LIC Arts OPEN 13th Edition KICKOFF
Launch Party at Culture Lab LIC​
7:00 - 10:00pm
Live music by Kid Java.
Performances by Sheepmeadow Dance Theatre, Shakun Davi Dance, and Piper Amphora.
Refreshments & light bites will be served.
Cocktail hour sponsored by Copa Love.
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LIC Arts Open 13th Edition
May 13-17, 2026
Open Studios May 16 & 17
Emerald Enchanted
The Cabaret Burlesque
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Emerald Enchanted is a decadent cabaret burlesque fantasy where fairy-tale magic meets the glittering glamour of 1910 Paris. Inspired by enchanted forests, jewels, and mysterious mirrors, the show transforms classic folklore into a lush spectacle of feathers, corsets, and seductive choreography.
Join The Cabaret Burlesque, by Nathalie Marrable, for an evening that will transport audiences into a world where elegance and provocation intertwine, creating a mesmerizing tapestry of passion and connection. Designed to expertly showcase the seductive, crisp art of Parisian strip tease, this event will push the boundaries of traditional burlesque performance, infusing it with a contemporary twist that celebrates individuality, self-expression, and storytelling. All flavors of audience are invited, whether eager to get tied up onstage or desiring a voyeuristic night as a spectator.
Attendees can expect 90 minutes of seamless performances showcasing Parisian burlesque with a sprinkle of music and comedy acts, all incorporating play between performers and onlookers. Classic French tunes and driving contemporary hits will accompany impressive choreography that highlights the finesse, expertise, and strength of its performers. This exclusive event promises to be an extraordinary night of entertainment, where audiences can interact with the artistry of striptease, be inspired by the performers' courage and vulnerability, and celebrate their own stories of allure.
Fri, May 15 & 16, 8pm - 9:30pm
Fri, May 22 & 23, 8pm - 9:30pm
Fri, May 29 & 30, 8pm - 9:30pm
Sunset
JAZZ
LIC's favorite local jazz night is back!
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Enjoy live jazz performances, cool libations, and great vibes in an intimate art gallery space every Friday at 8 PM.
Always free and open to the community.
Seating is limited, so get here early!
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(with Esseily)
By Kème Productions
Saturday, May 16, 1-9pm
Get ready to vibe from Cairo’s streets to Cartagena’s rhythms in one unforgettable festival experience!
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Cairo to Cartagena is a vibrant, full-day celebration showcasing the music, dance, food, and traditions focusing on Latin America & the Middle East. ​
Starting at 1:00pm on Saturday May 16th and for 8 hours, Live Performances, Music, Food & Crafts will bring us all together at Culture Lab LIC.
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All entrants require a ticket. Additional tickets will be available at the door on a first come first serve basis.
No re-entry is permitted.
Limited seating available.
Schedule subject to change.
Cairo to Cartagena Lineup:
DJ Happy Square -1: 00 PM
DJ M-Sal - 2:00 PM
Nadir Simon on Saxophone - 2:45 PM
DJ Carmen San Diego - 3:00 PM
Dance Show by Amazing Ivana - 3:40PM
Rayna Music - 4:00 PM
Lulada Club - 5:00 PM
Brooklyn Nomads - 6:00 PM
Samo on Drums - 6:45 PM
Ashraf Mekawy with the Tanoura 7:15 PM
DJs On The Seven - 7:30 PM
Esseily - 8:30 PM
Sunday, May 17, 12-9pm
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Celebrate spring in NYC with exploring Indonesian Culinary & Culture!
LIVE in
THE LOT
2026
Live in The Lot is our free summer concert series, featuring live music every weekend!
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Note: In the event of rainy weather, Live in the Lot will move indoors to our front stage.
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​​​​Click Here for more info!
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Schedule subject to change. Be sure to check Culture Lab LIC on Instagram and Facebook for latest schedule and lineup updates.
​Kinancer: The Film
Presented by Steelstatue, Sheep Meadow Dance and Culture Lab LIC
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Join us for a screening of the film capturing the groundbreaking performances in January 2026.
