Hoong Yee Krakauer, Executive Director of QCA. outside the new space at 5-11 47th Ave.
July 22, 2021 By Christian Murray
The Queens Council of the Arts announced the grand opening of its new multipurpose space in Long Island City Tuesday that is dedicated to supporting the arts community in Queens.
The new space, located at 5-11 47th Ave., opened earlier this month and features artist studios, a performance space and staff offices. The location is also being used to nurture and develop high school arts students who are looking to gain entrance into competitive art colleges.
“Queens’ artists have a new place to call home, a place where they will be recognized as being at the center of our community,” said Hoong Yee Krakauer, Executive Director of QCA.
“Our new location is designed to be inclusive, fully accessible, and welcoming to the different needs of artists in our diverse borough,” Krakauer added.
The QCA, a non-profit dedicated to fostering and developing Queens’ artists, was founded in 1966 and provides a diverse portfolio of funding, professional development and resources for Queens’ artists.
In the past year, QCA has directly served approximately 3,200 individual artists, 60 arts organizations, and an audience of nearly 550,000 throughout Queens.
The new location, which is on the ground floor of the Maximilian building in Long Island City, is viewed as being at the center of a vibrant local arts scene that is accessible by mass transit. The QCA had been located in an office building on Steinway Street in Astoria prior to the move.
“This is an incredible milestone for QCA, and symbolic of New York City’s reopening,” said Joe LoBello, Interim President of QCA Board of Trustees. “On behalf of our board, I want to thank our supporters and staff for their commitment in helping create this dedicated space for the amazing arts and culture community across the World’s Borough.”
High school students at the new space in Long Island City (Photo: courtesy of QCA)
