We Speak Events
Harlem Fine Arts Show Announces 15th Anniversary
Harlem Fine Arts Show (HFAS) will celebrate their 15th year of being the largest traveling arts show featuring Artists from the African Diaspora. This show will feature up to 100 artists of African, Caribbean, and Black descent over a monumental three-day cultural experience and festival at the end of Black History Month, 2023, in New York City.
Andrew Nichols, “Feeling Good”
The 15th Anniversary Celebration: Celebrating Art and Culture in America is inspired by the Harlem Renaissance; the 2023 curator for the three-day experience will be Debra Vanderburg Spencer, the award-winning and museum-trained Curator and Art Historian who has worked with: U.S. Congress, Architect of the Capitol, National Endowment for the Arts, William J. Clinton Foundation and The Romanian Cultural Institute in Bucharest, Romania. Ms. Spencer has guided numerous art initiatives for institutions such as Harlem’s 125th Street Improvement District, New York Foundation for the Arts and the Harlem Arts Alliance. She holds a graduate degree from Harvard University.
HFAS provides a platform for African Diasporic Artists and American Visual Artists to exhibit and sell their works. The weekend will salute esteemed illustrator Brenda Joysmith all weekend. This three-day event serves as an economic platform for the multi-cultural, general market, and arts communities to empower and increase market share in numerous regions throughout the United States and around the world. For the first time, the Harlem Fine Arts Show will take place in Midtown Manhattan at The Glass House, 660 12th Avenue (between 49th & 50th), New York City.
The 15th Anniversary Celebration will take place in an expansive new venue, opening up endless possibilities for HFAS as we look to intensify our efforts toward amplifying the voices of Artists from the African Diaspora to a global audience. Remaining true to our community, we will be sourcing as many vendors, caterers, and activations as possible from Harlem-based businesses, restaurants, and cultural centers.
“HFAS prides itself on a sole tenet: creating economic empowerment, educational opportunities, and professional recognition for the artists in our shows. These artists have been forced to make hard pivots in how they showcase and sell their work in the new-normal of a Post-COVID-19 economy. However, the poignancy of their individual works is more important now than ever. This work, created by African Diaspora, will tell the story of this unprecedented moment in history: the choices we made in this moment of historical change, and most importantly: how we felt,” says Dion Clarke, Founder, Harlem Fine Arts Show.
Harlem Fine Arts Show 15th Anniversary highlights include:
Friday, February 24 | 10am – 1pm
Community Day – HFAS will invite community members including: NYC students, seniors and other community based organizations to preview the art show for FREE. The early program will include select panel discussions and other special engagements. The community members will be the first to see 2022 cavalcade of participating contemporary, fine and visual arts including from:
Artists: Frank Frazier, Dr. Myrah Brown Green, Anthony Lucas, Woodrow Nash, Andrew Nichols, Dane Tilghman and more to announce.
Galleries: Band of Vices, LLC, E&S Gallery, Inc., Soweto Fine Art Gallery, Waterkolours Fine Art Gallery and more to announce.
Friday, February 24 | 6 – 10pm
Red Dot VIP Opening Night – HFAS will host a VIP reception for art collectors, media, corporate sponsors, and NYC notables – elected officials, celebrities and more for a red-carpet evening including a cocktail reception with live music performances hosted by NYC television personality to preview and purchase art during the evening.
The VIP evening will be a ticketed event that will benefit four special organizations – Harlem Arts Alliance, Touch: The Black Breast Cancer Alliance, The Links, and Tau Omega – NYC Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.
Saturday, February 25 | 10am – 5pm
General admission
Sunday, February 26 | 10am – 6pm
General admission
Harlem Fine Arts Show 2023: The 15th Anniversary Celebration: Celebrating Art and Culture in America
General admission tickets (single day pass) $35
General admission tickets (two-day pass) $50
Red Dot Opening Night VIP Ticket, $100
Tickets on sale at now: www.harlemfineartsshow.org
We Speak Events
Atlanta Screening of The Alabama Solution Brings Together Panel of Advocates, Leaders, and Community Voices
ATLANTA, GA — Community leaders, advocates, and residents gathered in Atlanta for a special screening of the Oscar-nominated HBO documentary The Alabama Solution, an evening centered on film, dialogue, and community engagement around issues of justice and incarceration.
Hosted at 2345 Cheshire Bridge Road NE, the event brought together organizations and community members for a formal evening of reflection and conversation following the powerful documentary. The film, co-directed by Andrew Jarecki and Charlotte Kaufman and co-produced by Alex Duran, offers an intimate and unfiltered look into Alabama’s prison system.
At the heart of the documentary are the voices of justice-impacted individuals Melvin “Bennu” Ray and Robert “Kinetik” Council, whose experiences shed light on the realities inside the prison system while challenging viewers to consider deeper questions about accountability, dignity, and reform.
Following the screening, a panel discussion brought together leaders and advocates working in justice reform and community outreach. The conversation was moderated by Bridgette Simpson of Barred Business, who guided the dialogue with panelists representing several organizations committed to addressing issues within the justice system.
Panelists included Gerald Griggs of the NAACP, Kimberly Jones of Fork the System, Octavious Holiday of the Positive Outreach Development Society, Kevin Marshall of The Marshall Law Group, LLC, Kathryn Hamoudah of the Southern Center for Human Rights, and Christopher Willars of The Life Unit Inc.
Each panelist offered insight shaped by their work in advocacy, legal reform, and community engagement. Their perspectives highlighted the far-reaching effects incarceration can have on families and communities, while also emphasizing the importance of awareness, accountability, and continued dialogue around the issues presented in the film.
The screening was supported by several organizations dedicated to justice and civic engagement, including One for Justice, Dream.org, Barred Business, the Southern Center for Human Rights, The Life Unit, the Center for Civic Innovation, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), and the Free Atlanta Abolition Movement.
The evening also served as a moment of connection for those in attendance, including family members and advocates whose lives have been impacted by the justice system. Through film and conversation, the gathering created space for reflection and for communities to engage with the realities highlighted in the documentary.
As conversations continued after the screening, the event underscored the power of storytelling to bring people together, raise awareness, and encourage deeper consideration of issues that often remain unseen by the public.
As momentum continues to grow around conversations sparked by the documentary, organizers are encouraging community members to take an additional step by supporting efforts aimed at protecting justice-impacted individuals from discrimination.
Advocates are currently inviting the public to sign a virtual petition card supporting the establishment of a statewide Protected Class Ordinance in Georgia, which would help ensure justice-impacted individuals are protected from discrimination in employment, housing, and opportunity.
You may find and share the virtual petition here:
Statewide Protected Class
https://www.theprotectedclassnetwork.org/sign-our-petition
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