QMAil: May 2008

In this ISSUE:

EXHIBITIONS: OPENING: The Real Pepsi Challenge: Breaking the Color Barrier in American Business | "This Case of Conscience": Spiritual Flushing and the Remonstrance | CLOSING: Back on the Map: Revisiting the New York State Pavilion at the 1964/65 World's Fair | CLOSING: Anthony Auerbach, Empire State Pavilion | 475 KENT Lives (QMA at the Bulova Corporate Center)

EVENTS: MetLife Foundation presents First Sundays for Families: Junior Collector's Day with Inspector Collector | Farewell to Shea Stadium Screening | "This Case of Conscience" Opening Reception for "This Case of Conscience" and The Real Pepsi Challenge | CINEMAROSA's 4th Anniversary Celebration | IN OUR LINGO: Dialogues between Latino authors | Poets in the Galleries-Season 2 Kick-Off | Festival of Ecuadorian Film in the United States | FOR SENIORS

QMA INFORMATION: Permanent Exhibitions | Special Announcements | Learning Programs & Workshops | Programming for New New Yorkers | Language Programs | Adult Programs | Credits | Subscribe to QMAil

May masthead: Kim Badawi, Islam in Flushing Queens: Young boy during day-time school, 2000. Color photograph, 13 x 19 in. Courtesy of the artist.

CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

The Real Pepsi Challenge: Breaking the Color Barrier in American Business

May 18 - July 27, 2008

Years before the official Civil Rights Movement galvanized countless Americans, the Pepsi Corporation boldly took steps to integrate corporate America from as early as 1940. Based on Stephanie Capparell's groundbreaking book, THE REAL PEPSI CHALLENGE: The Inspirational Story of Breaking the Color Barrier in American Business, (Wall Street Journal Books/Free Press) this exhibit showcases the plight of some of the first African-Americans to hold professional corporate jobs in this country. Pepsi-Cola CEO Walter S. Mack headed the call of the black leadership of the day and hired an all-black sales team to sell his cola to American blacks. To pull the first sales team together-two men and a woman-for his then-fledgling business, he hired a black sales manager and invented the concept of the business internship as we know it today.

Pepsi's black sales team members were traveling salesmen in the time of Jim Crow segregation laws, which forced them to sit at the back of buses, travel in separate train cabins, eat behind screens on trains, and find hotels and restaurants that would serve them. In its effort to exploit the untapped special market (some 30 years before niche marketing became a business staple), the team hired some of the first professional black models and designed some of the first advertisements to portray blacks as middle-class citizens enjoying the American Dream. In 1992, team member, Harvey C. Russell, became the first African-American promoted to vice-president in a major corporation. Today, in the new millennium, PepsiCo's female CEO is India-born Indra Nooyi.

The exhibit includes a variety of photographs from the private collections of special-markets team members; dozens of Pepsi black-media advertisements from the era; interview transcripts taken from close to 100 hours of voice interviews with seven surviving team members; pages from black weekly newspapers, photocopied from microfilm; and an array of color and black-and-white prints depicting corporate events, meetings and team members then and now.

The exhibition is based on the book, The Real Pepsi Challenge (Wall Street Journal Books/Free Press) by Stephanie Capparell.
THE REAL PEPSI CHALLENGE is supported by PepsiCo Inc.; the Queens Borough President, Helen Marshall; NYC Department of Cultural Affairs; Independence Community Bank Foundation; New York State Council on the Arts; Pinkerton Foundation; MetLife Foundation and individual contributions.

"This Case of Conscience": Spiritual Flushing and the Remonstrance

On view through June 29

In the new millennium, religion, its relation to the state and mutual respect are hot-button issues across the globe. In Flushing, Queens, this very conversation started 350 years ago with the Flushing Remonstrance. On view through June 29, "This Case of Conscience": Spiritual Flushing and the Remonstrance, explores the continued relevance of the historic document considered by many to be the precursor of the Bill of Rights within the vibrant and diverse neighborhood of Flushing. A document drafted and signed by 30 Flushing residents in 1657, the remonstrance to Governor Peter Stuyvesant denounced his persecution of the Quakers in Flushing and asserted liberty of conscience for adherents of all religions. The original document, on loan from the New York State Archive, will be showcased at the QMA where it will serve as a jumping off point for artistic examinations of contemporary spirituality.