Filmed at Saint Peter’s Church, Kinancer: The Film is a collaborative contemporary ballet with dancers interacting and activating a 750lb kinetic steel sculpture.
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Filmed and edited by Emma Mulligan and presented during the LIC Arts Open festival at Culture Lab LIC, May 17, 4pm.
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Stick around for a talkback with Choreographer Billy Blanken and Artist Jack Howard-Potter answering questions with complimentary snacks and a cash bar available.
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Sunday, May 17, 4-6pm
Doors at 3:30pm
Screening 4-5pm
Talkback with artists 5-6pm
LIC Summer Wellness Series
Presented by Sputnik Yoga
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Join Sputnik Yoga this summer at Culture Lab LIC for a series of community wellness sessions designed to bring people together through movement, music, and mindfulness.
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Each event offers a unique experience inspired by the energy of the season — from grounding yoga and Pride celebration to immersive movement and sound.
These outdoor sessions are open to all levels and welcome anyone looking to reconnect with their body, breath, and community.
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Host: Sputnik Yoga
Level: All levels welcome
What to bring: Yoga mat, water, comfortable clothing​
Saturday, May 23, 1-2pm
Spring Reset: Community Yoga with Sputnik Yoga
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Saturday, Jun 20, 1-2pm
Pride Flow: Move with Pride
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Saturday, Jul 18, 1-2pm
BlissIn Out: Mindful Movement & Music
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Saturday, Aug 15, 1-2pm
TBD Restore
SpeakEasier Language Exchange
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SpeakEasier was created in 2024 by Daniela Cantillo to celebrate and foster multilingualism in New York City. In early 2025, SpeakEasier partnered with Culture Lab LIC to bring to life the monthly SpeakEasier Language Exchange, where intermediate-to-advanced target speakers of Arabic, French, Farsi, and Spanish come together to practice their speaking skills through engaging conversation.
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Meet ups will be held on the fourth Saturday of every month.
Follow SpeakEasier on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook, and for language practice tips and insights right to your inbox, sign up for the newsletter here!
May 23, 2026
June 27, 2026
July 25, 2026
August 22, 2026
September 26, 2026
October 24, 2026
November 28, 2026
Ensemble Ipse
Siteworks:
Composer Soup Throwdown
Sunday, May 24, 3 - 4:30pm
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Up to 25 composers participate in "Siteworks: Composer Soup Throwdown." Composers’ audio files will be loaded into MIDI triggering webcam stations, which will be placed in a spatial arrangement around the performance area. Composers (and any gallery viewers) can wander around the stations throughout the event, triggering sounds as they like with their movements. Composers will hear their own sounds and the sounds of the other participating composers as the midi instruments cycle through the sounds periodically (and anonymously). Additionally, four Ensemble Ipse musicians will wander among the stations and improvise with the sounds. Participating composers gallery viewers can “cook” with the musicians!
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Ensemble Ipse is a dynamic contemporary music ensemble dedicated to presenting recent music that transcends aesthetic categorization while striving to create a forum for composers and sound artists that celebrates stylistic diversity. Ensemble Ipse is also dedicated to performing music of composers who have traditionally been overlooked, and may not have had the same opportunities others have been given. Ensemble Ipse’s "Siteworks" series of events offers free concerts in unusual spaces around New York City, often in locations where passers-by can experience sounds with dispersed placement. This series brings contemporary music to audiences which might not otherwise have access. Ensemble Ipse has been very pleased to receive funding from the NYC Cultural Development Fund, whose mission includes supporting “neighborhood-based groups that represent New York's extraordinary cultural breadth.”​
NYC Plant Market
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NYC Plant Market is more than a marketplace for plants. It’s a movement to reconnect New Yorkers with nature.
We bring together local plant shops, independent growers, and small nurseries across the city for a once-a-month curated community market that celebrates urban greening. From rare aroids, beginner houseplants, to handmade ceramic planters, we cultivate not just plants, but a green urban community. Our mission is to make green living accessible, sustainable, and rooted in local culture.
Whether you are a beginner or practically Mother Nature, this plant market is for you. Come join the party and learn a thing or two about nature and plants from the community that loves them.
