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Queens: Festival by Howardena Pindell
Photo CreditCarol M. Highsmith Photography
Queens: Festival
Photo CreditCarol M. Highsmith Photography

Queens: Festival

Artist
Year1989
Classification painting
Medium acrylic, tempera, colored pencil and paper on canvas
Dimensions144 x 120 in. (365.8 x 304.8 cm)
Credits Commissioned through the Art in Architecture Program
Fine Arts Collection
U.S. General Services Administration
Location
  • This mixed media painting focuses on the theme of ethnic diversity.  Pindell visually represents the many groups that New York borough of Queens encompasses.  The artist took extensive photographs of various neighborhoods and then selected images for the painting to have the employees and visitors see elements familiar to them as residents of Queens.




    Pindell's theme for "Queens: Festival" is ethnic diversity.  The images depicted in the work were selected from a pool of 300 personal photos that range from historical sites and popular monuments to the multi-cultural festival held annually in Queens.  The artist hoped that people using the Social Security Building would see  her work and be reminded that the Jamaica-Queens neighborhood is an ethnically and culturally diverse area.