Marcus Garvey Park has a plethora of art over this past few months, with the installation of Susan Stair: Ascending the Mountain and Thomas J. Price: Witness, added to the park’s weekly music and dance. Now, we look forward to the unveiling of Alice Mizrachi: Renaissance Women, an abstract, figurative sculpture that honors women of the Harlem Renaissance ~ paving the way for many of the artists today, including Mizrachi.
The Marcus Garvey Park Alliance (MGPA), a Harlem not-for-profit park advocacy organization, and artist Alice Mizrachi announced the installation of Renaissance Women in Marcus Garvey Park near the West 124th Street and Fifth Avenue entrance to the park. The artwork is exhibited as part of NYC Parks’ Art in the Parks program and will be on view until August 31, 2022. An opening reception will be held Saturday, October 16 at 3:00 to 4:30 pm following a neighborhood wide daffodil bulb planting in the park as part of It’s My Park Day. The reception will include a hands on workshop conducted by Mizrachi. Alice Mizrachi Will Present a Collage Workshop at Marcus Garvey Park in Harlem, NY after the opening of Renaissance Women on October 16, 2021 at 3 pm as part of the City Artist Corps Grants program, presented by The New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA), with support from the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment (MOME) as well as Queens Theatre.
“The contour line drawing style translates fluidly in this three-dimensional form and symbolizes the frequent use of musical improvisation during the Harlem Renaissance. “The flow of line is synonymous to the flow of jazz music. The hand forged steel sculpture is intimate and low profile to allow visitors to engage at eye level and connect in a visceral manner,”….. Alice Mizrachi.
Connie Lee, Chair of the Public Art Committee, Marcus Garvey Park Alliance added, “This newest installation in Marcus Garvey Park is the artists first public sculpture and we are excited to help her bring it to life. The figurative sculpture engages people where they are and I have observed visitors gathering on blankets, practicing yoga and simply enjoying being in her presence”
Valerie Jo Bradley, Co-Founder and President of the Marcus Garvey Park Alliance said, “Public art in the park fits in with the Alliance’s goal to attract new and existing park users to our gem of a park and engage them. Renaissance Women celebrates Harlem women and the role they have played throughout Harlem’s history to keep it vibrant and to reinforce its sense of place.”
Alice Mizrachi is a mixed media artist of Middle Eastern descent whose practice includes work as a muralist, fine artist, educator, and curator. As an educator, she has worked in Harlem and the Bronx for 23 years where she shared the experience of the art created during the Harlem Renaissance with her students. Her artwork has been featured at the Museum of the City of NY, the National Museum of Women in the Arts and Albright-Knox Museum; and, in a variety of publications including 2Create, Outdoor Gallery: NYC, NY Times, Huffington Post, and Architectural Digest.
Renaissance Women is made possible in part with funding from: Marcus Garvey Park Alliance, LMCC (Lower Manhattan Cultural Council), New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, New York State Council on the Arts, and Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone Development Corporation (UMEZ), Roger Baumann, Geoffrey Chorbajian, Ian Wilson and Alice Mizrachi’s community through generous donations via crowdsourcing.
While you’re in Marcus Garvey Park, walk up the steps to the Acropolis and view the historic Harlem Fire Watchtower. If it’s Saturday, you might hear the Harlem Drummers playing on the Madison Avenue side of the park.