West Harlem Art Fund and New York Artist Equity Association are pleased to announce the second rendition of Harlem Sculpture Gardens (HSG), a large-scale outdoor exhibition, curated to foster joy and beauty within the Harlem community. Opening on May 2nd this exhibition runs until October 30, 2025. Sculpture and design works will be displayed in three historic parks and one plaza. Among the sites are:

Morningside Park, St. Nicholas Park, Jackie Robinson Park, Montefiore Park

Featured Artists will include Motohiro Takeda, Coby Kennedy, Peter Miller, David Sheldon, Dianne Smith and Iliana Emilia Garcia.

Sculpture parks were first created in the United States between the 1960s and the 1980s, including Griffis Sculpture Park, Storm King, Olympic Sculpture Park, Socrates Park, and Ann and Jim Goodnight Museum Park, which is affiliated with the North Carolina Museum of Art. Newer parks include the EJI Legacy Sites, Carol R. Brown Sculpture Garden at Hartwood Acres Park, Glenn Green Galleries & Sculpture Garden, Benson Sculpture Garden or Brookgreen Gardens.

Several of these parks are privately owned and operated, while others are located on public lands managed in conjunction with local municipalities.

West Harlem Art Fund and NY Artist Equity Association, the co-presenters of Harlem Sculpture Gardens (HSG), are leveraging public land to present a sculpture park across historic sites in neighborhoods of color. This approach radically deconstructs prevailing curatorial hegemonies that scaffold a hierarchal and monetized presentation of visual art which in turn preserves segregationist narratives and a selective practitioner and viewership pool based on class and color.   

By activating public space with art, HSG empowers a diverse collective uniting curators, artists, donors, municipal agencies and allied intuitions in a common effort to map humanist principles and creationist liberties as accessible universals.  In addition to architecting diverse cultural icon markers, HSG focuses attention and resources on resiliency and housing issues impacting urban parkland and the built environment. Adjacent programming supports climate research, community-based conservation efforts, and workforce development.

Lastly, West Harlem Art Fund and NY Artist Equity Association, will be expanding its public art programming in 2025 to include partnerships with Lower East Side and East Village community gardens.

About the West Harlem Art Fund (https://westharlem.art)

The West Harlem Art Fund (WHAF) is a twenty-five-year-old, public art and new media organization. WHAF seeks opportunities for artists and creative professionals throughout NYC and beyond wishing to showcase and share their talent. The West Harlem Art Fund presents art and culture in open and public spaces to add aesthetic interest; promote historical and cultural heritage; and support community involvement in local development. Our heritage symbol Afuntummireku-denkyemmtreku: is the double crocodile from West Africa Ghana which means unity in diversity.

About New York Artist Equity Association (https://www.nyartistsequity.org)

New York Artist Equity Association was founded in 1947 to promote opportunities for artists and address economic issues affecting American artists. More than 160 leading American artists of the 1940s founded the organization, including Will Barnet, Thomas Hart Benton, George Biddle, Paul Cadmus, Stuart Davis, Arthur Dove, Marsden Hartley, Edward Hopper, Leon Kroll, Jacob Lawrence, John Marin, Louise Nevelson, John Sloan and the first President Yasuo Kuniyoshi. These diverse artists were all clear on one point — they had to band together to establish and protect artists’ economic well-being. Today NYAE continues to support the professional aspirations of unrecognized and emerging artists, particularly those from underrepresented groups, by providing them with exhibition opportunities, educational programing, and a vibrant community of artists, collectors, curators, and art educators. To receive the Call to Artists information, please email the West Harlem Art Fund at (westharlemartfund12@gmail.com) or NY Artists Equity Association at (info@nyartistsequity.org)