Uptown Magic

Mixed Media on Paper

28 x 22

$2100

Throughout my career I have committed to working for cultural institutions, schools and non-profit organizations valuing and embracing the arts, diversity, and inclusion. My art practice is strongly influenced by these experiences. I am applying to this open call because I love the mission and vision behind Art on the Ave, and I have seen the results among the artists and communities it has touched.

I am grateful for all that West Harlem has given to me, enriching my personal and professional life immensely through new deep human relationships and creative career opportunities.

This work is part of a series I have been creating for the past few years that transforms Upper Manhattan in a fairytale, one in which the Uptown community and landscape are depicted as the imaginary characters and enchanted backgrounds of a fantasy realm.

Viewers are invited to see themselves as heroines and magicians, angels and elves, or simply as curious beings enthralled by the potential and the magic within themselves, their neighborhood and community. With my art, I strive to celebrate the places and people that have touched and transformed my life – my colleagues, friends, students, clients and neighbors-, and to highlight the sacredness of the connections we all carve in the places we call home, the stories we create collectively as a community, and how our diverse roots and migration stories form a greater family tree.