Two JCAL events this Week! Check out our offerings.
- March 10, 2025
We're presenting two must-see events at JCAL this week! Thursday, catch the soulful guitarist Franklin Rankin in concert as a part of Thursday Night Jazz. On Friday, join us for the opening reception of our latest exhibition Free Your Mind: The Expansion.
Also, there is still time to register for JCAL Arts Classes! Use the promo code PRORATE for a discount on the remaining classes.
Lastly, our Early Bird two for one tickets to Strength, Courage & Wisdom ends this week. Take advantage of this promotion for our Women's History Month Celebration!
Thursday Night Jazz Presents: Franklin Rankin
March 13th, 8 pm
153-10 Jamaica Avenue
Don't miss this installment of Thursday Night Jazz featuring a can't miss performance by Franklin Rankin!
Known for his soulful tones and genre-pushing artistic contributions to projects of all shapes and sizes, Rankin boasts 18 years of guitar experience and manages a robust playing life in NYC, clocking in more than 250 gigs a year.
Franklin's passion for music was evident from a young age: his childhood studies at Harlem School of the Arts led him the jazz composition program at Berklee College of Music (where he completed his Bachelors of Arts) followed by the jazz studies master's degree program at NYU.
Free Your Mind: The Expansion
Opening Reception
March 14th, 6 pm
161-04 Jamaica Avenue
Come out to the opening reception of this highly anticipated group exhibit, curated by Shenna Vaughn!
Free Your Mind: The Expansion is not just an exhibition—it's a call to break free from the mental barriers that limit us. Building on the foundation of its predecessor exhibition, Free Your Mind, also mounted by JCAL in 2023, this iteration takes the transformative journey of creativity to new heights. It brings together a diverse group of artists who defy their own mental and creative limitations, demonstrating the power of liberation and the boundless possibilities that emerge when we free ourselves from self-imposed constraints.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/free-your-mind-the-expansion-opening-reception-tickets-1248709055399?aff=oddtdtcreator
Take Advantage of Early Bird Two for One Tickets!
Riddim Section Presents: Javier Diaz
March 26th, 8 pm
153-10 Jamaica Avenue
Don't miss this installment of JCAL's music series "Riddim Section", headlined by Javier Diaz!
Originally from Cuba, Javier Diaz is a percussionist and composer. He has performed with the NY Philharmonic, NY Pops, and Broadway productions of Tarzan, Guys and Dolls, The Wiz, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Rocky, Gloria Estefan’s On Your Feet, Once on This Island, Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of The Temptations, Sweeney Todd, and The Who’s Tommy.
Soundtrack credits include Lin-Manuel Miranda’s In The Heights, Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story, and collaborations with jazz greats David Sanborn and Marcus Miller.
Classes are Currently Underway!
JCAL Arts Classes Spring Semester
Registration Closes March 15th
JCAL Art Classes are underway, but there is still time to register! The lineup includes a refreshed array of offerings in Fashion Design, Musical Theater, Oil Painting, Cartooning, Animation, Piano, Storytelling, and much more.
https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/jcal-art-classes-spring-2025-3957433
Women's History Month Event:
Strength Courage & Wisdom 2025
March 29th, 8 pm
153-10 Jamaica Avenue
Join us for an exciting presentation of spoken word, storytelling, and dance to celebrate Women's History Month! Strength Courage and Wisdom 2025 will feature a fantastic lineup of artists and great vibes.
This year's special guest poet is the acclaimed Staceyann Chin. Chin is a spoken-word poet, performing artist and LGBT rights political activist. Her work has been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and the Pittsburgh Daily, and has been featured on 60 Minutes.
The theme is Wisdom. Spiritually, for many, wisdom is personified as a woman. Additionally, the lyrics of a song that was coined as a feminist Anthem in 1972, Helen Reddy's I Am Woman: "I am wisdom born of pain" celebrates the triumphs that women have experienced in spite of unfavorable social, political and personal conditions. Pain can be struggles, challenges, physical, mental, or emotional but the lesson, the wisdom from that pain is our focus. The interpretation of pain is left up to the artist.
Poets/Storytellers:
Renee Joshua-Porter
Cheryl "Mama Phife" Boyce Taylor
Tracey Irvin
Jasmine "JRose" Rosario
Keys Will
(and dancer) Jaria Morris
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/strength-courage-wisdom-2025-tickets-1219564673769?aff=oddtdtcreator
First-Time Homebuyer Education &
First-Time Homebuyer Grants and Mortgage Programs
April 9th, 7 pm Via Zoom
This event is part three of our "Financial Literacy: The Journey to Homeownership" seminar series, sponsored by Emigrant Bank.
Dedicate just one hour of your time to join us to learn invaluable information that will set you up for success on the path to homeownership. This seminar encompasses all you need to know from the pre-approval process up to and including the closing. Learn about First-Time Homebuyer Grants, including down payment assistance and closing cost credits that are available. Learn who offers these grants and how to qualify, as well as what is the process and timing for obtaining them. We will also cover some of the current first-time homebuyer mortgage programs that are available in today’s market.