Two new exhibitions will be on display at the Sugar Hill Children’s Museum of Art & Storytelling beginning May 2nd. Human Spectrum: Narrated by Faith Ringgold will be on view through September 22nd and extends the Museum’s yearlong celebration of iconic author, activist, and artist Faith Ringgold. Heather Hart: The Oracle of Amplitude by multidisciplinary artist Heather Hart will be on view through January 19, 2020.
Human Spectrum: Narrated by Faith Ringgold explores the ideas of civilization, family and community inherent in her work. In Human Spectrum Ringgold’s illustrations are paired with an arresting series of soft sculptures. Amplifying the artist’s longstanding commitment to activism this exhibition is anchored in the rich cultural and political heritage of the artist’s home of Sugar Hill. As the author and illustrator of seventeen acclaimed children’s books, art and storytelling from the pages of “Harlem Renaissance Party”, “We Came to America”, as well as “Tar Beach”, Faith Ringgold’s modern classic and first published book for young readers, are on view throughout the exhibition.
This exhibition is accompanied by a yearlong roster of intergenerational programs exploring the global impact of the life and legacy of Faith Ringgold. Each program has been devised to spotlight how the artist has sparked the imagination of children through art and storytelling, empowering them and their families to better comprehend and address the complexities of racism, representation, and identity with dignity and hope.
The Oracle of Amplitude by Heather Hart, also opens on May 2nd and will be on view through January 19, 2020. The Oracle of Amplitude is Hart’s ninth site-specific installation in the rooftop Oracles series and the first in Manhattan. The exhibition is an independent rooftop, similar to Hart’s own gabled roof from childhood, edging its way into the gallery floor. Over the course of the exhibition, Hart invites visitors to interact with the life-sized roof to explore, to look, to talk, and to listen as the roof will be activated with live performances and storytelling sessions.
The Sugar Hill Children’s Museum, located at 898 St. Nicholas Avenue at 155th Street, is dedicated to art and storytelling for children and their families in the historic Sugar Hill section of Harlem, NY. Museum Director and Chief Curator Lauren Kelley says “Our newest exhibitions complement each other in honoring the resident within the community and the power of the human voice. Human Spectrum continues to assert that Sugar Hill is a deep treasure trove of individuals and tales to discover, and The Oracle of Amplitude affirms that the oral tradition is essential to ensure that a community’s treasure is never buried and forgotten.”