A Milestone Panel discussion - Contemporary Art and the Community

A Milestone Panel discussion - Contemporary Art and the Community

February 16, 2007 2:00pm

--Recorded by Luchia Lee (Curator) 

Kenneth E. Howell(Editor)

There was a milestone panel discussion held at the Amerasia Bank Gallery, Flushing, Queens, NY on the subject of “Contemporary Art in the Community.” The panel discussion was organized by Luchia Meihua Lee, a Taiwanese American art curator; she invited Tom Finkelpearl, Executive Director of the Queens Museum of Art, as moderator who joined with Flushing area community developers such as F & T group president, Michael Meyer, and Chief Architecture, Albert Chen. Others who participated in the discussion included Amy Winter, the director of Godwin-Ternbach Museum, Queens College; Yi Miao Huang, the Director of Taiwan Center; Roger McClannan, Trustee of Snug Harbor Cultural Center. Persons who attended and participated in the discussion included Daisy Rosenblum, New York Foundation for the Art; Joan Gauer, Asian Americans for Equality; Korea Village; and Lucy Davison, Flushing town Hall, Gary Shapiro from New York Sun, Stephen Stirling from time Ledger, and the artist included Yang Chin Chih, Hai Zhang, YoYo Xiao, Jon D’razio, Jeff Liao, and Chee Wang NG, Lin Shih Pao, Quan Han Dong, Zhang Hong Tu, Cui Fei, Yu Shi Chao.

As background, organizer: Luchia Meihua Lee writes:

The Flushing area has been growing very rapidly in population, as well as in business and commercial activity. Although the art scene has awakened and is vigorous in Flushing, the art most commonly shown is traditional in style. Many of these early groups of traditional artists still exist in various corners of the community. But it is disconnected from the main arena of New York City art (to be found in Manhattan and Brooklyn) which has long been the center of the international art world. Not only is there no professional contemporary art space in Flushing, but also the exhibitions presented in the area have been far from what they should be. But far from lacking any presence in contemporary art, Queens has been the temporary home of MOMA, and the permanent site of PS1, which has become an internationally renowned alternative space.

While Queens is the most diverse county in the entire country, Flushing’s growth has not been broadly based. Indeed, its commercial district is packed with restaurants and small vendors. Some of the local art galleries have been run by corporations or banks, such as Crystal Gallery, the Amerasia Bank Gallery, and World Journal Gallery. But none of them has been able to provide serious professional art. In contrast, in Brooklyn and Manhattan there are many more cultural activities. The Queens Museum of Art, the Godwin-Ternabch Museum at Queens College and the QCC Gallery are the art venues closest to Flushing; but because transportation to them is inconvenient, Flushing residents rarely visit these sites. In this panel discussion, we would like to investigate this situation and discuss future directions. This panel will bring together art historians, community developers, architects, non profit Asian organizations, providers of public space in Flushing, and artists to discuss methods to give Flushing a world class image and also link it with the contemporary art scene.

The panel discussion topics are cover: Change in the Flushing community and its residents, The advancement of art in the community, Contemporary art in Flushing

Will contemporary artists survive in Flushing? Will alternative spaces and contemporary art come to Flushing? The possibility of expelling exoticism? Concern about the landscape of the community, Dilemma: business or contemporary art.

The proceedings started when Luchia Lee, curator of Beyond Measure and organizer of the panel discussion, wished everyone a Happy New Year and introducing Jimmy Tsai, general manager of the Amerasia Bank.

Jimmy welcomed everyone and said that the bank was glad to help bring art to the community by providing space for free at the Amerasia Bank Gallery.

Luchia then introduced Tom Finkelpearl, Executive Director of the Queens Museum of Art and moderator of the panel discussion.  Tom pointed out that the best discussions involve disagreement and asked people to be frank and informal.  He then invited the panelists to introduce themselves.

Michael Mayer explained the development plans of the F&T Group, which include using art to attract people to their buildings, most notably Queens Crossing at the intersection of 39^th Avenue and Main Street.

