Following theft, Flushing Town Hall revives community art exhibition

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Flushing Town Hall is reviving the exhibition “Call and Response: Grief, Resiliency and Hope” starting Feb. 1. Photo courtesy of Flushing Town Hall

Flushing Town Hall is reviving the exhibition “Call and Response: Grief, Resiliency and Hope” starting Feb. 1. Photo courtesy of Flushing Town Hall

By David Brand

Four months after thieves made off with dozens of pieces from a Flushing community art exhibition, the organization behind the project is giving it new life.

Flushing Town Hall will revive the outdoor installation “Call and Response: Grief, Resiliency and Hope” starting Feb. 1 to coincide with this year’s Lunar New Year celebrations. The project features work from local residents who have used art to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic, institutional racism and other challenges.

The institution is accepting new submissions for the exhibition after vandals stole most of the original pieces from a fence facing Northern Boulevard in September 2020. 

Gabrielle M. Hamilton, Flushing Town Hall’s director of education and public programs, said artists submitted more than 60 pieces to the original exhibition. The new iteration will feature work from a range of creators, including professional artists, amateurs and children, who look ahead to “a more hopeful future.”

“With determination, and in honor of those we lost, we look to rebuild a more resilient, inspired, and courageous community,” Hamilton said.

She said artists who want to create a piece for the exhibition can find inspiration in the following questions:

  • As I face the new year, what skills do I want to cultivate in myself to create a resilient community? 

  • What inspires me and others to be hopeful? 

  • How can I honor the memory of someone I lost last year by living a courageous life? 

  • How can I artistically connect with my diverse community and bring people together?    

Creators can affix their own pieces, along with their names, to the fence surrounding Flushing Town Hall, or scan the work and send it to the education@flushingtownhall.org.

Following the September theft, Flushing Town Hall Executive and Artistic Director Ellen Kodadek issued the first call for new submissions to revive the exhibition.

“We, like New York, are resilient and the need for shared expressions of grief, resiliency and hope are more important than ever,” Kodadek said at the time.