In "This Case of Conscience": Spiritual Flushing and the Remonstrance, the QMA presents the work of nine artists and a salon style installation of photographs contributed by the public to bring the legacy of the Flushing Remonstrance to life. Five artists – Emmy Catedral, Takashi Horisaki, Sara Rahbar, José Ruiz, and Tattfoo Tan – were commissioned to create projects in partnership with or inspired by religious centers in Flushing while four photographers – Kim Badawi, Jenny Jozwiak, Stephanie Keith, and Scott Lewis – have captured the religious diversity of the Flushing community through their compelling works. A third key component of the exhibition is a salon-style installation of images depicting religious sites and celebrations in Flushing. An open call to photographers from all walks of life and religious persuasions has resulted in over 130 poignant images capturing the spiritual pulse of Queens including a Muslim street procession, a young girl resembling a Virgin Mary statuette and a man studying biblical text on his laptop.

R. Scott Hanson, Ph.D, a scholar of American religion, immigration and urban history, vividly showcases Flushing's religious legacy in 203 Places of Worship in Flushing (as of 2007), a color-coded map revealing a vast religious landscape. Hanson has also contributed an illustrated timeline that traces both religious and immigration-related events in the area spanning the mid-17th century to the present.

The Flushing Remonstrance is on loan from the New York State Archives, a program of the New York State Education Department.

"This Case of Conscience": Spiritual Flushing and the Remonstrance has been made possible with support from the Lily Auchincloss Foundation. Additional funding provided by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and New York State Council on the Arts. More information is available here.

Photo: Sara Rahbar, War, 2008. Mixed media chandelier, 84 in. tall, 60 in. diameter. Courtesy of the artist.

Back on the Map: Revisiting the New York State Pavilion at the 1964/65 World's Fair

FINAL DAYS: Closing, Sunday, May 4, 2008

The Texaco Road Map is the large-scale terrazzo art pavement commissioned for the New York State Pavilion. Designed by renowned American architect Philip Johnson for the 1964/65 World's Fair, the Pavilion is located in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, next door to the Queens Museum of Art (former home of the New York City Pavilion). Commissioned by Governor Nelson Rockefeller, the New York State Pavilion featured a complex of structures: a Theaterama building, three observation towers, and the "Tent of Tomorrow," a 12-story, open-air elliptical pavilion capped by the World's largest suspended cable system roof fitted with colored acrylic panels. For the floor of the "Tent of Tomorrow," Johnson commissioned the largest-known representation of any area of the earth's surface: a 130-foot-by-166-foot terrazzo replica of a Texaco New York State road map. A fusion of Pop Art imagery and traditional craft techniques, the map pavement was a crucial component of "The Tent of Tomorrow." In addition to the works of Pop artists Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol and others displayed on the exterior of the adjoining Theaterama, the Road Map helped solidify the Pavilion's status as a landmark of 60s avant-garde culture.

Built as a temporary structure for the Fair, the Texaco Road Map along with the Pavilion has suffered from over 30 years of weather exposure and vandalism. This year, however, the Map returns to the spotlight for a long-overdue comeback. Back on the Map aims to inform and engage the public about the significance of this historic gem. A culmination of conservation activities by the City of New York Department of Parks & Recreation in collaboration with the University of Pennsylvania School of Design Graduate Program in Historic Preservation, the exhibition at the Queens Museum of Art features restored sections of the Road Map and elaborate the project findings through text panels and an interactive web site. Visitors can also witness the restoration process up close as conservators restore portions of the Road Map in the Museum's galleries.

Back on the Map is supported by The National Endowment for the Arts, The Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, and the School of Design, University of Pennsylvania.

