The Harlem Arts Festival is an annual arts

festival A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival c ...

and arts

nonprofit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

based in

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...

that began in 2012. The organization presented community-based music, dance, theatre, and visual artists at Marcus Garvey Park and the surrounding Harlem area. Notable participants included Queen Esther,

Toni Blackman Toni Blackman is an American rapper (specializing in freestyle hip-hop) and writer who was the first hip-hop ambassador to the U.S. State Department. Additionally, she was selected as a 2006 Rhythm Road touring artist and subsequently served a ...

Brandee Younger Brandee Younger (born July 1, 1983) is an American harpist. Younger infuses classical, jazz, soul, and funk influences to the harp tradition pioneered by her predecessors and idols Dorothy Ashby and Alice Coltrane. Younger leads her own ensemble ...

Kris Bowers Kristopher Bowers (born 1989) is an American composer and pianist. He has composed scores for films, video games, television and documentaries including ''Bridgerton'', '' Green Book'', ''Madden NFL'', '' Dear White People'', and ''Kobe Bryant's ...

Divinity Roxx Divinity Roxx is a Grammy-nominated American recording artist, composer, and musician. Her work includes elements of rhythm and blues, hip hop, funk, soul, and rock. As a rapper and bassist, her performances have been reviewed as radical and dist ...

Marc Cary Marc Cary (born January 29, 1967) is a post bop jazz pianist based out of New York City. Cary has played and recorded with several well-known musicians, including Dizzy Gillespie, Betty Carter, Roy Hargrove, Arthur Taylor, Abbey Lincoln, Carl ...

AKIR Akir is an American hip hop recording artist, producer, songwriter activist and, teaching artist known for his complex lyrics and social-political content. His name is an acronym for "Always Keep It Real". Biography Akir first entered th ...

Timothy Bloom Timothy Bloom is a two time Grammy Award winning American alternative soul singer-songwriter and record producer. Career He began his career as a songwriter and producer, writing and producing Grammy Award-winning songs for both Ne-Yo ("Say ...

, Brady Watt,

Maurice "Mobetta" Brown Maurice "Mobetta" Brown (born January 6, 1981) originally from Harvey, Illinois is a Grammy Award-winning American jazz trumpeter, producer and composer. As a member of Tedeschi Trucks Band, he shared the 2011 Grammy for Best Blues Album ('' Rev ...

, M-1, Solomon Hicks, Bentley Meeker, among many others.

History

The organization and festival was co-founded and led by three local Harlem producers: Neal Ludevig, J.J. El-Far and Chelsea Goding. The festival debuted in 2012 after a successful

Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...

campaign garnered press from The New York Times, The Daily News, DNAInfo, Northhattan News, and a number of other media outlets. The organization presented more than 200 artists to more than 17,000 attendees in 5 years. In 2014, the organization honored musician and social activist

Fred Ho Fred Ho (; born Fred Wei-han Houn; August 10, 1957 – April 12, 2014) was an American jazz baritone saxophonist, composer, bandleader, playwright, writer and Marxist social activist. Biography He was born in Palo Alto, California,John Steven ...

with its annual Lynette Velasco Community Impact Award, which honored the NYC's Assembly Member

Inez Dickens Inez E. Dickens (born July 15, 1949) is the Assemblymember for the 70th district of the New York State Assembly. She is a Democrat. The district includes portions of El Barrio, Hamilton Heights, Harlem, and Morningside Heights in Manhattan. She ...

late Chief of Staff. In 2017, the festival's headlining performance, which featured

Prodigy Prodigy, Prodigies or The Prodigy may refer to: * Child prodigy, a child who produces meaningful output to the level of an adult expert performer ** Chess prodigy, a child who can beat experienced adult players at chess Arts, entertainment, and ...

from

Mobb Deep Mobb Deep was an American hip hop duo from New York City. The duo consisted of rappers Prodigy and Havoc. They are considered to be among the principal progenitors of hardcore East Coast hip hopEdwards, Paul, 2009, ''How to Rap: The Art & Scien ...

, passed away shortly before his performance. In response to his death, the organizers and

, a long-time collaborator of Prodigy's, paid tribute to him through performances alongside M-1 (of

Dead Prez Dead Prez, often stylized as dead prez, is an American hip hop duo composed of stic.man and M-1, formed in 1996 in New York City. They are known for their confrontational style, combined with lyrics focused on both militant social justice, sel ...

) and a number of other musicians.

HipHopDX ''HipHopDX'' is an online magazine of hip hop music criticism and news. The website's current president and publisher is Sharath Cherian and the Head Of Content is Jerry L. Barrow. ''HipHopDX'' is the flagship publication of Cheri Media Group. ...

premiered an exclusive from the festival where M-1 spit never-before-heard verses from Dead Prez's debut album, '' Lets Get Free''.

Recognition

Harlem Arts Festival received letters of support from a number of NYC elected officials and local entities, including Manhattan Borough President

Gale Brewer Gale Arnot Brewer (born September 6, 1951) is an American Democratic politician from the state of New York who has represented the 6th New York City Council District since January 2022, a position she previously held from 2002 to 2013. From Janu ...

, Assembly member

, Congressman

Charles Rangel Charles Bernard Rangel (, ; born June 11, 1930) is an American politician who was a U.S. representative for districts in New York from 1971 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the second-longest serving incumbent member of the Ho ...

, Councilman

Mark Levine Mark Andrew LeVine is an American historian, musician, writer, and professor. He is a professor of history at the University of California, Irvine. Education LeVine received his B.A. in comparative religion and biblical studies from Hunter ...

Melissa Mark-Viverito Melissa Mark-Viverito (born April 1, 1969) is an American Democratic Party (United States), Democratic politician and former speaker of the New York City Council from 2014 to 2017, as well as councilmember for the New York City's 8th City Council ...

, Councilman Bill Perkins, among others. NYC Congressman Charles Rangel declared an official proclamation of a "Harlem Arts Festival Day" on June 22, 2015. In June 2016, Uptown Scoop listed Harlem Arts Festival as #1 on its list of the 100 best things to do in Harlem. In 2017, Baucemag listed Harlem Arts Festival as #5 in a list of "12 Major Events Where You Can Meet a High-Quality BAUCE Bae".

References

External links

* {{Official website, https://www.harlemartsfestival.com/ Arts festivals in the United States Festivals established in 2012 2012 establishments in New York City Kickstarter-funded public works Harlem Festivals in New York City