Since Michael pointed out that he would need to leave after 15 minutes, Tom immediately posed the following question to him:

How do you intend to address the challenge of changing the tone of Flushing?  Michael replied that 13 years earlier he had started a similar project with Miami Beach.  At that time, Miami Beach was depressed and there were no national retailers there, nor an art presence.  What Miami Beach did have, like Flushing now, was abundant street life.  Artists led a renaissance in Miami Beach

 Tom pointed out that something like that happened in Soho, which was first popularized by artists but now is far too expensive for artists and galleries.  Tom said that there is a popular misconception that artists were the victims when the neighborhood became more expensive, but that really it was the poor who were shunted aside, not the artists.

Michael pointed out that affordable housing was only one aspect of keeping New York within reach of the middle class, and that it was a larger political issue.

Amy Winter pointed out that Soho had already lost its economic base before its transformation – contrary to the situation in Flushing.

Tom pointed out another difference – Queens in general, and Flushing in particular, can boast a very strong middle class.

Tom then went on to ask:  what art the fundamental challenges in integrating art and the community?

Huang Yi Miao said that it is difficult to get people to visit the Taiwan Center to see what is going on there.

Tom said that while some openings at the Queens Museum had been very successful, it had been difficult getting people to return.  Roger said that this was his impression as well.

Huang Yi then posed a sharper question:  How could non-Taiwanese be induced to visit the Taiwan Center?

Amy said that Queens College is an enclave unto itself, isolated by poor public transportation.

Tom commented that the spoke system of transportation makes it easier to get from any point in Queens to Manhattan than it does between two points in Queens.

Tom pointed out that the reason the Queens Museum is expanding is that the average museum visit is three hours, and the Queens Museum must be a substantial enough destination to attract visitors.

Having discussed the challenges of transforming Flushing, Tom moved on to ask about Flushing’s greatest advantage.

With the departure of Michael Meyer, Albert Chen now represented F&T.  He responded that Flushing had the opportunity to bring art to the people.

Hai Zhang said that artists who cannot show in Manhattan go to Queens to find alternative places to show their art.  But he was surprised that at the Queens Museum one doesn’t find people from Queens.

Chee said that outreach is very important.

Tom said that 50% of immigrants had arrived in the last 10 years, so turnover is very great and it is a challenge to appeal to the very newest immigrants.

Chee drew the distinction between high and low art.

Tom disagreed about the importance of this distinction, preferring to focus on different tastes.  As an example of non-elitist catering to one taste, he talked about QMA’s reaching out to Corona to gather recipes, pass them by a nutritionist, and collect them in a book of recipes.

Amy said that Albert’s idea of developers bring art to the community is not only feasible but also commendable.

Albert replied that the presence of art will improve his stores, but that he is not “selling” art.  He commented that although F&T had tried for a full year, they had been unable to attract major tenants because of the character of Flushing.

Amy pointed out that it should be considered “showcasing” art, not selling it.

Albert said that there were two approaches in putting art into a building
            - install pure art, where the art takes precedence, and

- lure people into the building with art.

Tom said that the second approach, which is what has been implemented with a public space at the Pompidou Center in Paris, is what QMA will do.

Tom returned to Albert’s plaint that he had been unable to lure Barnes & Noble as an anchor for the development at Queens Crossing.  Tom asked if anybody really wanted Barnes & Noble in Flushing anyway.  The response to his question was mixed.

Jon D’Orazio commented that Flushing is all commerce and has no open spaces.  His proposed solution was satellite museums, which also solve the difficulties of poor public transportation.

Albert said that art is intimately linked with life, for example art tells the best way to eat, to drink, and so on.

Huang Yi Miao said that May is Asian month.  Taiwan Center will visit public schools to introduce Asian art.  In doing this, it would be easy to mention other art venues in Queens.

Tom thoughtfully mentioned that there is a moral dimension to outreach programs.  For example, QMA’s outreach program in Corona drew many visitors from Manhattan, who may have decided that Corona is a convenient place to live, thus hastening Corona’s gentrification.

Tom also explained the 1.5 generation show that QMA is doing next summer.  He said that QMA is operating on the assumption that members of the 1.5 generation – those who immigrated here when they were in their early teens – would be much more likely to visit the museum than first generation immigrants.  When he asked the audience if they agreed with this assumption, he got a mixed response.

