Education Hub: Jameco Story Salon

Jameco Story Salon is a new kind of community art center, nestled within No Longer Empty’s art exhibition, Jameco Exchange. This space re-imagines a traditional “education center,” placing youth leadership, the art of curating, and community engagement at the core of exhibition-making.

Jameco Story Salon is a place where workshops and discussions occur daily, offering a space for local and visiting publics to meet up, linger, and engage imaginatively with the themes of the exhibition. The hub is staffed by the No Longer Empty education team with the Y.Dot Youth Docents, and features an interactive multi-use display.

Artist Calo Rosa was commissioned to intervene in the hub with his street art, multi-layered stencil aesthetic. He recreates an urban-tropical space mirroring the presence of the Salvadoran community in Jamaica; pointing to the parallels in the visual culture found on the streets of San Salvador and on the avenues of Jamaica, Queens. Calo worked with Y.Dot Youth Docents Andrea Rosanelle Cadornigara, Evan Contreras and Abiha Kazmi to incorporate his stencil designs of native Salvadoran plants and flowers into the design of the hub.

Jameco Story Salon will be infused with the practices of three socially-engaged artists who use education as their medium: Sol Aramendi, Gabrielle Bendiner-Viani, and Nicolás Dumit Estévez Raful. The hub will also showcase No Longer Empty’s signature education programs, including No Longer Bored family art-making weekend workshops, and the Y.Dot Youth Docent Program that culminates in guided tours of the exhibition by the Docents.
Through No Longer Empty’s educational programming, 26 high school students from Jamaica, Queens, are helping to curate the educational hub, and teach community members about the exhibition.
Stay tuned for more programs such as Y.Dot tours of the exhibition or No Longer Bored Family Day workshops. To find out more, or to propose a community event or attend a YDot Tour, please contact programs@nolongerempty.org
#jamecoexchange #ydot #ylab #jamaicavibes #storysalon