Press Corner

Jameco Exchange

JAMECO EXCHANGE

NEW YORK, N.Y., May 5, 2016: No Longer Empty (NLE) is pleased to present Jameco Exchange, a site-responsive exhibition and socially engaged education platform that revolves around the art of storytelling about a place: Jamaica, Queens. Located on 165th Street in the heart of downtown Jamaica–between the old trail and the former Beaver Pond–Jameco Exchange interweaves themes of commerce, movement, and travel, considering how objects and stories create resonant forms of communication and exchange.

Opening is Saturday, May 21, 12-6pm, with a performance by Hector Canonge at 2pm. The first live performance of Margaret Rose Vendryes’ African Diva will take place at 2pm. Thereafter, visitors are welcome to take the stage and get their own African Diva on!

Artists & Projects: Ibrahim Ahmed / Sol Aramendi / Kahiem Archer / Gabrielle Bendiner-Viani / Jane Benson / Hector Canonge / Carolina Caycedo / Stephanie Davis / Diego de la Vega Coffee Co-op (Gabriela Ceja + Fran Ilich) / Nicolás Dumit Estévez Raful / Nicholas Fraser / Rico Gatson / Kimsooja, Local Project / Azikiwe Mohammed / Odathrowback / Antonia A. Perez / Calo Rosa / Juana Valdes / Mary A. Valverde / Margaret Rose Vendryes / Ezra Wube.

An exhibition of work by Addam Yekutieli will be held at tattoo studio Think Before You Ink, with a response by owner, visual artist and tattoo arHillside Avenue, 2nd Fl., Thursday – Saturday, 12-8pm (closed July 4th).

Jameco Exchange will feature an exhibition of youth artwork curated by No Longer Empty’s teen curators from the Teens Curate Teens Program, and an educational hub for visitors of all ages. The educational hub will showcase NLE’s signature education programs, including No Longer Bored family art-making weekend workshops, and the Y.Dot Youth Docent Program. Through No Longer Empty’s educational programming, 26 high school students from Jamaica, Queens, are helping to curate the educational hub, and teach community members about the exhibition.

In conjunction with Jameco Exchange, No Longer Empty has organized Once Upon a Place, a public engagement series presenting an arts-based oral history model expanding upon panel and town hall formats. The series will include a panel discussion by local arts leaders who will share histories through the visual anthropology of object sharing, and three forms of public engagement arranged at the intersection of diverse audiences and everyday places. Reflecting on Jamaica’s identity as one of the world's most ethnically diverse places, and a multi-modal transportation hub, local participants will employ humanities and arts methodologies to interpret, analyze and represent neighborhood issues important to them, within the context of a larger dialogue about a moment of social change sweeping across Jamaica and New York City. Once Upon a Place is supported by a grant from the New York Council for the Humanities.

For exhibition updates and information about upcoming programs and events in collaboration with community and civic organizations, visit www.nolongerempty.org

Jameco Exchange is curated by Rachel Gugelberger. Education and public engagement projects are curated by Sara Guerrero, including the Community Advisory Council, work experience programs for teen curators and docents, an educational hub for all ages and social practice projects that engage education as an art form. This project is created with the ongoing assistance of PJ Gubatina Policarpio, Education and Public Engagement Fellow; Lo Ehrhart, Education and Public Engagement Intern; Juliana Steiner, Curatorial Intern; and Project Manager Sneha Ganguly.

In partnership with Jamaica Center Business Improvement District, Jameco Exchange is a recipient of a 2016 Neighborhood Challenge Award dedicated to strengthening neighborhoods through bold, creative, and replicable initiatives. This will be No Longer Empty’s second Neighborhood Challenge Award. This project is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and with generous support from NYC Department of Small Business Services, New York City Economic Development Corporation, The Malka Fund, the Wolf Kahn and Emily Mason Foundation, the Robert Lehman Foundation and Greater Jamaica Development Corporation.

Special thanks to the Community Advisory Council*, a network of community partners and experts who shared ideas, made recommendations and will make collective use of the project space and educational hub; Catinca Tabacaru Gallery; Instituto de Visión; Think Before You Ink, Ronald Feldman Fine Arts and Richard Hourahan at Queens Historical Society.

About No Longer Empty: No Longer Empty activates engagement with contemporary art through curated, community-responsive exhibitions and education programs that revive underutilized spaces. No Longer Empty fosters opportunities for artists to connect with the social and physical resources of a community and forges collaborations aimed to fortify social networks and contribute to the vibrancy of the city’s cultural ecosystem. Since 2009, NLE has presented over 25 exhibitions celebrating the rich histories of buildings and neighborhoods through cultural themes, commissions, and programming. www.nolongerempty.org

About Jamaica Center Business Improvement District: Founded in 1979, the Jamaica Center Business Improvement District seeks to make the Jamaica Center business district a thriving business hub and a destination to shop, work, live and visit. www.jamaicacenter.org

About New York City Department of Small Business Services: Since launching, Neighborhood Challenge has awarded 26 organizations nearly $1.7 million in grants for innovative projects including storefront improvements, district marketing campaigns, property and public space activations and public art installations in neighborhoods across all five boroughs. Neighborhood Challenge has also launched NeighborhoodChallenge.nyc, a new website to showcase current and past projects that serve as bold, creative and replicable case studies for communities across New York City.

*Community Advisory Council: Saiku Branch, Director of Afrikan Poetry Theatre; Kim McNeil Capers, Outreach Coordinator, Queens Library; Stephanie Davis, poet and Poetry Editor of Newtown Literary, and Queens Council on the Arts Jamaica Arts Leaders 2015-16 Program Fellow; Sherese Francis, poet, writer, Blogger of FuturisticallyAncient.com; Heng-Gil Han, Director & Curator, Jamaica Flux; Cathy Hung, Director of Jamaica Center for Arts & Learning; Simone Jhingoor, Co-Founder Jahajee Sisters; Brandon Lee, artist and Teaching Artist at Children’s Museum of Art; Rejin Leys, Visual Artist and Queens Council on the Arts Jamaica Arts Leaders 2015-16 Program Fellow; Monica O. Montgomery, Director of Lewis Latimer Historic House; Tunisia Morrison, independent curator and Founder of VOYCE; Odathrowback, visual artist and carpenter; Richard Parker, visual artist and owner of Think Before You Ink; Prerana Reddy, Director of Public Events, Queens Museum; and Kenrick Ross, Director, Indo-Caribbean Alliance.

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