Some said that the 1.5 generation would be more likely to visit; some said that it depended on the programming, not the generation; some said it would make no difference; and Albert said that everybody should be welcome.

The discussion then moved to how the various art institutions in Queens could cooperate.  As an example of the lack of cooperation, Tom asked how many people in the room had been to the Louis Armstong house.  No hands went up.

But many people felt that it would be a good thing for the various art venues in Queens to work together.  He suggested that it would be important to foster relationships between groups, and that these would strengthen the community.

Daisy Rosenblum asked if artists feel they belong to a community, since NYFA is interested in fostering such community.  Perhaps because none of the artists present live in Flushing, the response was minimal.

Tom held up as a model for all Queens art institutions the Queens Public Library.  He said that the Flushing branch is the most heavily used branch library in the entire US.  It is free, it has good and varied programming, it has an ideal location, and it has good architecture.  He said that QMA would host a branch of the Queens Public Library after it remodeled.

Tom was discussing the number of visitors to the Queens Museum of Art, and he wanted to attract both visitors from other boroughs and also members of the neighboring communities.

Hai Zhang pointed out that it might be difficult to appeal to both of these groups with the same programming.  For example, if artists create works with the local community in mind and QMA displays them, more sophisticated visitors from outside the area might find them provincial.  Conversely, an exhibit catering to the international art world might have no relevance to the local communities.

Tom replied that this is a very deep question and confessed that he worries about this dilemma.  But he says that he tries to have it both ways by displaying art that at the same time is meaningful for both audiences.  As an example, he gave Jeff Liao's photographic work centered about the #7 train.  While the quality of the work was admired by all, visitors from Corona who were in QMA to view the Mexican exhibit could also identify individuals in Jeff's photos.

(Hai Zhang question to Tom, that on one side, the artists should be doing things for the community where they rooted, and Tom as the director of the museum probably should be happy that the things he is exhibiting do attract the people from the local communities.  But on the other hand, maybe (not always) the exhibition seems not to fit the people from other communities such as the ones from Manhattan or such on, even seems ridiculous.  What is Tom’s priority and how to deal with this complicit?   He pointed out that when Manhattanites visited QMA and saw art relevant to the community, they returned to Manhattan and reported that QMA showed nothing but junk.

Tom allowed that this was a very deep comment, and that he tried to have it both ways – showing good art that was relevant to the community.  As an example, he gave Jeff Liao’s photographic exhibition on the 7 train, which accompanied an exhibit of Mexican art.  Many of those from Corona who visited QMA for the Mexican art saw Jeff’s photographs and recognized individuals therein.)

Fu Chia Wen said that much of the discussion centered on art institutions and artists, however this was insufficient.  She said that most people don't like art, don't think they like art, don't live art, and don't think they can make art.  But art is all around us.  Taking contemporary art to the community must reach beyond museums.

She continued that:

1) The traditional approach has been to look for ways for museums to draw more visitors and for artists to create works that appeal more to the community.

2) A newer and better approach is community-centered art, in which the people as a whole are the artist, not an individual.

For example, is graffiti community-centered art?

Fu said that it is vital to identify the most important activities in the community and give them an artistic context. She suggested that community centers might come to replace museums.

Addressing the issue of  Contemporary Art and Community, we need to established a mind set for doing community-centered art/projects instead of artist-centered or institution-centered ideas. It is a basic concept for artists and institutions to come up with projects. Museums and artists can still play a role to create ideas to go beyond the 'white wall' of the museum to reach the heart of the community. I believe quite a few museum have already been doing this including Queens Art Museum and Bronx Art Museum ...etc."

Four people came from the Korean Village Open Center. The owner mentioned to organizer Luchia Lee that he was impressed by this panel discussion. He himself is a developer, but had only thought about business and making money. When he looks at the landscape of downtown Flushing, he worries that real culture and art is mostly replaced by commercial activity. He echoed some of the other panelists in saying that this is the time to work together in culture and art, without regard to racial divisions. He hopes this is the start, and another forum along these lines will soon follow.

--Recorded by Luchia Lee (Curator)  Kenneth E. Howell(Editor)