Anthony Auerbach, Empire State Pavilion

FINAL DAYS: Closing, Sunday, May 4, 2008

Anthony Auerbach's installation Empire State Pavilion reflects on one of the most memorable features of the 1964-1965 World's Fair. Like the New York City Pavilion (now home to the Queens Museum of Art), which housed the "Panorama of the City of New York," the New York State Pavilion contained a miniature representation of the whole state in the form of a giant road map inlaid in the terrazzo floor. While the Panorama has been preserved and updated over the years, the terrazzo map became derelict and overgrown.

Adopting techniques of aerial photography-as used by geologists, archaeologists, cartographers and spies-the artist documented the entire surface of the terrazzo map from a height of seven feet. The survey resulted in some 2,500 detailed images of a map in the process of reverting to a landscape. Auerbach's current installation invites the viewer to look-inspect and decipher the material preserved in the artist's photographic archive. The installation comprises 3 works configuring the archive material in different ways: Emperor Panorama, 2007, consisting of 6 light-tables and a stereoscope that magnifies the road map, The State of New York, 2006, a fake projection of the interior of the NYS Pavilion showing the survey in process, and an untitled video projection showing the antique city-states and former colonial capitals such as Troy, Athens and Rome which can be found upstate.

The project speculates on how history is recorded-in traces and inscriptions-and how it is erased. As Auerbach suggests, "The map is memorable because it remained after the rest of the Fair was demolished. Exposed, shattered by frost and colonized by plants, the map marked the time and prompted feelings for the past. Ironically, the first thing the conservators did was sweep away nearly all the history which my survey recorded."

Anthony Auerbach is supported in part by the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs and New York State Council on the Arts.

On view at the QMA at the Bulova Corporate Center: 475 KENT Lives

On view through July 13, 2008

On a cold January evening, residents of 475 Kent Avenue, artist lofts and studios on the south waterfront of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, were evacuated from their home by the FDNY. A thriving arts community, 475 Kent Avenue is home to over 200 artists, curators, musicians and other creative professionals who are at the heart of the city's creative pulse.
475 KENT Lives, a group exhibition of 23 artists at the Bulova Corporate Center (a Satellite Gallery of the Queens Museum of Art) celebrates the vital contributions of these artists as they battle to return to their homes and workplaces while calling attention to the increasing vulnerability of New York's creative communities. 475 KENT Lives, organized by independent curator Kòan-Jeff Baysa, and coordinated by artist Lisa Mordhorst (both 475 Kent residents) and the Queens Museum of Art, opens April 9 at the QMA Gallery at the Bulova Coporate Center in Jackson Heights, Queens.

Participating artists:
Kanoa Baysa, Lee Boroson, Jennifer Byxbee, Melissa Clarke, Jeremy Dean, Alison Dell, Emma Dewing, Asa Elzén, GGrippo, Kirsten Hassenfeld, Hollis Jeffcoat, Vibeke Jensen, Betsy Kelleher, Simon Lee, Deborah Masters, McDavid Moore, Lisa Mordhorst, Cecilia Rodhe, Eve Sussman, Rob Swainston, Shimpei Takeda, Michael Weintrob and Markus Wetzel.

475 KENT Lives is made possible by Blumenfeld Development, Ltd.

SPECIAL EVENTS

Presents First Sundays for Families at QMA: Junior Collector's Day with Inspector Collector

Sunday, May 4, 1 - 4:30 pm

Sponsored by MetLife Foundation, First Sundays for Families at the QMA are designed to engage participants of all ages in a fun and unique array of free, family-friendly activities on the first Sunday of every month. Participants will travel back in time to the 1939 and 1964 World's Fair by working with the QMA's impressive permanent collection of World's Fair artifacts. Families will create their own model pavilions and time capsules with iconic examples of people, places, and things that capture the spirit of 2008. We will also reproduce the festive atmosphere of a World's Fair with popcorn machines.
All activities are offered to the public free of charge, including free admission to the museum. Free trolley service to and from the Shea Stadium subway station is available from noon - 5 pm making trips every 15 minutes.

