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Encore Awards

The Queens Shopping Center Management merits recognition for its multifaceted and ongoing support of the arts in Queens. In partnership with the Queens Council on the Arts, it has provided performance space, marketing outreach and recognition opportunities for its valuable volunteers. Its presentations and marketing projects not only introduce cultural organizations to new audiences, but also educate audiences on the vast multicultural programs available in Queens County.

In August, 1996, the Queens Council on the Arts and Queens Shopping Center Management partnered to present Swinging Sundays of Jazz, a free after-store hours jazz series held every Sunday at 6:00 p.m., featuring four diverse jazz bands. These free concerts were attended by 2,500 people, mostly families representative of the ethnic diversity of Queens County.

In October 1996, the Queens Council on the Arts and The Shopping Center sponsored the Queens Family Funbook of Discount Coupons. This free coupon book was filled with money-saving coupons for over twenty-four cultural attractions and events. Participating cultural institutions included the Jamaica Arts Center, Queens Theatre in the Park, American Museum of the Moving Image, among others. As of January 1997, over 265 coupons had been redeemed. The program proved so successful that it will be repeated in the Fall of 1997.

From October 21-23, 1996, the Center hosted its Salute to Community, an event designed to bring shopper’s attention to local cultural groups and charities that improve the quality of life in Queens. Participating organizations were able to set up displays and hand out literature about their organization. As part of the Salute, the Center honored six local volunteers who have supported their organizations in an extraordinary and invaluable manner, two of them from the cultural community.