Upcoming at the Voelker Orth Museum:
Garden Creativi-Tea Workshops
Tuesdays, July 8, 15. 22 & 29, 1:00—3:30
It’s 4 family-friendly afternoons of art-making for all ages. There’s a new activity each week. Join us for art, garden discovery, and a cup of iced tea.
The workshops are held in our air-conditioned annex and make use of the garden. Suitable for all ages. Admission for each session $4 and $10 per family. Children under 3 are free.
July 8th: Dry Flower Art: Learn how to dry flowers for crafts and make bookmarks and coasters with some dried flowers that we prepared from the garden.
July 15th: Fantasy Terrariums. Create a fantasy miniature landscape complete with live plants in a terrarium. WE will provide the live plant materials, colorful stones and a fun selection of figures and items perfect for designing your own terrarium. Take it home and watch your plants grow.
July 22nd. Fairy Houses. It’s time to indulge in a bit of whimsy and magic. Construct a fanciful fairy house with natural and recycled materials. Make it inviting for fairies to inhabit.
July 29th. Time to get up and move! Dancer Dina Denis teaches some great dance moves – for all ages – and choreographs a special dance for our workshop participants. The workshop looks to birds for inspiration.
No previous dance experience required. Dina’s company, Dance Into Light has performed at the museum in the past – so we are extra happy that she will share some of her moves with us.
Pigeons! - A Birdy Birthday
Sunday, July 27, 1:30 - 3:30pm
We take a look at pigeons - from the tough urban ones to fussy doves. The day marks our benefactor’s birthday with an ice cream treat. Betty Orth was an avid birder. It was her wish that the Museum offer water, seed and a haven to wild birds year round.
Photographer/author Andrew Garn offers an illustrated talk on pigeons. The WIld Bird Fund will also join us for the afternoon. Learn about pigeons and make some art, and enjoy a birthday ice-cream treat.
Suitable for all ages. Admission $4 and $10 per family.
Shakespeare in the Garden Hip to Hip Theatre
The garden is the perfect setting for Hip to Hip Theatre’s spirited, richly costumed, family-friendly productions. The performances are free and open to the public. The plays run 90 minutes.
Kids & the Classics is the companion piece to Hip to Hip’s performances. This free interactive workshop is offered 30 minutes before every performance, and is designed for children ages 4 to 12. It gives children a chance to interact with the text by previewing the characters and situations, and creating links between the text and their own lives through theater games and close reading of text.
Note: The performance is cancelled if it rains.
HAMLET Friday, August 8, 7:30pm (seating opens at 6:45pm)
Shakespeare's masterpiece revenge tragedy is a political thriller for the ages. As Denmark arms itself for war, the royal family tears itself apart: haunted by his murdered father’s ghost, young prince Hamlet is driven to the edge of madness as he grapples with the decision to avenge his death.
THE TEMPEST August 15, 7:30pm (seating opens 6:45)
Teeming with fairies, monsters, shipwrecks, and magic, The Tempest is Shakespeare’s last and most imaginative comedy. After twelve years on a deserted island, a deposed Duke is now a mighty sorcerer. He raises a storm at sea, bringing within his grasp the enemies who robbed him of his dukedom.
Annual Honey Harvest Festival
Tuesday, August 19, 1:00- 3:30pm
Get the buzz on bees! Don’t miss the annual celebration of all things honeybees. The bees are busy in the summer and honey harvest time arrives in August.
Informative, fun and tasty activities for all ages. Meet beekeeper Michael Kaminski and see how he harvests honey. And Helen Colhoun, the beekeeper from the Queens Botanical Garden joins us for the afternoon.Make bee-inspired art, sample different types of honey and learn about what it takes to make a bee-friendly garden.
Enjoy some yummy snacks.
Admission $4 and $10 for a family. Children under 3, free. The new 2025 Museum honey is available for sale.
Abstract Reality: Greta Jaklitsch Photographs
Opening Reception: Sept 24, 2-4pm
Unaltered, unfiltered, a glimpse of the world around us, Greta Jaklitsch photographs with 35mm film. Jaklitsch was one of the first artists shown at the Museum and this exhibition is a 20th Anniversary event.
Many of her most striking images are captured in parks, on walks, and observing things that are here in Queens. This exhibition brings together images that explore pattern or playfully abstract composition.
Stories and Snacks: A Festival of Home Cooking
The Queens Memory Project and the Voelker Orth Museum are partnering for a festival of home cooking in Flushing, Queens.
This inaugural festival is an immersive celebration of food and cultural memory. Activate your senses and connect to the diversity of Queens culinary traditions as you explore the Voelker Orth House and its Victorian garden.
Hear from experts on history and cooking, taste samples from local food vendors, and swap family stories and recipes. See how to preserve a record of your family’s home cooking traditions, and get creative in hands-on family workshops.
Join us to add your stories, heritage, and food traditions to the living history of Queens!
The Latehomecoming: Literature to Life Workshop
-
In this intimate workshop led by teaching artist Aurea Tomeski, participants will discuss questions of home, identity, and belonging. Actor Gaosong Heu will perform excerpts from The Latehomecomer by Kao Kalia Yang as a means of exploring the themes of immigration in the memoir.
Attendees will have the opportunity to reflect through small discussions and writing prompts.
-
Tickets include happy hour, house tours, and garden viewing.
First twenty registrants also receive complimentary tickets to the full performance of The Latehomecomer at the Kupferberg Center for the Arts on Friday, May 5 at 8PM.
$15/per person | $10/students and VO members.
Limited spots available.
-
Based on the memoir The Latehomecomer: A Hmong Family Memoir by Kao Kalia Yang, © 2008, published by Coffee House Press. Performed by Gaosong Heu
Adapted by Aurea Tomeski & Elise Thoron. Directed by Elise Thoron
For more about Literature to Life’s arts and literacy programs, please contact Lisa Beth Vettoso at Literature to Life: lisa.v@literaturetolife.org or learn more online at www.literaturetolife.org.