Farewell to Shea Stadium Screening of Mathematically Alive

Saturday, May 10, 5 - 7 pm

Mathematically Alive (Joseph Coburn and Katherine Foronjy, USA, 2007, 90 min)
With 2008 being the final season for Shea Stadium in anticipation of CitiField, QMA offers New York Mets fans an opportunity to relive the rollercoaster ride of emotions through the 2006 playoffs. Mathematically Alive explores why sports are such an integral part of American culture and why fans invest so much emotion, time, and money into their team. Followed by Q&A with the Directors.

Opening Reception for "This Case of Conscience" and The Real Pepsi Challenge

Sunday, May 18, 3 - 6 pm

3 - 4 pm: R. Scott Hanson, Lecturer at Temple University and author of City of Gods: Religious Freedom, Immigration and Pluralism in Flushing, Queens: New York City, 1945-2001 (under review with Oxford University Press), will present an illustrated talk on the history of Flushing and how America's experiment with religious pluralism continues today.
4 - 5 pm: Gallery walkthrough led by QMA's Acting Director of Exhibitions Hitomi Iwasaki with the five artists commissioned for "This Case of Conscience".
5 - 6 pm: Gallery walkthrough of The Real Pepsi Challenge with curator Stephanie Capparell.
Light Refreshments will be served.

CINEMAROSA - queens only queer film series presents 4TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION

Sunday, May 18, 3 - 6 pm

Celebrate CINEMAROSA's 4th Anniversary of Queer film programming with a cocktail and retro Latin-pop tunes by Fresa Salvaje. We hope to see you there. Dress "rosa" and win an infamous CINEMAROSA T-shirt.

In The Fire (Dante Alencastre, Peru, 2007, 35 min)
Transgender people from Lima, Peru open up their lives and hearts to tell stories of fear, courage and discrimination in a homophobic society.

Easy Not (Juan Rubio, USA, 2007, 13 min)
Chronicles female impersonators working at a Sunday brunch spot in the fashionable neighborhood of Adams Morgan in Washington D.C.

Two Men in Shoulder Stan (Paul Knox, USA, 2006, 20 min)
On a beach in South India, a male couple, Sarath and Hassan-one HIV positive and one negative-do yoga together as a means of maintaining health in the absence of medical treatments.

Weeki Wachee Girls (Kim Cummings,USA, 2000, 22 min)
15-year-old best friends Katie and Maura dream of becoming mermaids. Everything changes when Katie discovers Maura kissing another girl.

Laundromat (Edward Gunawan, USA, 2007, 12 min)
A romantic “dram-edy” about a young gay couple who, after a chance encounter with an older man, realize that little things mean nothing and everything when it comes to love.

Just (David Maurice Gil, USA, 2007, 12 min)
A tale of a post-sexual encounter between two strangers who met online. As the two men learn more about each other, they discover that a casual hook-up is anything but meaningful.

CINEMAROSA - queens only queer film series - the independent film initiative created in 2004 by New Media Artist, Hector Canonge, holds its monthly LGBT screening programs at QMA. Join us for a selection of shorts films by independent local filmmakers whose work reflects the diversity of LGBT lives. For more information, visit CINEMAROSA.

IN OUR LINGO: Dialogues between Latino authors (offsite)

Tuesday, May 20, 6:30 - 8:30 pm at El Museo del Barrio

IN OUR LINGO brings together authors in conversation with filmmakers and artists to share their views on themes and social issues addressed in Latino literature, featuring Mario Vargas Llosa, Luis Llosa and Isabella Rossellini, moderated by Carmen Boullosa. This program will discuss the impact of Mario Vargas Llosa's La Fiesta del Chivo (Alfaguara, 2000) and its film adaptation by Luis Llosa. It received critical acclaim around the globe and raised awareness about the legacy of the Trujillo dictatorship in the Dominican Republic. Joining Mario Vargas Llosa will be Luis Llosa, director of the film by the same name and Isabella Rossellini, celebrated actor and filmmaker. The dialogue is moderated by Carmen Boullosa, a playwright, critic and novelist.

