Heath Gallery Partners With MMPCIA To Bring Art, “We’re Outside,” To Marcus Garvey Park In Harlem

For the second consecutive year, Heath Gallery has joined forces with local community organizations in Harlem, NY.

Those organizations include MMPCIA and the City Parks Foundation’s SummerStage Charlie Parker Festival to bring artwork out of galleries and artist studios into the public sphere, Marcus Garvey Park. The “We’re Outside” exhibit, presented by the Mount Morris Park Community Improvement Association (MMPCIA), will take place on Saturday, August 24th, from 3-7pm in the northwest are of Harlem’s Marcus Garvey Park.

This unique event marries art and jazz, with it’s tie-in to the esteemed Charlie Parker Jazz Festival, now in its 38th year. The “We’re Outside” exhibit is an official ancillary event of the Charlie Parker Festival.

The exhibition will feature works from 15 Harlem artists, ranging from emerging to well-established talents, incorporating a variety of media including contemporary figurative paintings, assemblage, mosaic, fiber art, conceptual art and abstract artwork.

“These partnerships are crucial in preserving the historic cultural integrity of Harlem while building community,” states Madyln Stokely, President of MMPCIA. “By bringing together lovers of both visual art and jazz, we’re celebrating the rich artistic heritage of our neighborhood and supporting our local creative community.”

The event is a collaborative effort between MMPCIA, Heath Gallery, City Parks Foundation SummerStage, NYC Parks, with funding from Harlem Grown‘s Culture, Creativity and Care Initiative, and the Mellon Foundation.

Saundra Alexis Heath, exhibition curator and co-founder/director of Heath Gallery, expresses, “this pop up exhibit not only brings fine art outdoors for the whole community to enjoy but it also an opportunity for jazz enthusiasts and collectors/buyers to connect with Harlem talent.”

The “We’re Outside” exhibit not only showcases the diversity of Harlem’s artistic talent like Mayowa Nwadike, Grace Williams, Jamel Carroll, Thomas Heath and many others, but also reinforces the importance of public art in fostering community engagement and cultural preservation.

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Admission to the event is free, offering all community members the chance to experience and appreciate local art in a festive, outdoor environment.

MMPCIA

For more than four decades, MMPCIA, a 501c3 volunteer organization, has stewarded the Mount Morris area and Marcus Garvey Park, continuing its advocacy for and keeping pace with the changing face of the community and its ever-evolving needs. They are dedicated to revitalizing the Historic District and beyond and fostering an environment of open and active opportunities.

Heath Gallery

The Heath Gallery, opened by husband and wife, Thomas Edwin Heath and Saundra Alexis Heath in 2002, is a contemporary art gallery located in a landmark townhouse in Central Harlem’s historic Mount Morris Park district. The gallery showcases early career and established artists in group and solo exhibitions with a commitment to providing access and opportunity to underserved and marginalized artists.

City Parks Foundation SummerStage Charlie Parker Festival

The Charlie Parker Jazz Festival, New York City’s annual salute to the eponymous late saxophonist, will return in its 31^st  year for a three-day celebration of live jazz in the neighborhoods near where Parker worked and lived, including Harlem’s historic Marcus Garvey Park and Tompkins Square Park in the East Village. Each year, some of the finest jazz musicians in the world are assembled who reflect “the Bird’s” musical individuality and genius, to promote appreciation for this highly influential and world-renowned artist.

Harlem Grown’s Culture Creativity and Care Initiative

The Culture, Creativity, & Care Initiative at Marcus Garvey Park is a two-year project that is amplifying Harlem’s rich history and cultures with programming and installations centered around food, culture, and visual and performing arts. Within the Mellon Foundation’s Humanities in Place Initiative, Harlem Grown and our partners are fostering creativity and care in this essential public space at the heart of New York’s Harlem community. Harlem Grown has funded +97 events in Marcus Garvey Park since 2023.

Photo credit: By Mayowa Nwadike.