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Kew Gardens Kids to Paint Mural and Learn Cartooning at Local Festival

 One of the biggest attractions of the event is paining of a temporary "mural."
One of the biggest attractions of the event is paining of a temporary "mural."
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courtesy of Kira Lacks

QUEENS — Kew Gardens kids will learn the art of cartooning, paint a temporary mural and engage in other art-related activities during a popular neighborhood festival next week, the organizers said.

The free event, organized annually at Kew Gardens Cinemas Park on Austin Street, near Lefferts Boulevard, has attracted roughly 300 participants every year with a variety of activities "for kids to express themselves creatively," organizers said.

One of the main draws of the annual Kew Gardens Kids Art in the Park event will be a temporary “mural,” painted on a 6-by-12 foot piece of vinyl.

The mural, said Kira Lacks, 28, who organizes the event this year, “is definitely one of our most popular attractions.”

Kids will paint the surface of the vinyl on both sides with "whatever [design] they envision." 

“It’s there for children to express themselves freely with paint on canvass,” Lacks said.

The mural will be later covered with primer and reused next year, according to organizers.

This year, children will also learn how to draw cartoons, and David Ezra Stein, a children's author and illustrator, will be there as well to talk about his work.

Ezra Stein, who lives in Kew Gardens, will also keep kids busy with storytelling, the organizers said.

Children will also get a chance to “create individual masterpieces at the open arts and crafts workshop table,” where they will be coloring, drawing and learning how to make puppets.

There will also be face painting and a photo-booth, and the Potter's Wheel, a local ceramics studio, will showcase a variety of clay crafts.

“We are very focused on celebrating the community of Kew Gardens,” Lacks said, but she added that families from other neighborhoods are also welcome to participate.

Kew Gardens Kids Art in the Park will take place on Sunday, June 8, from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in Kew Gardens Cinemas Park on Austin Street off of Lefferts Blvd. (Rain date: Saturday, June 21.) The event is free. Kids of all ages are invited.