MALBA, NY – The Malba Arts Project is a collaborative arts project taking place this summer, June 19-August 31, in the childhood home of interdisciplinary artist Eleni Theodora Zaharopoulos. The project temporarily transforms parts of Zaharopoulos’ mother’s house into an artist residency and gallery space. The goal of the Malba Arts Project is to introduce more arts and discourse to the secluded New York City neighborhood the artist grew up in.

Described by the New York Times “as one of the most upscale and picturesque neighborhoods in the borough [Queens]” and a place which “retains a quaintness that can be traced to origins in a much less urbanized time,” Malba is expectedly not a popular destination for arts and culture in the city. However, thanks to a New Works Grant for Individual Artists funded by the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs and granted through the Queens Council on the Arts, this is about to change.

Eleni’s wish of turning her mother’s house into an artist commune has been granted. The Malba Arts Project will host three funded two-week-long artist residencies in the months of June, July, and August, each culminating with programming that is free and open to the public. Participating artists include Zachary Becker, Ashley Yang-Thompson, and Tiffany Smith. Eleni’s mother Evyenia Papadakou will prepare food for each resident’s public reception.

Kicking off the project’s public programming is Zachary Becker’s Meet Me in Malba: The Basement Experience, an installation and performance which recreates Zachary’s basement studio inside Eleni’s childhood bedroom to scale. A limited engagement, the show runs July 1-2 with performances scheduled the evening of July 1.

More information on the Malba Arts Project’s schedule of events and the participating artists is available online at: malbaartsproject.tumblr.com, via email at: [email protected], and on Facebook for the Meet Me in Malba: The Basement Experience.