Jackson Heights Life

QMA at Bulova Corporate Center
The Queens Museum of Art seeks exhibition proposals both from artists for one-person exhibitions and from independent curators for either one-person or group exhibitions to be held at the Museum's satellite gallery at Bulova Corporate Center in Jackson Heights, Queens.


QMA at Bulova Corporate Center (75-20 Astoria Boulevard, Jackson Heights, NY 11370) presents three changing exhibitions each year. The gallery space is in the entrance lobby of this corporate office complex, approximately 50 x 35 ft, two facing walls measure 80 ft running feet in total in four sections.
For information visit the Bulova Corporate Center or contact 718 592 9700 x123.

Please note that all submissions will not be returned, and only the submissions that are appropriate for the future projects will receive responses from the department.
To apply, please send resume, visual materials (color printouts, low-resolution IBM-compatible JPG files on CD, 3-5 minutes of time-based work on DVD only; please do not send originals), and other pertinent documents to:

Bulova Program/Curatorial Dept
Queens Museum of Art
New York City Building
Flushing Meadows Corona Park
Queens, NY 11368
Deadline: Ongoing
http://www.queensmuseum.org/qmail/2007_12/

Yes, the location is a bit odd, but I'm happy about it anyway.  And the location of the Queens Museum itself never seemed particularly convenient to me either, so I'm not sure how much worse this is.

If the curators do a good job with this space and the PR people give it enough attention, then it's possible for it to succeed despite its odd location.

There are quite a few other examples of art spaces in weird locations that have ended up becoming a draw simply because the programs were good enough or what they were offereing was unique enough.  I think when some galleries first started moving to Chelsea, the rest of the art world thought they were crazy - because who was going to walk all those blocks from the subway?  Same thing in Boston when the galleries started their mass exodus from  Newbury St. over to the South End.  I think there was some amount of outrage and disbelief when MoMA temporarily relocated to Queens.

Throughout the country there are other examples, too.  Offhand I can think of Judd moving Marfa, TX in the '70s (I'm not sure how much other art was going on there at the time), and Jun Kaneko opened the Bemis Center for Contemporary Art in Omaha when there was not much else artistic there.  Both are now widely regarded.

So the challenge is to do something great enough that it transcends the location.  This remains to be seen.

It says "ongoing".  (last line of the OP - I know, easy to miss)

I always think that if there's no deadline it means it might be easier to get a positive response - as it cuts down on the number of applicants who can manage to finish something without a firm deadline.