Open Worlds

Ongoing

Open Worlds, starting May 18, 2024, is a new initiative of Museum of the Moving Image, an accessible, 15,500-square-foot, climate-controlled, WiFi-enabled community resource for visitors of all ages looking to convene, find creative inspiration, learn about and experience new media technologies, or participate in many diverse programming selections.

Boasting one of the largest free community spaces in Queens, MoMI will make Open Worlds available during all operating hours through October. Its offerings will include a wide range of free community and technology-focused programming spanning themes of content creation, Pride, accessibility, science on screen, special effects, video gaming, and much more.

All programs are free and unless noted do not require prior registration.

Upcoming Events

Summer Blockbuster Movie Trivia
Friday, May 24, 6:30–8:30 p.m.
Movie Trivia NYC leads a trivia night dedicated to a Memorial Day weekend tradition: summer blockbuster season kick-off! Space may be limited, so arrive early to secure a good spot and lead your team to victory and prizes. Limit 50 participants, up to 6 people per team.

NYC Gaymers at MoMI
Saturday, June 1, 12:00–6:00 p.m.
To kick off Pride, MoMI welcomes NYC Gaymers for their 2nd annual Gaymer Pride, celebrating all aspects of gaming within the LGBTQIA+ community. Enjoy a free afternoon of panels, video games, board games, national- & NYC-based game houses, community groups, and more! NYC Gaymers Inc. empowers gamers across the intersections of orientation, identity, expression, race, and ability, in order to uplift and center our most marginalized community members through education, advocacy, and the creation of safer spaces.

Introducing the Industry with IATSE
Sunday, June 2, 1:30–3:30 p.m.
IATSE is the union behind entertainment, with over 170,000 members working in television, motion pictures, theater, and beyond. Meet the people who make the magic of the moving image possible, and discover how they got their start in the industry. Panelists include:

Larry Banks, the Chair of the Film and Media Arts department at LIU Brooklyn. He began his career in film as an electrician and gaffer, and went on to develop a career in filmmaking as Director of Photography, including Juice, Strapped, and Fly by Night, as well as documentaries like Sembene and A Litany for Survival: The Life and Works of Audre Lorde, and is the director of Blue Stories. He also created the look of several dynamic commercials for brands including Nike, Levi-Strauss, and AT&T, alongside esteemed directors such as Spike Lee, Forest Whitaker, and Steve Horn.

Max Frankston, a graduate of NYU’s film school and an IATSE member for 37 years, Max has worked from commercial production to tv and film, as both video assist and video playback operator. He is also producer of the documentary feature Living with Ghosts, and teaches the Video Assist Production course in collaboration with Motion Picture Studio Mechanics Local 52, IATSE to introduce New York City’s underrepresented youth to the Film/TV technical field.

Puppeteering at MoMI
Saturday, June 8, 1:00–4:00 p.m.
Puppeteer Brian T. Carson leads a puppeteering workshop exploring the fundamentals of the art form, open to all ages and skill levels.

Henson Music in the Courtyard
Saturday, June 8, 2:00–4:00 p.m.
Enjoy a performance of instrumental music from films that have captured the hearts of audiences for decades. From beloved classics like “The Rainbow Connection” to the playful and poignant melodies of The Muppet Show and Fraggle Rock, the John Koozin Trio pays homage to the creativity and joy that Henson’s work has brought to the world.

Celebrate Juneteenth at MoMI
Wednesday, June 19
On June 19, in celebration of Juneteenth, a holiday which commemorates the official end of slavery, and which originated in Galveston, Texas, we will honor Juneteenth’s origins and celebrate Black Texan culture with a day of programming including a museum tour, music, film screening, talk, and dance performances led by Edge School of the Arts with LIFE Camp drummers in partnership with Eagle Academy.

Adapting the Moving Image with Brent Black
Saturday, June 22, 1:30 p.m.
Wondering how artists create their work on screen? Join writer, composer, and performer Brent Black (aka Brentalfloss) to discuss adapting his own work for YouTube as well as adapting The Wrath of Khan into an Off-Broadway musical. Black is a comedian, musician, game developer, and entertainer. He’s best known for his YouTube parody music channel Brentalfloss, and as a songwriter with a background in musical theater, he wrote the music/lyrics/book of Khan!!! The Musical!, a Star Trek parody musical which had a critically acclaimed and sold-out Off-Broadway run in the spring of 2023.

Everything by Valerie Green/Dance Entropy
Sunday, June 23, 3:00–4:00 p.m. in the Kaufman Courtyard
In celebration of the summer solstice, Everything is a dance performance installation evoking the ever-expanding universe, transforming the performance space into a constellation of stars and human bodies in various states of formation and explosion. Inspired by astrophotography, string theory, interconnectivity and meditations on space and time, the new dance work, conceived and directed by Valerie Green, weaves together a visual, physical, and emotional translation of the cosmos.

Founded in 1998, Valerie Green/Dance Entropy believes in humanizing movement, both in Ms. Green’s critically acclaimed choreographic work and the company’s mission to plant creative seeds in communities across the world. Intersecting mortal and transcendent, sensual and sophisticated, visceral and self-aware, VG/DE invites the artist, the audience—the human—into a compelling, physical experience. Based out of its home studio, Green Space in Queens, VG/DE combines performance and specialized outreach programs to inspire communities in cultural institutions throughout the world.

More than Meets the Eye
Friday, June 28 & Saturday, June 29

MoMI opens its doors for a series of free events that bring into conversation mycologists, biologists, and ecologists alongside artists and filmmakers, exploring how the tools of science and cinema can reveal more of our urban landscape than is visible to the naked eye. This program is supported by the Simons Foundation.