The Jamaica Arts Council

The Jamaica Arts Council

Dedicated to supporting the growth of the arts in Jamaica, Queens

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JAC’s Holiday Music

Strong communities understand that the arts play a critical role in the health and well being of any community. Prior to the official birth of The Jamaica Arts Council, A Better Jamaica’s “Jamaica Arts Council” (JAC) effort was dedicated to supporting the growth of the arts in Jamaica. The first of JAC’s programs was “JAC’s Holiday Music” – a seven night live music performance series that takes place on the token booth level of the Jamaica Center subway station. JAC’s Holiday Music premiered in December of 2013 and has returned every year since then.

The AirTrain Jazz Festival

Strong communities celebrate their legacies by paying homage to their past. Jamaica has a rich legacy of jazz. Since the Fall of 2014, A Better Jamaica has joined forces with the Sutphin Boulevard Business Improvement District to pay tribute to Jamaica’s rich jazz history by launching The AirTrain Jazz Festival. The festival presents live jazz on Thursday evenings on the concourse level of Jamaica’s AirTrain Station – the transfer point between the JFK AirTrain, the Long Island Railroad’s Jamaica station, and the New York City subway system’s Sutphin Boulevard station. Recent seasons have witnessed twenty-eight performances on Thursday afternoons/evenings – from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm – from October to May. The AirTrain Jazz Festival is presented in partnership with A Better Jamaica and the Sutphin Boulevard Business Improvement District.

The Jamaica Dance Festival

Strong communities celebrate the arts in all its forms – including dance! Launched in the Summer of 2016, The Jamaica Dance Festival pays tribute to the rich legacy of dance in southeast Queens by presenting five Saturday evenings of professional dance on a 40’x32’ stage erected in downtown Jamaica’s Rufus King Park. Each show opens with a presentation by a local dance school. The Jamaica Dance Festival is presented in partnership with A Better Jamaica.

Art to the People

In the Fall of 2017, the Jamaica Arts Council (JAC) partnered with A Better Jamaica to launch “Art to the People” -- a public art effort that brings the art of Jamaica based/focused artists to the people of Jamaica via the eighteen LinkNYC Links that line Jamaica Avenue from Sutphin Boulevard to 168th Street. The inaugural Art to the People exhibition featured the work of Emmett Wigglesworth.

The Saint Albans Craft Walk

On Saturday, July 15, 2017 -- from 4:30 pm to 10:00 pm -- the 15th Annual St. Albans Jazz Festival was presented in Saint Albans Park in Jamaica, Queens. Approximately one thousand jazz lovers attended the free jazz festival. A Better Jamaica (http://www.abetterjamaica.org) and The Jamaica Arts Council (http://www.JamaicaArtsCouncil.org) used the occasion to launch what we hope will become an annual event – The Saint Albans Craft Walk. The intimate group of six artisans that participated in the inaugural Saint Albans Craft Walk ranged from painters to authors to jewelry makers. The second annual Saint Albans Craft Walk will -- for a second year -- coincide with the St. Albans Jazz Festival.

Thank You

The Jamaica Arts Council
114-73 178th Street
Jamaica, New York 11434
(718) 657-2605
info@jamaicaartscouncil.org

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