Queens Arts Express To Ride Through Boro

By DOMENICK RAFTER

The 7 train is sometimes called the "international express" because it serves immigrant communities, but next week, it will become the "art express."

The Queens Art Express Festival is returning for its third year next week, featuring four days of events in neighborhoods along the 7 and N lines from Long Island City to Flushing. The festival will kick off Wednesday, June 15, at Kaufman Astoria Studios from 6:30-8:30 p.m.

The festival includes a barrage of events in Astoria, Long Island City, Sunnyside, Woodside, Jackson Heights, Corona and Flushing, focusing mainly along the 7 train, and also the N in Astoria. The theme of the festival is "A World of Art in One Borough," tying it into the cultural and ethnic diversity along the neighborhoods served by the "international express."

Some of Queens' most prominent cultural institutions, such as the Noguchi Museum in Long Island City, Thalia Spanish Theater in Sunnyside, Louis Armstrong House Museum in Corona, the cultural institutions in Flushing Meadows Corona Park including the New York Hall of Science and Queens Museum of Art, as well as Queens Botanical Gardens and Flushing Town Hall are taking part.

There will also be live musical performances in three 7 train subway stations; Flushing-Main Street, Mets-Willets Point, and 74th Street-Broadway.

The festival goes beyond just art. Some restaurants are offering deals to festival goers who show their MetroCards. In Jackson Heights, the festival is coinciding in some of the June in Jackson Heights events.

The festival will continue through Sunday, June 19. For more information on events going on during the festival and participating restaurants, visit queensartexpress.com.

Reach Reporter Domenick Rafter at drafter@queenstribune.com or (718) 357-7400, Ext. 125.