Free entry, but donations are encouraged and highly appreciated.
NYC Plant Market is a project of Corse Design in collaboration with Culture Lab LIC.
2026 Schedule:
• May 24
• June 21
• July 19
• August 23
• September 20
• October 18
Funky Formal
Culture Lab LIC's Informal Gala of the Year
May 28, 7-10pm
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You get funky. We get funded! Join us for Funky Formal, our signature informal gala and a vibrant lead-up to our main gala on September 16.
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Leave convention at the door. Think bold style, a disco-inspired atmosphere, and a room full of people ready to celebrate, connect, and support a worthy cause.
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Soak in the sunset with great music and refreshing drinks, then let the evening take over.
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On the night:
- Hit the dance floor in a lively, disco-inspired atmosphere...
- Join the optional dance competition for a chance to win a bottle of champagne or a curated gift basket...
- Compete for Best “Funky Fit” and take the crown for the most standout look of the night...
- Try your luck with raffle tickets for a chance to win exciting prizes...
- Other surprises soon to be announced!
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No pressure to compete. Come to dance, come to watch, or simply come to enjoy the room.
Why it matters: Every ticket and raffle entry directly supports our programs and helps build momentum leading into our main gala in September. This is a chance to be part of something meaningful without it feeling like a fundraiser.
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Dress code: Funky Formal. Elevated, expressive, bold.
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Grab your ticket, bring your energy, and we will see you on the dance floor!​
Frozen In Time
The Art of Richard Bello
​Exhibition on view April 2 - May 31, 2026 during normal gallery hours: Thursday & Friday, 5-9pm, and Saturday & Sunday, 2-9pm
Thanks to our sponsors: Plaxall Properties, Steve Madden, TF Cornerstone, Douglaston Development, Paragon LIC, Schuman Properties, SPR Law, Howard Gilman Foundation, New York State Council on the Arts
ROOTED
ARTISTS OF LIC
Curated by Tess Howsam and Kenny Greenberg
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​Exhibition on view April 2 - May 31, 2026 during normal gallery hours: Thursday & Friday, 5-9pm, and Saturday & Sunday, 2-9pm
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Long Island City is one of the fastest-growing communities in New York City, with a remarkable 78% growth since 2013. With the recent rezoning, recognizing the neighborhood’s artistic roots has become a vital part of its story. As LIC continues to expand, we cannot forget the artists who established its creative foundation and enabled this thriving community. Artists such as Alanna Heiss (MoMA PS1), Pat DiLillo (5Points), Mark di Suvero (Socrates Sculpture Park), and Isamu Noguchi (Noguchi Museum) are widely cited as artistic leaders who paved the way for the artists and institutions that followed.
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Rooted: The Artists of Long Island City celebrates not only these revered leaders but also the many other artists who contributed to the community’s creative fabric. The exhibition traces LIC’s artistic lineage, from late artists who helped define the neighborhood to contemporary artists continuing this legacy today.
Pawp-Up in The Lot
"Pawp-Ups" are back at Culture Lab LIC!
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Previously known as our "Pup-Ups", we are making sure to include our feline friends!
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Join us 1-4pm on the first Sunday of every month from May-Oct as local rescues pawp-up with dogs and cats in need of fosters and forever homes!
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Already have a furry bestie? Bring them along and meet other pet owners in the community, browse pet apparel, services, food & treats among local vendors! And since our gallery is dog friendly, you can browse the exhibits - make sure to stop at our front desk for complimentary treats!
Vendor slots are filling up but we're still looking for folks who think the animal community will benefit/appreciate your goods and services!
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-Food & Treats
-Services (walker, daycare, groomers)
-Pet Apparel/Gear
-Pet portraits
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We're especially grateful to @bondvet for their sponsorship this year, ensuring animals get adopted and local businesses thrive!
