'It’s just so Harlem': New public art installation unveiled in Marcus Garvey Park

MANHATTAN, N.Y. (PIX11)—The next time you’re in Marcus Garvey Park, check out the public art installations.

They are both beautiful and practical because you can sit on the bench and talk to a stranger about the art.

“It’s just so Harlem,” Valerie Bradley, the Marcus Garvey Park Alliance president, told PIX11 News. “They are all from Harlem, and it reflects their experiences here,” she added.

This sunny Saturday, the second phase of interactive public artworks was unveiled as the Imani Rousselle quintet played at the Acropolis.

It’s called Aleia, which means exulted and ascendant. It was created by Jerome Haferd and features the UB rolling artwork of Harlem artist Thomas Heath.

“This is an interactive space for people to come to the top of Mount Morris Park and enjoy themselves,” Haferd, a CUNY Professor of Architecture, told PIX11 News. “This is a natural high spot that myself and other Harlem people know is a hidden gem,” he added.

Thomas Heath explained his UB Rolling series: “It was created during the pandemic, an homage to the workers on skateboards who came to deliver our meals when we couldn’t get outside,” he said.

On the park's base level is Sankofa, which features the work of 15 Harlem-based artists, including Bonnie Phillips.

“I created a painting of a Harlem woman I saw with three dogs,” Bonnie Phillips, a painter, told PIX11 News.

To celebrate the new interactive public art, the Harlem Grown Teaching Kitchen was here to remind us all to eat more healthy food.

“So just to incorporate fruit and vegetables in diets,” Jamie Rhoden, Harlem Grown Chef, told PIX11 News. “We have quick and easy recipes for people and we also encourage people to eat together, which is very important to us at Harlem Grown.

The public art installations will be here in Marcus Garvey Park through at least October.