HARLEM, Manhattan (PIX11) — There’s a new art exhibit at Heath Gallery called Fire and Soul 2022: “We’re Still Harlem.” Part of ArtCrawl Harlem, it’s a celebration of beauty, joy and connection.
Six of the 10 artists featured are women of color. “One of the things that is really important when curating Black women artists is to make sure we’re showing the diversity,” said Saundra Heath, the co-curator and co-owner of the Gallery. “As a community we are not monolithic. We are different in very many ways and that is often not shown.”
Jazzmine Bustamante, 29, of Bed Stuy, created two digital collages called “Revival” and “How is Your Prayer Life?”
“I actually saw this while I was praying or in prayer,” Bustamante said. “I really wanted to speak about the importance of prayer, so I envisioned someone praying like that. I actually had to find the image and built around it.”
Brooklyn-born and raised artist CJ Priester, 27, had a special message with her mixed media collage called “Rise Up.”
“Although Black culture has come very far, we still need to remember to continue our growth and making strides in impacting our future and changing the world,” Priester said.
Kinna LeBlanc, 38, is an artist herself, but she is also the muse in a painting by her friend DeMarcus McGaughey called “This Woman’s Work.”
“During the 2020 pandemic I lost my mom, but I had to push through it and finish my bachelor’s. I am a New York City public school teacher,” said LeBLanc. “A few months later, [McGaughey’s] grandmother passed, and in the process of trauma he had to push through. There are so many layers here. The fabric is his grandmother’s old pillowcase that he used to sleep on. So his loss and my loss and the idea of pushing through adversity was really important to us.”
Fire and Soul 2022 is made possible in part with funds from the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone. The exhibit runs through April 2.
