Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Museums in New York City: Harlem Studio Museum

By Tia Dryer


For a long time, the Studio Museum in Harlem was the only important cultural center for art by African-Americans. It's still one of the most important museums in NY, and on the planet , for art that chronicles the African-American experience, poignantly although not solely in urban environments. The work displayed here includes African-American works and Twentieth century Afro-Caribbean pieces, as well as normal African art. The social aspect of art is obviously on display in the permanent collection of the Studio Museum, as well as a consistent theme of hunting for the African identity in an American context.

The Studio Museum has made a tremendous amount of recognition from the community of museums in New York City, very much due to its Artists in Residence program, which permits several emerging studio and gallery artists of African descent to live on location while they create. This allows the artists to create and network while beginning successful careers in the art community. Also, the museum stands in as a heart for the Harlem arts community by hosting dialogues, panels, lectures, classes and performances on a large range of subjects related to the African-American experience.



Located on 125th St, 15 blocks north of Central Park in Harlem, the Studio Museum is very much an organic product of its environment. This Harlem museum is close to numerous other famous locales, including the legendary Apollo Theater. Down the street, the NY Public Libraryis a few blocks east, and there are also a considerable number of parks, including the Morningstar Park and Central Park. The neighborhood itself is a historic landmark, full of plaques and notes of significance. Once a ghetto for released slaves and people fleeing the oppressive Jim Crow laws in the latter 1800s and early 1900s, Harlem turned into a cultural treasure in the 1920s and continues to play a crucial role in African-American culture.

The permanent collection of the Studio Museum in Harlem consists of over 1,600 works by noted African-American artists, both in the Harlem community and round the country. These artists, including Melvin Edwards, Robert Colescott, Terry Adkins, Lois Mailou Jones, Hector Hyppolite, Norman Lewis, Betye Saar, Nari Ward and others have definitely had an effect on the art world as well as in the larger African-American community. The overall theme of all the work in this museum is the Black identity; the museum is a very important and interesting location for everybody with an interest in American history to go visit and take in. Express themes include black liberation politics, dance, expressionism, roots and music, as well as the subjects of bigotry, sexism and the urban experience. These subjects may be arguable to some visitors, but they represent a timely, significant discussion within the wider American culture about the roles, perceptions and expectations of African-Americans in it, and it is one of many important museums in NY to study a spread of ideas, old and new.




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