EARLY VISION

In the late 1960s, the Greater Jamaica Development Corporation (GJDC) sought to restore the declining commercial corridor along Jamaica Avenue. One of its first actions was to appropriate the abandoned Queens Register of Titles and Deeds building, an imposing neo-Renaissance structure built in 1898. Plans were made to restore the building—to be called the Jamaica Arts Center—as a symbol of Jamaica's reawakening and as a magnet for thousands of office workers, shoppers and residents.

OPENING OUR DOORS

Starting in 1972, GJDC hired the staff for Jamaica Arts Center (as we were first known). In 1974, the building was designated a landmark by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. Four years later, we became one of just 34 members of New York City’s prestigious Cultural Institutions Group, which includes the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Bronx Zoo and the New York Botanical Garden.

CREATIVE EXPRESSIONS

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, JCAL greatly expanded its visual and performing arts programming. This included early exhibitions from renowned artists such as Elizabeth Catlett, Tomie Arai, Emmett Wigglesworth, Charles Abramson, Robert Blackburn and Jacob Lawrence. Our facility also provided key resources to hundreds of artists and arts educators, while our in-school arts programming reached tens of thousands of public-school students across the city.

A TURNING POINT

In 1992, after New York City’s fiscal crisis dramatically impacted JCAL and its peers in the Cultural Institutions Group, we joined the groundbreaking National Arts Stabilization (NAS) program. We adopted a new name—the Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning—and recommitted ourselves to serving the community.

BUILDING MOMENTUM

In 1998, a $3.6 million restoration allowed us to expand our black-box theater, add a new gallery, improve classrooms, and strengthen operations. This growth made it possible to better support early-career artists of color seeking creative training and industry access.

EXPANDING OUR CAMPUS

In the early 2000s, our work attracted additional funding to restore the former First Reformed Dutch Church of Jamaica, just two blocks away. Originally built in 1859, the newly named Jamaica Performing Arts Center (JPAC) was given a new lease on life as a mid-size performing arts center. In 2009, JPAC was awarded a Lucy G. Moses Preservation Award by the New York Landmarks Conservancy.

MEETING THE MOMENT

During the COVID-19 pandemic, we transitioned quickly to livestreaming performances and exhibitions, offered free and low-cost classes, and provided affordable workspace and recording facilities to artists, musicians and filmmakers.

WHERE WE ARE NOW

Today, JCAL and JPAC comprise a two-block arts and culture campus in Southeast Queens. We have launched new programs and events, such as the Making Moves Dance Festival and JCAL Reads, and rebranded our School of the Arts.