Public Art & New Media Silver Anniversary
New York, NY… In the exhibition Root of Color, artists showcase the role that color has played in bridging cultures, emotions, and traditions throughout history. For this special show in AHL’s uptown gallery, four artists of Korean and Afro-Latino backgrounds were selected. AHL Foundation, Inc. supports artists of Korean heritage working in the United States […]
Kicking off the organization’s 25th anniversary, Savona Bailey-McClain, Executive Director of the West Harlem Art Fund and her organization presented a panel discussion–New Narratives in Museum Collectionsfor Master Drawings New York at the Academy of Arts and Letters on January 22nd. According to Bailey-McClain, “This is our 4th year participating with Master Drawings New York. […]
Below are the names of Black entertainers that lived in a three block radius in Central Harlem now a historic district. This shows that talent was in abundance in our community. These names are now forgotten. Let’s bring them back by saying their names. It’s quite a list. 1920 Census West 130th Street Brown, Alfred […]
I am examining the relativity of global indigenous geometric patterns, specifically West African Kente schema, as a possible progenitor of modern digital cultures. I see overwhelming similarities in basic constructions and designs of computer processing chips and video games to the geometrical weave of the cloth. The vividly bold colors, precise hard lines, sequential rhythms […]
Last night, a special tour of Faith Ringgold’s retrospective was offered at the New Museum by Artnoir. The works were stunning. Overwhelming at times. Everyone learned something new about Harlem’s Faith Ringgold. We highly recommend that folks see this show. The works inspired by France are worth seeing alone. There are costumes and dolls that were […]
This coming Friday, West Harlem Art Fund will moderate a panel discussion on Mexican Muralism and its impact on American art. If you are familiar with the subject, you know that the movement was immortalized by Diego Rivera, Jose Clemente Orozco, and David Siqueiros. But their reach crossed North America too with several artists of […]
Hugh Hayden’s practice considers the anthropomorphization of the natural world as a visceral lens for exploring the human condition. Hayden transforms familiar objects through a process of selection, carving and juxtaposition to challenge our perceptions of ourselves, others and the environment. Raised in Texas and trained as an architect, his work arises from a […]
To learn even more, you can now sign up as a member and get special videos, information and invitations to special events. Tap dance is an indigenous American dance genre that evolved over a period of some three hundred years. Initially a fusion of British and West African musical and step-dance traditions in America, […]
Covid 19 revealed that many Americans wanted to connect more with nature, people, and meaningful activities. For years, the arts community has been trying to engage the public. It wasn’t until we lost those connections that people rallied to save them. The West Harlem Art Fund is developing two Public Program Fellowships to create programs […]
My work revolves around an exploration of identity, more specifically, the intersections of Blackness and womanhood. I am interested in the ways in which this physical identity can serve as a positive force of connection and closeness, while also examining its imposed relationship to otherness. Giovanna Swaby is a Bahamian artist, currently based in Vancouver. She […]
Jordan Casteel is having her first New York solo museum show at the tender age of 31. An exhibition of nearly 40 canvases spanning seven years — opens at the New Museum on Feb. 19th. Many of the paintings are from her series “Nights in Harlem,” which depict African American men in the same Harlem […]
Palmer Hayden, Harlem Renaissance artist and beyond Palmer Hayden’s birth was on November 9th 1890. He was an African American painter whose work became known during the Harlem Renaissance. Born Peyton Cole Hedgeman in Wide Water, Virginia, he was a prolific artist of his era. He depicted African American life, painting in both oils and […]
Born in 1924 in New York City, James Baldwin published the 1953 novel Go Tell It on the Mountain, going on to garner acclaim for his insights on race, spirituality and humanity. Other novels included Giovanni’s Room, Another Country and Just Above My Head as well as essay works like Notes of a Native Son […]
American singer and dancer, a leading performer during the Jazz Age and the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s Florence Mills, known as the “Queen of Happiness” was one of the most successful entertainers of the 1920s. Many spoke about her enchanting qualities, but it was her singing that was most spellbinding. James Weldon Johnson’s assessment […]
We wish to thank the artists that we have presented to serve the people of New York City with diverse art work. […]
My belief is that it is most important for an artist to develop an approach and philosophy about life – if he has developed this philosophy, he does not put paint on canvas, he puts himself on canvas. Jacob Lawrence In honor of the centennial of […]
Derrick Adams is a multidisciplinary New York-based artist working in performance, video, sound and 2D and 3D realms. His practice focuses on the fragmentation and manipulation of structure and surface, exploring self image and forward projection. A recipient of a 2009 Louis Comfort Tiffany Award, and 2014 S.J. Weiler Award, Adams received his MFA from […]
Ella Fitzgerald, known as the “First Lady of Song” and “Lady Ella”, was an American jazz and song vocalist who interpreted much of the Great American Songbook. Synopsis Following a troubled childhood, Ella Fitzgerald turned to singing and debuted at the Apollo Theater in 1934. Discovered in an amateur contest, she went on to became […]
Black Power! serves as another touchstone in the Schomburg’s “Black Power 50” focus, a yearlong examination into the 50th anniversary of the Black Power movement. Stokely Carmichael and fellow Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) worker Willie Ricks introduced Black Power as a concept in June 1966. Black Power! is located in the newly-renovated Main Exhibition […]
WEST HARLEM ART FUND 