11 – Man Up In Harlem

Gallery 2 presents everyday life in Harlem.  The artworks here function also as social commentary, highlighting the poverty and destitution of residents in the area, and what the community is doing to address this.

The highlight of the gallery is “Man Up In Harlem,” a community mural by a resident prayer group for men, who take it upon themselves to address community issues like domestic violence and gun control through prayer and engagement.  The mural sits across a related piece celebrating the sense of comradeship in the community.

Past the twin murals are a landscape of economic decline, culminating in the deserted wilderness of Jackie Robinson Park. Once a bustling north Manhattan public space, today it’s largely the haunt of junkies and the homeless.  Within the park sits the haunting shot of the Jackie Robinson Swimming Pool, shut indefinitely, while just past the park of Edgecombe street, sits a similarly disturbing shot of an abandoned shopping cart, loaded with plastic bags that undoubtedly contain some homeless person’s life possessions.

10 – Togetherness

12 – African Hair Braiding Center.

13 – 275-1100

14 – Castle Walls.

15 – Jackie Robinson Swimming Pool.

16 – Jackie Robinson Park.

17 – Abandoned Home.

B – Man Up In Harlem