Upcoming Dates:
June 7
July 12
August 2
September 6
October 4
Showgirl Sunday: Cocktails at Church
Sun, Jun 7, 4pm - 6:30pm
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Showgirl Sunday: Cocktails at Church
An Exclusive Debut of Les Belles de Paris
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Step into a chic Parisian afternoon of glamour, champagne, and feathers at Showgirl Sunday: Cocktails at Church—an elegant cabaret experience celebrating the debut of Les Belles de Paris. Produced by The Cabaret Burlesque in collaboration with Culture Lab LIC, this special event invites guests to indulge in a stylish soirée inspired by the romance and flair of a Sunday brunch in Paris.
Les Belles de Paris is a New York City–based performative showgirl company under the direction of Nathalie Marrable. Blending classic Parisian showgirl technique with modern theatrical elegance, this dazzling ensemble will transport audiences to the grand cabarets of Europe. Influenced by Marrable’s experience performing and choreographing in France and Germany, the evening promises a playful, immersive celebration of fashion, flair, and feather fans, as well as some cheeky guests!
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Guests are invited to dress to impress in the theme “Sunday Brunch in Paris” and enjoy cocktails before the show begins.
Join us for an unforgettable afternoon of glamour, laughter, and Parisian charm.
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Weapons of Mass Seduction
June 11-21
Under an even more Trump-than-Trump president — the bombastic Karen Blare — the United States is waging a “culture war” against its new enemy: woke Canada. Determined to win the fight without casualties (or headlines), Blare demands a new kind of non-lethal weapon. Her loyal but dim-witted General Fardmann has the perfect idea: resurrect the long-rumored “Gay Bomb.”
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To make it work, they must thaw out Professor. Victor Vexx — a brilliant, genderfluid chemical weapons scientist frozen since the summer of love in 67 — and assign CIA agent Valerie Steele to keep them in check.
But as Vexx sets their sights on sparking a queer revolution from within, Blare’s administration prepares to test the bomb on a small conservative Southern town. When the plan leaks, chaos erupts. Glitter flies, loyalties shift, and the battle lines between repression and liberation blur in an explosion of camp, color, and chemical warfare.
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This piece detonates a glittery critique of military machismo, political hypocrisy, and homophobia — flipping the script so that queer people aren’t the victims of the system, but the ones who joyfully, fabulously, and furiously blow it up from the inside.
Open Call
Queens: The Art of Drag & NYC
Submission Deadline: Monday, May 11 11:59pm
Exhibition on view: June 5 - August 2
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Queens: The Art of Drag & NYC celebrates drag as one of the most dynamic, political, and imaginative art forms of our time. Through photography, portraiture, costume, video, installation, and performance ephemera, this exhibition spotlights the craft, discipline, and creative labor behind transformation.
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Rooted in a lineage that is deeply intertwined with New York City’s cultural history, the exhibition honors drag’s evolution across decades of queer nightlife, ballroom houses, cabaret stages, underground clubs, and activist movements.
From Harlem’s pioneering drag balls of the early 20th century, to the queer liberation spearheaded in Greenwich Village, to the legendary clubs of the East Village and Brooklyn that continue to shape global drag aesthetics, New York has long been a crucible for drag innovation. Its artists, houses, and communities have defined styles, sparked revolutions, and demonstrated the power of drag as both resistance and reinvention.
Open Call
Form & Function
The Art of Graphic Design
Submission Deadline: 11:59pm EST, August 31
Exhibition on view: October 1 - Nov 1, 2026
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Graphic design, often relegated to a commercial or functional category, is a practice rich with visual innovation, conceptual depth, and emotional resonance. "Form & Function" will present a curated selection of graphic design works that transcend their immediate commercial purpose, demonstrating mastery of composition, color, typography, and image-making on par with fine art.
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The show appeals to a broad audience such as design professionals, art enthusiasts, and the general public by engaging with a medium they encounter daily. It will stimulate debate, draw new demographics to the gallery, and position the organization as a thought leader in contemporary visual culture. We seek to definitively argue that when driven by aesthetic intent, conceptual rigor, and expressive freedom, graphic design is undeniably art.
Open Call:
Hidden Stories
The Secret Language of Still Life & Floriography
Submission Deadline: 11:59pm EST, June 19
Exhibition on view: August 13 - September 27
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​This exhibition situates contemporary still life within its historical lineage, while expanding its language through the parallel framework of floriography—the coded symbolism of flowers. Historically also used to communicate what could not be spoken openly, floriography offers a subtle yet potent vocabulary of emotion, resistance, and intention. When placed in dialogue with still life, these two traditions reveal a shared capacity for concealment and disclosure.
