West Harlem Exhibition Shows Artists' Resilience During Pandemic

HARLEM, NY — A virtual exhibition launched last month by two neighborhood nonprofits aims to spotlight the work of West Harlem artists who continued to work through the coronavirus pandemic.

In Hamilton Heights and the surrounding area, the pandemic caused "dislocation and uncertainty for many of those within the arts community," according to the Children's Art Carnival and Centro Civico Cultural Dominicano — the two groups behind "West Harlem Arts: Resilience 2021."

The exhibition, which opened April 8 on westharlemarts.org, brings together 16 established and emerging artists who live in West, Central and East Harlem, Washington Heights and the South Bronx, whose media include sculpture, painting and photography.

It will remain on view online through May 22.

"Every aspect of West Harlem Arts: Resilience has been designed with the intention of ensuring that we recognize the diverse voices that make up our community and share how we are coming along in this time of the world wide health crisis and social upheaval," said Jose Ortiz, program director at the Children's Art Carnival and co-curator of the exhibition.

"Each artist's work is a representation of the bravery that it takes to put your vulnerabilities on a canvas and we are here to celebrate and be uplifted by them," Ortiz said.

Besides the pandemic, other subjects examined in the artworks include the Black Lives Matter movement and the plight of undocumented immigrants, according to Lisandra Ramos, the exhibition's other co-curator and a Centro Civico Cultural Dominicano board member.

The participating artists are: Cathleen Campbell, Nicole Goodwin, Wilhelmina Grant Cooper, Carlos Jesus Martinez Dominguez, Julia Justo, Carolina Leiva Ureta, Luis León, Candace Leslie, Michelle Melo, Dionis Ortiz, Daisy Ruiz, Marco Saavedra, Uniqua Simmons, Jonas St. Juste, Yasuyo Tanaka, and Carla Torres.

They were selected by a juried panel of local artists, arts administrators and community members.

To view the exhibition, visit westharlemarts.org/resilience-2021.