A new public art installation will kick off the Mellon Foundation-funded Culture, Creativity, & Care Initiative in Harlem this summer with an engaging reflection of the history of Marcus Garvey Park and the cultural craft traditions of the various communities which surround it.

Friday, June 16th, will mark the grand opening of “Sankofa,” a circular 32-foot structure that serves as an art gallery and public gathering space for residents of the neighborhood who will meet underneath its mesh fabric canopy’s complex composition print. 

The project was initiated by the Black-led artists collective Harlem Grown and Jerome Haferd of BRANDT : HAFERD. The design team describes:

“‘Sankofa’ is the first outdoor hub to be unveiled as part of the initiative. ‘Sankofa’ derives from the Akan African folklore, symbolizing remembrance of things forgotten, and means ‘in order to know our future we must look to our past’. The installation is a new design inspired by centuries of tradition and will host a range of events and art that celebrate the rich histories of Harlem’s communities while showcasing fresh interpretations of those ideas.”

A rotating art exhibition will feature the work of local artists throughout the course of the summer. The canopy’s motif is further said to evoke the “mythology” of the park and is aided by other visual references to the history of Harlem and its dynamic streetscape. 

Planning for the project incorporated extensive input from community members along with various types of artists who applied their expertise towards its modular construction, which can later be disassembled and reused in other locations.

Haferd was joined by Violet Greenberg, Tiffany Gonzalez, and Gabriel Moyer-Perez (who served as the installation’s project manager) on the construction of the structure. 

The project is the first of several funded through the Culture, Creativity, & Care Initiative, which will impact multiple communities throughout New York City with similar public art programs this summer and next. 

Harlem Grown is also promoting an RFP for both events and art to be hosted in 2024. Applications are due by October 1st of this year. Projects up to $50,000 are eligible for full- or partial funding through the initiative. More information about the “Sankofa” initiative can be found here.