Ten days before it closed in Sugar Hill on August 10th, I was able to visit the “If You Build It” temporary art exhibition, organized by No Longer Empty (NLE) and presented in collaboration with the Broadway Housing Communities. The work of 22 contemporary artists was situated throughout the extraordinary building designed for Broadway Housing Communities by David Adjaye, Hon. AIA. The artwork, on view since June 25th, occupied third-floor apartments and the ninth-floor sales office, along with roof terraces and the entrance forecourt. The exhibition anticipates how the new housing will form links between its architecture and the art, and activism and community spirit of the Sugar Hill neighborhood, described as the historic epicenter of the Harlem Renaissance.
The exhibition marks NLE’s fifth anniversary, which has presented site-specific artwork at locations as diverse as Tapestry on East 124th Street in East Harlem (Weaving In & Out, 2010), to the Andrew Freedman House on the Grand Concourse in the Bronx (This Side of Paradise, 2012). The stated goal of NLE is “to broaden the audience for contemporary art, to promote socially conscious artists, and to build resilience in communities through art.” This is achieved, citywide, with flair and flamboyance, by presenting professionally-curated, site-responsive art exhibitions where a community of artists, educators, scholars, and the public come together to create and experience art, free of market imperatives and institutional constraints. Continue reading “No Empty Smile”