Don't miss the screening of La Fiesta del Chivo, with Dir. Luis Llosa on Friday, May 16, 6:30 pm – 8.30 pm, presented by Isabella Rossellini at Teatro Heckscher, El Museo del Barrio. Admission: FREE. Email for advance registration. El Museo del Barrio, 1230 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10029

Poets in the Galleries-Season 2: Cocktail Hour & Interactive Presentations

Sundays, May 25 - June 29, 5 - 7 pm

The Poets in the Galleries series utilizes the Museum's exhibition space as an invigorating site of exploration, interactive readings and discussions. Each Sunday through June 29, a different poet will conduct a lively presentation in response to the Museum's current exhibition, "This Case of Conscience": Spiritual Flushing and the Remonstrance. These gifted participants, all distinguished and emerging voices in the local, national and international literary scene, have been asked to devise an original presentation in response to the works on view. The resulting interdisciplinary dialogue will surely foster provocative intellectual exchanges and provide audiences with new ways of accessing the Museum's resources. The current exhibition lends itself especially well to the series, by creating an open-ended forum in which the poets and visitors alike can explore the related themes of religious freedom, tolerance, diversity and spirituality. Join us for a cocktail hour followed by the interactive gallery tour & readings by a different poet each week.

Poets in the Galleries kick-off with poet Vijay Seshadri

Sunday, May 25, 5 - 7 pm

Vijay Seshadri is the author of two poetry collections, Wild Kingdom and The Long Meadow. He has received grants from NYFA, the NEA, and the Guggenheim Foundation, and has been awarded The Paris Review's Bernard F. Conners Long Poem Prize, the MacDowell Colony's Fellowship for Distinguished Poetic Achievement, and the Academy of American Poets James Laughlin Prize. His poems, essays, and reviews have appeared in such publications as The Nation, The New Yorker, Open City, The Paris Review, Verse, The Yale Review, and the New York Times Book Review, and in such anthologies as The Best American Poetry 1997, 2003, and 2006 and The Best Creative Nonfiction 2007. He teaches poetry and is the director of the nonfiction writing program at Sarah Lawrence College.

The Queens Museum of Art would like to acknowledge the following promotional partners: Book Court, Acentos, and Cave Canem.

Miradas Desde La Mitad Del Mundo / Views from the Middle of the World - 2nd Festival of Ecuadorian Film in the United States

Thursday, May 29 - Saturday, May 31

Join us for a presentation of films by the new wave of Ecuadorian filmmakers from the past year, and a special feature presentation of the first film from the biggest production company of Ecuador. This collection of films is presented in collaboration with the Consul of Ecuador in New York, Consul of Ecuador in Washington D.C, and the Department of Anthropology of the American University, with the sponsorship of Delta Airlines.

Schedule of Screenings:

Thursday, May 29, 7 pm

Un Titan el Ring (Viviana Cordero, 2002, 111 min)
Set in the village of San Ramón de Mulaló, in the mountainous region of the Andes, where the prime entertainment is a series of masked wrestling matches held at a local coliseum. When a greedy promoter corrupts the competition, the entire town is suddenly up in arms.

Friday, May 30, 7 pm

There Are Things That Shouldn't be Said / Hay Cosas que no se dicen (Gabriel Calvache, 2007, 12 min)
A story that questions anything you are hiding, from a memory to an instinct or desire.

Camión de Carga (Juan Sebastián Jácome, 9 min)
A story of a border-crossing by truck in a dangerous and inhumane trip to the United States.

Just a Click Away from Home (Silvia Mejía, 2007, Documentary, 52 min)
Focusing on different stories of migration from Ecuador to the USA, Spain and Italy, this documentary shows how new technologies are changing the experience of being away from home.

Saturday, May 31, 11 am

Emilia (Carla Valencia, 2007, 9 min)
A simple story narrating the life of a little girl.

A Man Kicked to Death / Un Hombre Muerto a Puntapiés (Sebastián Arechavalo, 11 min)
An adaptation of one of the most important stories by renowned Ecuadorian writer, Pablo Palacio.

