If You Build It
155th Street & St. Nicholas Avenue, New York 10032
Description
On No Longer Empty's 5-year anniversary of presenting site-specific art, the exhibition “If You Build It” takes root in Sugar Hill—the legendary epicenter of the Harlem Renaissance. The project is inspired and presented in partnership with Broadway Housing Communities at their newest site, designed by architect David Adjaye. Reflecting an integrated approach to housing and architecture, the project forges connections between art, architecture, community, and activism.
“If You Build It” will feature installations, photography, and performances by more than twenty local, national, and international artists. The works in the exhibition will address cycles of urban decay and regeneration; building community through shared heritage; immigration and displacement; the longing for home in all its senses; and the vast economic disparities that plague our cities.
The multi-floor exhibition leads visitors from the ground floor to the ninth and back finally to the third floors where additional works, installations, and apartments are curated by invited neighborhood organizations.
The project will incorporate multi-disciplinary cultural events and the next editions of No Longer Empty’s signature education programs—the Y.Dot Youth Docent Program, Teens Curate Teens in partnership with ArtsConnection, and No Longer Bored Family Days. Stay tuned for the full calendar of events.
“If You Build It” previews the building and shows Broadway Housing Communities commitment to the arts. The site’s future as the Sugar Hill Children’s Museum of Art & Storytelling will be a cultural anchor of the community. Setting forth a radical example of what can be achieved when art and architecture are united with goals for spatial and social justice, this project signifies the desire not only to house, but to house with dignity and sustain community.
To view the press release, click here or visit our press corner. Press highlights from If You Build It available for download via ISSUU.
If You Build It Catalog available for purchase here.
COLLABORATORS
Art in FLUX / ArtsConnection / The Classical Theatre of Harlem / Dominican York Proyecto GRAFICA / Harlem Arts Alliance / LeRoy Neiman Art Center/ Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance / Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture / Sugar Hill Culture Club / Taste of Harlem / The New School Collaboratory
JOIN THE CONVERSATION: #buildit #sugarhill #sweetlife
VIEW PHOTOS: Installation shots and event photos on Facebook
SURVEY: For all of you that visited the exhibition, please take our If You Build It survey to share your experience.
This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and with generous support from National Endowment for the Arts, Joan Mitchell Foundation, The Laurie M Tisch Illumination Fund, The Pinkerton Foundation, The Robert Lehman Foundation, The Wolf Kahn and Emily Mason Foundation, Northern Ireland Bureau, The Double R Foundation, The Foundation for Contemporary Arts, and The Tony Bennett Foundation/Exploring the Arts.
Image: Sketch of Sugar Hill Development, courtesy of David Adjaye Associates.
Related events and programs
- April 30, 2014 - Y. Dot in Sugar Hill // Youth Docent Program
- June 25, 2014 - On View: Writing Blackness: Harlem | Paris
- June 25, 2014 - On View: The Women of Sugar Hill by Broadway Housing Communities
- June 25, 2014 - On View: New York, Naturally by Sugar Hill Culture Club
- June 25, 2014 - On View: Suite HAA by Harlem Arts Alliance
- June 25, 2014 - On View: HOME presented by Omo Misha- “a creative institution”
- June 25, 2014 - On View: We been here by the Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance
- June 25, 2014 - On View: Down Under in Harlem 360 by Art in FLUX
- June 25, 2014 - On View: "Total Reset" by the Institute for Public Architecture
- June 25, 2014 - On View: HERE + THERE by DOMINCIAN YORK PROYECTO GRAFICA
- June 25, 2014 - On View: Teens Curate Teens "Rose From The Concrete"
- June 25, 2014 - Opening: If You Build It
- June 26, 2014 - Cheek-to-Cheek: Exploring the Dancer & Presenter Relationship
- June 27, 2014 - Final Cut: From Film Concept to Realization
- June 27, 2014 - Networking: Building a Community of Educators
- June 28, 2014 - No Longer Bored Family Day: Building Sugar Hill
- June 28, 2014 - Teens Curate Teens: "Infinite Youth" Concert
- June 28, 2014 - Artist Salon by Omo Misha, a creative institution
- June 29, 2014 - Network It Out: Making the Right Connections
- July 12, 2014 - No Longer Bored Family Day:"Telling My Story"
- July 19, 2014 - Lessons from the NannyVan
- July 19, 2014 - No Longer Bored: Teens Curate Teens Public Program
- July 19, 2014 - Discussion: W.O.B.I.A. (Women Bare it All)
- July 26, 2014 - Music: New Renaissance Sessions [Multiple Dates]
- July 26, 2014 - Workshop: HERE + THERE [Multiple Dates]
- July 27, 2014 - Curator-Artist Speed Consultations
- August 02, 2014 - Talk about Gallery in the Arts Excology
- August 02, 2014 - No Longer Bored Family Day: Feeling Good
- August 02, 2014 - Workshops: Relief Lab
- August 07, 2014 - Workshop: Total Reset [Multiple Dates]
- August 08, 2014 - Y. Dot Youth Docent Tours in Harlem [Weekends]
- August 09, 2014 - Workshop: Wendell's World of Fashion/Art [Multiple Dates]
- August 09, 2014 - Talk: Rhetoric vs Reality Discussion
- August 09, 2014 - Macbeth in 15 Minutes [Multiple Dates]
- August 09, 2014 - Performance: Writing Blackness!
- August 10, 2014 - Artist Talk: Wanted by Dread Scott
Neighborhood
If You Build It
Sponsors
June 25, 2014 - August 10, 2014
Artists
- Mequitta Ahuja
- Raúl Ayala
- Aziz + Cucher
- Radcliffe Bailey
- Sonia Louise Davis
- Élan
- Iliana Emilia Garcia
- Scherezade Garcia
- Jamison, Brendan & Mark Revels
- Carlos Mare
- Omo Misha
- Shani Peters
- Kameelah Janan Rasheed
- Freddy Rodríguez
- Moses Ros-Suárez
- Bayeté Ross Smith
- Dread Scott
- Hank Willis Thomas
- William Villalongo
- Nari Ward