with the event, Stokolosa is – what else? – Italian! She stated: “I will share how growing up in Queens, my Italian American roots, and spending time in Italy has inspired my paintings.”
Click here for a pre-sale look at the art.
At other times, classical jazz saxophonist Alex Madeline, a Berklee College of Music graduate who also studied at the Versailles Conservatory, provides a musical intermezzo along with students from the Landrum School of Performing Arts. Italian Heritage & Culture Committee President & Chairman Joseph Sciame and La Scuola d’Italia Director Maria Palandra make guest appearances.
Admission is $10. A link to the streaming event will go to those who register.
Editor’s note: Event sponsors include Glendale’s Comitato Trinacria Alcamo Castellammare Del Golfo Santa Ninfa, Glendale’s Circolo Santa Margherita di Belice, and La Lampara Associazione Culturale Siciliana Inc. in Forest Hills.
Images: Clare Stokolosa