In reexamining still life, this exhibition proposes that these “still” objects are anything but passive and flowers are more than just beautiful. Instead, they are active carriers of meaning—holding within them the possibility of reflection, critique, and transformation.
Open Call for Art:
Sculpture Garden
at Hunter's Point South
TF Cornerstone in collaboration with Culture Lab LIC, is launching another open call for public outdoor sculptures in the new public open space along the Long Island City waterfront, situated between 5203 and 5241 Center Blvd, Long Island City.
Currently boasting an active sculpture garden the intention is to grow the outdoor garden welcoming three new works to the site.
Artists may submit proposals for a new or an existing work of art. Artists may also submit proposals for one or multiple sculptures. Work by local artists in the Long Island City area will be prioritized in the selection process.
We encourage artists to visit the garden site before submitting.
Submission deadline: May 15, 11:59pm, 2026
Selected Artists notified June 1, 2026
Opening reception set for Thursday October 8, 2026
New Works Lab 2026
We are proud to announce and congratulate our 2026 New Works Lab Residents (previous Emergence Artist in Residence)!
Lucier&Rose @lucierandrose
notAmuse Theater @notamuse_theater
Jiemin Yang @jiemin.art
Barkha Dance Company @barkha_dance
Culture Lab LIC's New Works Lab is a developmental performing arts program geared toward the support and creation of new work.
​Started in 2021 by former Director of Performing Arts, Tana Sirois, the residency began as a desire to offer free rehearsal and performance space to performing artists. Since its conception the residency has been further developed and led by Artistic Director Tess Howsam expanding the program to include peer review sessions during the artists year and culminating in Culture Lab LIC’s New Works Festival November and December.
Thanks to our sponsors: Plaxall Properties, Steve Madden, TF Cornerstone, Douglaston Development, Paragon LIC, Schuman Properties, SPR Law, Howard Gilman Foundation, New York State Council on the Arts
Culture Lab LIC is One of Boasts Best of LIC
The results are in, and we are thrilled to announce that Culture Lab LIC has been voted a BOAST: Best of Astoria & LIC 2025 Winner!
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We are so excited, proud and grateful to the community for their votes and support!
In the DO & SEE section, we were voted:
• Best Museum
• Best Organization or Cause to Contribute To
• Best Performing Arts Venue
• Best Place for Live Music​
Become a Member!
Culture Lab LIC is celebrating 5 years & we need you to help us build the next 5!
Thanks to you, in 2024 our mission to bring impactful art to Western Queens has flourished beyond our wildest dreams. Your contributions--whether through donations, volunteer efforts, or simply by spreading the word about our initiatives --have helped us to make a profound difference in the lives of artists and art lovers in our community.
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Your generous support not only fueled our programs but also directly impacted the artists we serve, providing them with invaluable opportunities and resources, and a platform to share their stories, visions, and inspirations with the world.
With your continued support in the coming year, we aim to expand our reach, continue to present local and international artists, and further enrich our community through art.
Here are 3 ways you can help...
Donate so we can continue to present the great art & events you love.
Help us keep our doors open by becoming an Official Sponsor!
Our ART GALLERY is open Thursday & Friday, 5-9pm, and Saturday & Sunday, 2-10pm. Keep your eye on our social media for updates on our upcoming theatre, dance and comedy performances!
As a member of Culture Lab LIC, you directly support dozens of arts, cultural and neighborhood organizations enjoyed by the entire community. As a Thank You for your awesomeness, each of our membership levels offer something for everyone: $2 off drinks, early viewings to monthly exhibitions, artists talks, Culture Lab LIC swag, and discounts to theater, dance, music concerts, and special events. We have an exciting season ahead of us and we cannot wait to share it with you!
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NYC Council Member Julie Won
NYC State Senator Kristen Gonzalez​
Karen Dimit in Loving Memory of Greg Dimit
