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Uptown Arts Stroll Kicks Off 25 Day Arts Celebration

By Carla Zanoni | June 2, 2011 5:15pm

By Carla Zanoni

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

UPPER MANHATTAN — June will get a little more creative as the area's month-long arts festival kicks off in Washington Heights Thursday night.

The Uptown Arts Stroll, put on by the Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance (NOMAA), will feature art exhibitions, outdoor theater, dance, music and open studios throughout the month with neighborhood stores, groups and eating establishments playing host to a host of art forms.

Beginning the stroll is a community festival at the Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Educational Center featuring El Carnaval del Boulevard, a "celebration of Dominican and Latino culture," produced by the Juan Pablo Duarte Foundation, The Shabazz Center, and the Washington Heights Business Improvement District.

Lin Manuel Miranda
Lin Manuel Miranda
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Sandra Garcia Betancourt, NOMAA executive director and CEO, said she has been excited to see the evnt grow each year as it presents more art opportunities close to home.

"We have a very rich artist base here," she said. "We don’t have to leave, we can stay right here."

Or, as Lin Manuel Miranda, Inwood native and creator of the Tony award winning Broadway musical "In the Heights" said in a promo for the event, "We're claiming our own little corner of New York, we're saying, 'We make stuff up here."