Make the Goal, Win / Mete Gol Gana (Felipe Terán, 2007, documentary 75 min)
In the valley of el Chota, thousand of African- Ecuadorians eke out a living from arid agricultural conditions. Like many of the stars of the Ecuadorian Soccer National Team that come from the region, professional soccer is their only hope of escaping grinding poverty. This documentary gives voice to their dreams for dignity and respect, some of which are accomplished and others that are broken.

Public Events at the Queens Museum of Art are supported in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, Ford Foundation Partners for Livable Communities, J. M. Kaplan Fund, and Independence Community Foundation.

FOR SENIORS

The Film Series: Faces in the Crowd: New York on Film

Mondays through June 9, no meeting May 26

City of extremes, city of dreams: 12 films reflect the transformative nature of New York on its people and how they shape the city as well.
Each screening is preceded by a free introduction and followed by a discussion. The Film Series is organized by Mark Ethan. Tapes obtained are courtesy of Columbia University's Film Division. QMA Theatre, 2 pm - free admission.

II. BITING THE BIG APPLE

May 5 - HOME (2006, directed by Dawn Scibilia, 70 min.)
documentary with Woody Allen, Gabriel Byrne, Pete Hamill, Liam Neeson (plus an extended clip from BORAT, 2006)

May 12 - SHORT STORIES OF MANHATTAN four film segments excerpted from: Tales of Manhattan; O'Henry's Full House: The Last Leaf; La Ciudad; Get That Number

May 19 - PICKUP ON SOUTH STREET (1953)

The Looking Series: Slide Talks Looking at Man and Nature

Thursdays through May 22

Through the centuries, humanity has maintained a complex and many-sided relationship with nature. We will study that relationship chronologically, as it unfolds through the ages, and consider various approaches and styles in art that evolved as a result of these interactions. The Looking Series is organized by Miriam Brumer, former Coordinator of Adult Programs at the Queens Museum of Art and a practicing artist. QMA Theater, 2 - 3:30 pm; $5 per session, free for members

May 8: Nature as Metaphor
May 15: Nature and its role in society and political life
May 22: Nature and contemporary concerns

The Listening Series: Beloved Melodies

Thursday, May 22, 3:30 - 5 pm

A presentation by Maurice Ravel's Sonata for Violin and Cello, three Queens residents who met at Julliard and shared a desire to bring high-quality accessible performances to audiences of the outer boroughs, established the Forest Hills Chamber Players. They will present an afternoon of enjoyable music. Located in Large Triangle Gallery, Free.

Programs at Selfhelp Benjamin Rosenthal Center

Queens Museum of Art and Selfhelp Benjamin Rosenthal Senior Center present diverse programs and outreach for seniors.
Location: Selfhelp Benjamin Rosenthal Senior Center, 45-25 Kissena Blvd., Flushing, NY 11355, please call 718.886.5777 for more information.

Wednesday, May 28, 10am: LOOKING SERIES
The focus of this engaging slide talk is The Photographer in the City.

Tuesday, May 1, 3:30 - 5 pm: LISTENING SERIES
Forest Hills Chamber Players perform music from around the world. Free.

Sunday, May 18, 9:15 am - 3 pm: Metropolitan Museum of Art: 20th Century Art Tour
The tour lasts approximately 45 minutes. Lunch on your own either at Museum café, neighborhood restaurants, or bring your own lunch to eat in Central Park. Each trip is limited to 20 people. Please contact 718-886-5777 to make your reservation, no later than one week before each trip date. Trips begin and end at the Selfhelp Benjamin Rosenthal Senior Center. Each trip includes transportation and a guided tour as well as time on your own to visit the galleries, shop and eat.

This program is funded by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and the New York City Department for the Aging. Selfhelp Benjamin Rosenthal Senior Center is supported by UJA Federation.

Senior Programs at the QMA are supported in part by The City of New York Department for the Aging, NYC Councilmembers Melinda Katz and David Weprin, and Lehman Brothers.

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