Join us for the opening of the 2023-2024 Queens Teens Institute for Art & Social Justice exhibition Instar: In Bloom on Saturday, June 1 from 2-4 PM!

The Queens Teens Institute for Art and Social Justice (QTI) nurtures thoughtful, independent Queens-based young artists and the next generation of leaders in the field of arts and culture.

For Instar: In Bloom, the 2023-2024 QTI Leadership Cohort reflects on the emergence of social movements, the ways in which they adapt and evolve, and the relationship of the intrapersonal to collective change. Instar refers to the state between two successive molts or shedding processes.This occurs in a caterpillar, for example, as it metamorphoses into a chrysalis and later a butterfly. Every step towards its final destination is unique and never the same as the last. Working across painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, and performance, these young artists consider their own instars and evolution into adulthood; the people, events, resources, and feelings that propel change; and what it means to come into being and bloom.

Participating in the the exhibition are all the members of the QTI 2023-2024 Leadership Cohort:

Albee Ku, Aleksandra Abidueva, Andreana Wu, Aria Hokedsi, Ashley Santos, Claire Gozalez, Damaris Uzhca, Elliott Flores-Alvarado, Enn Roque, Genesis Regis, Hailey Jean Cortazar, Isabella Prada, Joselyn Campana, Juliet Jarbi, Lizbeth Bermeo, Mariuxi Tuquinagui, Michelle Aca, Rohima Neha, Sandy Rivera, Sarah Thoral, Shamira Guam, Vanessa Calle, Ying Chen, Yuki Lu, Yumi Lu.

The exhibition will be open from June 1, 2024 to June 16, 2024.

Instar: In Bloom is organized by Itzel Basualdo, Youth & Family Programs Manager with support from Erica-Ashley Gittens, Education & Public Programs Coordinator. Special thanks to the Queens Museum Exhibitions and Programs department.