Flushing Town Hall Experiences Theft of Artwork

Several dozen pieces of artwork were stolen this past weekend from an outdoor exhibition that allowed New Yorkers to express their thoughts and feelings about COVID-19, Black Lives Matter, and this moment in history.

“We are incredibly saddened by the removal of these pieces of art," said Flushing Town Hall Executive and Artistic Director Ellen Kodadek. "These were created by the community and are for the community, to give people a canvas to channel their feelings of pain, of hope, and of trauma about all that we are going through this year."

She added, "We had proudly displayed this artwork from children, novice and accomplished artists along Northern Boulevard so that the community could express the range of emotions we are all experiencing this year. We have reached out to our nearby Police Precinct. In the meantime, we will once again restore some pieces of art from images sent to us by artists, and we encourage people from Flushing, from Queens, and from New York City and beyond to contribute new pieces to make up for this loss. We, like New York, are resilient and the need for shared expressions of grief, resiliency and hope are more important than ever.”

Since early summer, Flushing Town Hall has allowed professional and novice artists to express their feelings and process grief, anger or gratitude while connecting with the Queens community through this outdoor exhibition displayed on the institution’s fence on Northern Boulevard. The exhibition will be up until Friday, October 16.

To date, more than two dozen pieces– both writings and artwork, and illustrating everything from anxiety to hope - had been contributed to the exhibition, most created by residents of Queens. Artwork has honored those we have lost due to COVID-19, those we have lost as a result of racial or social injustice and expressed other feelings about 2020.

You can learn about the initiative at http://www.flushingtownhall.org/call-and-response.

If people want to participate, they can go to Flushing Town Hall and hang their artwork directly on the Flushing Town Hall fence. Artwork of all mediums, from all ages and abilities is welcomed. Please consider the following:

· Work can be up to 27”x 39” inches on paper, fabric or ribbon.

· After you complete your work, write your name on your piece (if you like), punch a hole in the artwork at the top, and tie a string through it.

· If your artwork is very big, you can tape it to the fence with masking tape

· Artwork will be exposed to the elements and will not be protected from the weather.

· Artwork will not be returned.

· Artwork may be photographed and shared online through a virtual exhibition, unless specifically note by the artists on the back of the artwork.

· Flushing Town Hall reserves the right to remove any artwork that use hate speech, profanity or obscenity, depicts violence, sexual acts or unlawful or illegal behavior.

If participants cannot travel to Flushing Town Hall to hang artwork, they are invited to take a photo or scan of artwork and message, and email scans to education@flushingtownhall.org. Flushing Town Hall staff will print a copy of the work and hang it on our fence.

Flushing Town Hall continues to showcase individual pieces of the artwork on Flushing Town Hall’s Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter platforms, and on Flushing Town Hall’s Cultural Crossroads blog.