Flushing Arts and Culture

Flushing Town Hall
137-35 Northern Boulevard
Flushing, NY 11354
Interview with Deputy Director Marialaura Leslie

Flushing Town Hall, since its founding in 1862, has always served to bring people together, whether it be soldiers, doctors, criminals, or civilians. Now, with its largely Asian, mainly Chinese and Korean, surrounding population, Flushing Town Hall serves as a cultural center.  Reflective of its community, Flushing Town Hall plays a big role in the Lunar New Year Celebration in Flushing. Lanterns, alternating between Chinese and Korean characters, are hung outside the building. But most importantly, the mission of Flushing Town Hall is not to represent the dominant culture, but to equalize and bring together all cultures. Even with the predominantly Asian neighborhood, only 1/3 of their programming is Asian. “As a cultural center, we are and should be the civic space for cultural dialogue, where the community can come together and share cultural beliefs, learn from each other, and hopefully, reach a better understanding. I feel that’s what our role is and should be,” explains Deputy Director Marialaura Leslie. Flushing Town Hall contains a 300-seat theater and a large gallery for art exhibitions, visual arts performances, particularly for jazz, dance, theater, and puppetry, music performances, and other diverse offerings.

It is also currently taking part in the Queens Jazz Trail, a tour people can go on to trace the roots of jazz, because Queens is the home of jazz. Many jazz legends lived in the Queens-Flushing area (Louis Armstrong was buried in Flushing). Children go on field trips there to take calligraphy classes, puppet-making workshops, and lantern-making workshops with various artists. Performances for schools during the day bring in world class theater groups and musicians. Theater and dance classes are offered, as well as a tai chi series. Community groups of all backgrounds rent out the theater to express their culture. The gift shop sells items that reflect Asian cultures as well as Brazilian, African, Turkish, Spanish. Flushing Town Hall is all about programming cultural diversity and offering cultural opportunities. 

Arts are needed for culture- that’s how people connect. If Flushing Town Hall did not exist, there would be a big loss because Town Hall is where people participate in an active setting, making them a better kind of citizen. It is also an important resource for first and second-generation immigrant parents to culturally connect their children. The sole existence and livelihood of Flushing Town Hall displays cultural cooperation, which is only growing in Flushing.

New York Institute of Culture and the Arts
41-75 Bowne Street
Flushing, NY 11355
Interview with Director Dr. Hsing-Lih Chou

The New York Institute of Culture and the Arts faithfully dedicates itself to the same purpose as Flushing Town Hall: to bring together differing people, cultures and ideas, through the arts. However, Flushing Town Hall incorporates various cultures, including Chinese culture, with equal amounts into its programming. Diversity is fairly represented across the whole spectrum. Its audience is not only the Chinese, but the general public, regardless of language or culture. New York Institute of Culture and the Arts, on the other hand, operates in Chinese (Mandarin Chinese) with the majority of its staff members being Chinese immigrants. Thus, their audience is mostly Chinese-speaking people. Their purpose, then, is more about introducing the Chinese to diverse cultures instead of introducing other cultures to the Chinese culture, or generally showcasing all cultures in a general way like Flushing Town Hall.

The founder of the New York Institute of Culture and the Arts, Dr. Chou is also a very involved member at Flushing Town Hall. “Arts is the basis of cultural harmony and cohesiveness,” he says, when asked about the motive behind his work. As Director, he organizes an annual arts show for the whole of Flushing. The show used to be called “Annual Asian Showcase”. It was exclusively Asian- the program just included Chinese dances and performances. This year, the name changed to “Annual Dance Showcase”, expanded to include Japanese and Korean drum dances and traditional plays, and Hawaiian, Hindu, Indian, and other diverse performances. Many of Dr. Chou’s performances also take place in the neighboring Hindu Temple, and he says they are very good friends. “Arts is a universal language. Even if you can’t understand the song, the unfamiliarity draws you in, garners interest. Without an audience, there can be no arts! So the more diverse your program, the more audience, the more success and harmony,” explains Dr. Chou.

A recent point of conflict has been over the Lunar New Year celebration. For the Lunar New Year Celebration and parade, there has always been contention between the Chinese and Korean community. The Chinese started the celebration in Flushing, calling it the “Chinese New Year Celebration”, even though the celebration actually included all who celebrated the lunar new year, including Koreans. The Koreans, however, refused to take part because of the misleading celebration name and the Chinese culture dominance. Recently, both community groups have reached some sort of agreement, such as the name “Lunar New Year Celebration” being used in a more widespread manner. Even though the Chinese and Korean marching groups eventually split towards their own ways at the end of the parade, cooperation is in its developing stages. The Flushing Town Hall’s alternating lanterns also demonstrate this.