Prior to the Harlem Fine Arts Show’s 15th anniversary celebration, which will take place in New York City on February 24-26, 2023, several of the included artists met in Harlem to discuss their work and the value of the HFAS’s platform for “African diasporic artists.”
Image courtesy of Harlem Fine Arts Show
The Harlem Fine Arts Show (HFAS) is not only the largest traveling African Diasporic art show in the United States, it also celebrates the African Diaspora by bringing together contemporary artists with the growing class of collectors. The goal of facilitating this coming together is to showcase cultural ideas and raise awareness of this extraordinary body of work created by these international, national and local artists. It provides a platform for highlighting advances made in the arts, education, economics, healthcare, and throughout the communities to which it travels. It recognizes and honors those who, by working in these various sectors, have dedicated themselves to raising up their communities and those who live in them.
The 15th Anniversary Celebration: Celebrating Art and Culture in America is inspired by the Harlem Renaissance; the 2023 curator for the three-day experience will be Debra Vanderburg Spencer, the award-winning and museum-trained Curator and Art Historian who has worked with: U.S. Congress, Architect of the Capitol, National Endowment for the Arts, William J. Clinton Foundation and The Romanian Cultural Institute in Bucharest, Romania. Ms. Spencer has guided many art initiatives for institutions such as Harlem’s 125th Street Improvement District, New York Foundation for the Arts and the Harlem Arts Alliance.
There are art enthusiasts that took part in this talk. Ademola Olugebefola, an artist that has believed in the mission of HFAS from the very beginning, is one of them. Olugebefola was one of the founding members of the WEUSI Artist Collective, and has been an advocate for Black art and artist since the 1960s. He believes in the show is one of a kind and he voices the lack of art expos in major cities featuring solely artists of African Descent. Olugebefola said the show is an important place for old and young to interact and learn from each other.
Image courtesy of Harlem Fine Arts Show
For Kailee Finn, a 20-year-old artist debuting in Harlem Fine Arts Show, said she is trying to soak up all the knowledge she can from an older, more established artist. Finn, who is a Junior at Fashion Institute of Technology, said she found out about the HFAS on Instagram and now she feels her art world growing. Her art works lean on the more social-political aspect of life, so it is no surprise the artist draws inspirations from Martin Luther King, Angela Davis, Dr. Omar Johnson. According to her, they also helped her realise she could stand for something and could be heard.
The mixing of ages and experience is exactly what HFAS founder Dion Clarke hoped to create 15 years ago.
“We have artists that started with us 15 years ago, to artists that just coming on board,” said Clarke. “There’s one common goal and that’s really to salute the arts, really expose their creativity and really learn to become an artist.”
Clarke said the show has become so big that it is moving to downtown Manhattan. This years show will be at the Glasshouse event space and will start on February 24th.
Image courtesy of Harlem Fine Arts Show
Watch the interview video by AFRICAN NEWS
