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Hybrid model is the future for an arts center To stay afloat during Covid, JCAL went digital
For latest news visit qchron.com 24THthe ANNUAL CELEBRATION OF Q UEENS • 2021
QUEENS CHRONICLE, Thursday, June 24, 2021 Page 26
C M CEL page 26 Y K
by Naeisha Rose Associate Editor
Like many cultural hubs, the Jamaica Center for Arts & Learning, an organization founded in 1972, had to figure how to recalibrate its programming last year after the government shut it down due to the coronavirus pandemic. “We immediately pivoted to all things digital,” said Leonard Jacobs, the interim executive director of JCAL. “Our annual dance festival, which is funded by the National Endowment for the Arts — that’s federal money and we didn’t want to give that back, so we pivoted it to something online.” JCAL used some of its funding to get camera equipment to film 11 choreographers for its dance festival, according to Jacobs. “We said, ‘We know you are not filmmakers, but we are going to provide you with technical assistance that we can and try to find in your bubble a way to rehearse outside in a park.’ We got all those pieces recorded and we uploaded it to our YouTube page and promoted it.” There was a lot of hand-holding, according to Courtney Ffrench, the interim artistic director at JCAL. “Dance choreographers don’t think of themselves as film directors,” said Ffrench. “We had to give them whatever tools or whatever time that they needed effectively to capture dance.” Some of the choreographers practiced their dance moves in their bedroom, in a garage or in their apartment stairwell. “We allowed for any idea,” said Ffrench. “We were like ‘Go for it.’ Once we did that, it opened up everything for everybody else. If you wanted to do something, it
didn’t really matter if you didn’t have the stage you needed, we were accepting of it. I think it worked out rather well.” Every aspect of JCAL, including its visual arts, performing arts and educational platform, went digital, according to Jacobs. “Coming into last summer, into the fall and really accelerating around the turn of this year we have very slowly started to open up in a hybrid way,” said Jacobs. “Where we can have an audience, whether it was outside or inside with masks at 20 percent, we started doing that while preserving everything by capturing it on livestream on YouTube.” At a board meeting on June 17, Jacobs spoke with other JCAL members who felt they have “been making lemonade for a year,” because not only was the art center able to retain its current visitors through the hybrid model, it was able to attract a new audience online. Just on YouTube, JCAL went from 100 to 1,100 subscribers with the help of Tyrel Hunt, the marketing manager at the arts center, within nine months. “We realized that not everybody wanted to be inside this year, even if it’s at a limited amount,” said Ffrench. “We erected a semi-permanent stage outside the [Jamaica Performing Arts Center] in front of the building that is 24 by 24 with rails.” The stage at JPAC, a performing arts space a few blocks away from JCAL, has been used for rehearsals, dance performances and concerts, according to Ffrench. “We have an afternoon performance by the Bartlett Contemporaries every Thursday this June and we have other festivals like a jazz festival, like a children’s festival and
JCAL Interim Artistic Director Courtney Ffrench, left, and Interim Executive PHOTOS COURTESY JCAL Director Leonard Jacobs.
The Jamaica Center for Arts & Learning went digital this year by having some performances without an audience. It later had hybrid performances indoors at limited capacity with socially distanced outdoor events. PHOTOS BY TYREL HUNT more,” said Ffrench. “Now people its own arts center located at 161-04 f rom doi ng thei r work,” said are walking out by JPAC expecting Jamaica Ave. It had live and hybrid Jacobs. “It forced everybody to be to see something on stage every performances in April 2021 at JCAL inventive, resourceful, brave, smart weekend. It has become somewhat and JPAC, which is located at 153-10 and strategic.” Jacobs became JCAL’s executive of an attraction and that is one of the Jamaica Ave. Ffrench and Jacobs learned a few interim director last year too. He had best things that we have done.” a career as a playwright, theater The outdoor events are such a things from the experience. “For people in the arts, this was director, theater critic, arts and culsuccess that there are sometimes the most devastating ture journalist and director of the upward of 200 peothing they had ever Cultural Institutions Unit at the city’s ple at JPAC on a seen,” said Ffrench. Department of Cultural Affairs. He Thursday. The arts rtists are “I’m essentially a was raised in Kew Gardens Hills and center has also dancer and dancers is an alum of Jamaica High School. gained an audience never going couldn’t dance. For He currently lives in Astoria. from people in Calito be kept JCAL will be restar ting its our industry, it was fornia, New Delhi more catastrophic School of the Arts for the summer and even Myanmar down.” than we could ever on July 13. It runs through Aug. 21. online. imagine. We always The school has 40 different classes “We’ve had peo—Leonard Jacobs, JCAL thought not getting for children, teens, adults and ple standing and funding would be seniors that range from theater and dancing outside,” said Ffrench, who is prepared to the thing that was horrendous. This dance to ceramics, cartoon animation and more. keep the hybrid model going even totally surpasses that.” “Make a donation,” said Jacobs at Before becoming the interim after the restrictions are lifted. “We Q believe that more than likely there artistic director at JCAL last year, jcal.org. will another jump or spike [in Ff r e nch wa s a Covid-19 cases] and I think other c o n t e m p o r a r y businesses should have that as well. dancer for artists These are lessons and I think we like Lisa Lisa and need to learn them, and the surest Mariah Carey. He way to learn them is to be prepared.” also per for med Another factor to consider is if an m o d e r n d a n c e artist gets ill earlier in the day and overseas. He is would prefer to perform from home f rom K ingston, until they get better, according to Jamaica, and lived in Jamaica Hills Jacobs. “If we have the technological f o r a d e c a d e capability to deliver [a performance] before moving to from to a person’s computer, why Westbury, LI. “A r t i s t s a r e shouldn’t we do that?” said Jacobs. “It’s part of our mission to serve the never going to be kept down. Artcommunity.” In October 2020, JCAL started i s t s a r e n e ve r PHOTO BY TYREL HUNT streaming without an audience from going to be kept A pop-up dance class.
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