Art, Music, Film and Lots More Art This Week in LIC

Over on We Heart LIC we’ve been posting about all the amazing arts events happening in Long Island City this week—there’s the LIC Arts Open, the Queens World Film Festival highlights, and the Queens New Music Festival. And on Saturday is LIC Springs!, a new block party that will be full of entertainment all along Vernon Blvd. Not to mention the running of the LIC Art Bus all weekend.

So, here’s the extensive LIC arts landscape for the rest of the week. So much going on!

LIC Arts Open

We’re excited that the LIC Arts Open is almost upon us! This annual event, now in its fourth year, starts in a week on May 14 and goes through May 18. It’s a wonderful time to be in LIC, where you can enjoy the fruits of many labors during this grassroots effort to bring attention and enthusiasm to the LIC arts scene. The organizers expect this year to be the biggest yet, with 15 new venues that range from “the ultramodern to the alternative.”

The Opening Party is TONIGHT, 7 p.m. at The Local, 13-02 44th Avenue, in Long Island City. 

More: The LIC Arts Open Arrives Next Week!

Queens World Film Festival Highlights

Next in our cavalcade of amazing arts events in LIC this week is the Queens World Film Festival, screening a few films from their recent March festival as part of the LIC Arts Open. They’ve put together a roster of seven FREE films on display this Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday at The Local in LIC. The Local is a very cool hostel-hotel located a short walk from the Court Square E/M/G/7 subway stops.

More: Queens World Film Festival at LIC Arts Open

Queens New Music Festival

The 3rd annual Queens New Music Festival, takes place from May 16-18 at the Secret Theatre in LIC. It’s presented by local new music champions, Random Access Music (RAM). The festival will feature eight concerts of new music during these three days, performed by some of the nation’s finest new music ensembles. This is an important festival in the NYC music world—one major point is to promote new music in Queens, focusing on the plethora of composers, musicians, and ensembles living and working in the borough. And then there is importance of highlighting artists from other parts of New York City and around the country.

More: Queens New Music Festival Starts This Week

LIC Springs!

We’re pretty excited about the first ever LIC Springs! for this coming Saturday afternoon. It’s basically a big block party/street fair hosted by the LIC Partnership—the plan is to shut down Vernon Blvd from 50th Avenue to 46th Avenue and fill the streets with events and activities. Look for free performances, lots of family-friendly fun, and plenty of food tastings. It’s also happening during the LIC Arts Open, and the LIC Flea will be going on, which means LIC will be THE place to be this weekend.

More: LIC Springs! is Almost Here!

In addition, the LIC Art Bus is operational and taking people from one cultural organization to the other. Participating venues include Socrates Sculpture Park, The Noguchi Museum, SculptureCenter, and MoMA PS1. The Art Bus will run on the weekends from May 10 to September 14, from noon to 6 p.m. Here’s the full schedule:

One Comment

Eleanor May 18th, 2014

Hello! How can I inform you of, or submit information about, cultural events in Astoria and LIC? Is there a contact email or specific person to write to?
Thank you,
Eleanor Dubinsky

Reply