More than 100 people were at the Jamaica Center for Arts & Learning for the opening of the “2026: Memory Vault” exhibit, featuring work from painters, a photographer, sculptor and muralist on March 13.
The work, which is on display at 161-04 Jamaica Ave. through May 22, is by Coulibaly Adama Nanguin Abib Jr., Anoushka Bhalla, Jashawn Johnson, Edgie Amisial, Keilley Banks and Quiana Lewis, emerging artists in JCAL’s ARTWorks Fellowship, which supports people from Queens and those underrepresented in the industry.
Sherwin Banfield serves as the fellowship’s program manager and the work was curated by Margarita Lila Rosa, who challenged artists to move from the deeply personal to the broadly cultural in their works.
Lewis, a Trinidadian-American painter and muralist from West Babylon, LI, who made “The pixie cut” and “Where do I belong,” told the Chronicle Rosa is an amazing curator who pushed her “to step outside my comfort zone.”
It was the first time the painter did a project that is canvas on canvas, she said.
“It was definitely outside the box,” Lewis said. The muralist is also thankful for the program, which along with helping the fellows develop in the industry, introduces them to mid-career artists via studio tours.
Lewis met Guy Philoche, a Haitian-American artist who would go to Manhattan to hand out pamphlets with photographs of himself well-dressed that touted him as a big-name artist, leading to interest in his work before he became established.
“His story was inspiring,” said the fellow West Indian.
Her work, “Pixie” is partially inspired by her mother, Raquel Bland, who wore her hair short, and her dad, Perry Lewis, who owned barbershops along Jamaica Avenue in Jamaica, not too far from JCAL.
“This was a full circle moment, because my dad would have me run errands during the summer and I would pass this place all the time, not knowing what it was,” said Lewis. “There is not a lot of opportunity for artists, especially those who look like me, from where I am.”
At 19, she cut her hair. Her very strict Trinidadian father was apprehensive at first, but would go on to say she looks like her mom and then cut it for her.
“I was also inspired by women like Nia Long and Halle Berry, who would have short hair, going against the trend,” said Lewis.
Her second piece is about Liam Ramos, the 5-year-old detained by federal immigration agents who advocates say used him as bait to detain his asylum-seeking father.
“It reminded me of Ruby Bridges,” said Lewis. “She was 6 years old when she received so much vitriol when she was integrating a school. … That is recent Black history, because she is still alive today.”
Bridges is 71.
To learn more about the exhibit or other JCAL events, visit jcal.org.
Rosa said she chose the artists because she was drawn to how their work captured intimate textures of everyday life while reflecting broader cultural forces.
“This exhibition situates itself within the global realities of 2026, while foregrounding the ways New Yorkers continue to challenge and reshape narratives about them,” Rosa said via email.
“At its core, 2026: Memory Vault sees the present moment as a future archive.”