About the Project

The Long Island City Arts Project is an historical and creative look into one of New York City's most influential artist movements of the 21st century. The industrial neighborhood of Long Island City, Queens has been largely underrated, but has an extraordinarily creatively dense artist community. The large buildings that once served the purposes of a purely industrial and manufacturing-base are now home to some of the most fascinating artists and art institutions that New York City has to offer. The Long Island City Arts Project will explore the groundbreaking and diverse Long Island City art community that is shaping the trends and cultures of New York City as well as influencing new depths and theories of art itself, but in jeopardy of  being unaffordable to the very artist that make it chic and cool to live there in the first place, by a trend of luxury high-rises being developed in the area.

The documentary will visualize the subjects with a  series of short biographies, which will primarily detail the lives and day-to-day interactions of multiple artists and art institutions in the neighborhood and explain how this small span of New York City influences many of the arts you see around the city on a daily basis. The documentary's goal is to preserve this rich artist community by forming an initiative (THE LONG ISLAND CITY INDEPENDENT ARTIST INITIATIVE) that will ensure that artists can maintain affordable housing and work-places, while the neighborhood itself goes through this gentrification process,  which has recently taken place by the presence of large luxury high-rises that now are a major part of the neighborhood. We wish to uncover the irony of a tiny neighborhood nestled in the heart of bustling metropolis that is the hub of a new artistic renaissance influencing art throughout the city and the world.

 This documentary will introduce a series of 10 short biographies on L.I.C. artist’s such as Jongwang Lee of the Space Womb Gallery, a Korean artist expressing a spiritual journey in resin and paint. The Noguchi Museum, a museum created by Japanese sculpture Isami Noguchi (1904 -1988) whose artistic works lives on throughout the world. 5Points Aerosol Arts Center, a graffiti museum founded by veteran graffiti artist, Jonathan Cohen, it boasts epic mural paintings from the best graffiti artist’s around the globe. Film Director, Dwayne Buckle, a Black American independent filmmaker and a Long Island City native who delivers his own brand of cutting-edge independent films.  Film Director, Lloyd Kaufman whose cult film production company TROMA films, revolutionized the Independent Film Industry. PS1 Contemporary Art Center, and exhibition space promoting experimental art in various genres and styles. Socrates Sculpture Park, an outdoor art museum where large sculptures are erected outdoors and the public meet to interact with art. The documentary will also feature other significant artists from the neighborhood which we will be adding to this site shortly.