JEWEL-BRIGHT and ANA MENDIETA, Openings at the Sugar Hill Children’s Museum of Arts & Storytelling

JEWEL-BRIGHT: KEIDOSCOPE OF NEIGHBORHOOD GEMS (on view OCTOBER 12, 2017 - AUGUST 26, 2018) Our proud Sugar Hill community begins at 145th Street and extends north to 155th Street, between Amsterdam and Edgecombe Avenues. For almost a century, daybreak has delivered an undeniable glow over residents of both 409 and 555 Edgecombe Avenue. During the 1930s, ‘40s, and ‘50s, these two buildings were beacons of culture along the breezy Harlem River. These two addresses are treasure troves of exceptional biographies--our neighborhood gems. Across the street from the Museum, 409 Edgecombe overlooks the foliage of Jackie Robinson Park on the corner of 155th Street. During its prime in the 1940s, this building was home to activists like U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall (1908-1993) and sociologist W.E.B. Du Bois (1868-1963). Librarian Pura Belpré (1899-1982) also resided in this building during the 1950s. These residents transformed the world for countless generations of children by legislating civil rights, orchestrating protests to amplify communal power, and attesting to the importance of multiculturalism in storytelling. Their multifaceted work can be seen as a veritable kaleidoscope a creative lens encouraging us to pick up where they left off, and seeing the endless possibilities within our community. A sister site to 409 Edgecombe, five blocks north at 160th Street, is 555 Edgecombe. There the heritage of music, art and culture remains firmly intact. Tenants in their 80s and 90s vigorously recall childhood memories of being star struck upon entering their front door with such celebrities as singer Lena Horne (1917-2010), composer Count Basie (1904-1984), and civil rights activist and bass singer Paul Robeson (1889-1976), all living here during the 1940s and ‘50s. Jazz pianist, playwright, actress, and teacher, Marjorie Eliot, is another true gem. She currently lives in a third floor apartment at 555 Edgecombe Avenue. For the last 25 years, 52 Sundays a year, at 3:30pm, Eliot has opened her apartment to friends and strangers alike. Eliot’s parlor speaks to a time when shared experiences could only occur in person, and cultural movements were strengthened through friendship. Eliot’s music, jovial presence, and generosity have made her an international attraction with thousands traveling from overseas to attend her living room concerts! Throughout the duration of this exhibition, the Museum celebrates the wisdom of our elders and privileges the pride within our distinctive enclave, Sugar Hill. This year we encourage children and families to reflect upon history, notions of social responsibility, citizenship, and making art together. We invite all to use their imagination and the materials provided near the mirrored walls to build on the kaleidoscopic reflection, and continue to transform the world from right here in Sugar Hill. ANA MENDIETA: THINKING ABOUT CHILDREN'S THINKING (on view OCTOBER 12, 2017 - SEPTEMBER 23, 2018) Big questions are presented to our wee viewers as a platform for celebrating the immense intelligence of children. Conceptual artist Ana Mendieta (Havana 1948 – New York 1985) is best known for creating art that speaks boldly to adults, but Thinking features works that are strikingly in dialogue with children. In this exhibition children are encouraged to reflect on notions of power and freedom through verbal and physical exploration. Playfully central to this exhibition is a parachute, a mustache, and an interview from 1973 conducted by the artist with elementary school students. As an artist whose key medium was her intellect, Mendieta’s perspectives on time, place, and mind-body connection made her a pioneer among those dealing with identity politics and feminism. Her ideas were a vehicle for creating groundbreaking work in photography, performance, film, video, drawing, sculpture, and site-specific installation. When sharing more about her process of making the works on view, Mendieta said, “Time passing and change are undeniable aspects of the world around us…Often artistic creation results in the production of art objects. However, when a concern for time is primary, an experience not an object may result.” This exhibition spotlights a sound art piece, videos and a series of photographs, about collective and individual experiences located deep within and outside of one's self. This year Ana Mendieta's art and ideas are informing a host of museum programs, children's books selected for independent reading and Studio Lab activities to activate brainpower, imagination and employ gut instincts. Ana Mendieta: Thinking About Children’s Thinking is the first museum exhibition ever devoted to exploring the artist’s work in relation to children, and is guest curated by Amy Rosenblum Martín. This exhibition is aligned with the Museum’s mission of nurturing the curiosity and creative spirit of three-to eight-year-old children. Ascribing the virtues of conceptual art in the Museum's Legacy Gallery, this year, provides a unique opportunity to expand upon the Museum's ongoing celebration of the intellectual freedom associated with the legacy of the Harlem Renaissance as being located in Sugar Hill. ABOUT ANA MENDIETA Ana Mendieta began her career at the University of Iowa, were she initially received a degree in painting in 1969. It was not until 1972 that Mendieta profoundly elected to engage in performance art. She is best known for her “earth-body” artwork, a series of over 200 works of art that focused on a spiritual and physical connection with the earth. Since her death in 1985, Ana Mendieta has been recognized with numerous retrospective exhibitions in such venues as the Art Institute of Chicago and the Whitney Museum of American Art. Mendieta's work is also featured in many major public collections, including the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art, all New York, Centre Pompidou, Paris, and Tate, London.