Harlem Public Art Tour

Crossing from west to east, and north and south along the central arteries of Harlem’s heart—Malcolm X Boulevard, 125th Street, and Frederick Douglass Boulevard—we celebrate Harlem by amplifying iconic public artworks in the neighborhood. These artworks by Black artists, whose other work we hold in our collection, transform the landscape and are meant to disrupt or enhance the landscape they inhabit—or maybe both.

Placed at the center of a cobblestone courtyard in Thomas Jefferson Park, this steel sculpture of three geometric shapes in the center of a large concrete circle reflects its nearby architectural neighbors. A large standing disk tilts toward the sky, serving as a device for reflecting the sun.

This mosaic mural depicts prominent Harlem figures alongside neighborhood residents. On the downtown platform are Adam Clayton Powell Jr., Langston Hughes, Joe Louis, and Charlie Parker. A reference to Harlem’s musical scene is depicted on the uptown side, with a colorful composition in blue that depicts notable figures such as Billie Holiday.

Three bronze relief figures stand on the Metro-North Railroad (MNR) platform: a man carrying a briefcase, a woman with a hatbox, and a conductor. Their presence signals the railroad’s role in African American liberation. Saar later created copacetic, twenty-four laminated glass panels in reds, yellows, and blues featuring joyous scenes of the Harlem Renaissance nightlife.

Honoring daily fishers, this sculpture features three fishing-pole casting loops aiming toward the water. Passersby can look through the hole much the same as through a tower viewer, but in this work, whatever vision they have of the Hudson River is only what exists as far as their eyes can see.

This bronze sculpture both belongs and intrudes in the surrounding plants and trees. At over ten feet tall, its angular shapes interconnect and overlap, referring to and reflecting the nearby architecture.

This mosaic is rendered in vivid colors and comprises layered abstract geometric forms assembled with ceramic and glass pieces of various sizes and textures, producing a visual plane that mimics that of printmaking—the artist’s main form of art making. Made with the assistance of artist Mei-Tei-Sing Smith, this public art transports the vibrancy of Harlem’s street-life below ground.

This glass-and-ceramic mosaic depicts drum majors, majorettes, and dancers marching in full parade regalia among celebrants and their flags and confetti. With this work, the artist honors the multiple African American parade traditions of Harlem.

This bronze sculpture honors the writer Ralph Ellison, who lived across from Riverside Park. The use of silhouette for the figure evokes the invisibility felt by the nameless young Black protagonist in Ellison’s novel Invisible Man.

In this mosaic mural, figures such as Josephine Baker, Zora Neale Hurston, Sugar Ray Robinson, and Malcolm X fly over local landmarks related to their legacy.

On the skirt of this bronze-and-marble Harriet Tubman, Saar depicts faces representing people the abolitionist helped escape from slavery; on the podium, the artist engraves quilting patterns and biographical moments from Tubman’s life.

In this mural, Maren Hassinger quotes Malcolm X using blue and gold tiles, in a style that evokes the Islamic Kufic script often used in the Qu’ran.

The playful use of geometry and color in this glass mosaic mural depicts, according to the artist, “the boundless energy, the beacon of light that was and is our own homegrown Mecca: the Harlem of our dreams, our imaginings and our reality travelers to Harlem.”

On the elevated platform of the Metro North Train Station are two distinct silhouetted aluminum panels with symmetrical sphinxes and suns flanking each side. The artist’s chosen symbols of strength honor the past and advance a hopeful future—memorializing triumph over adversity.

This colorful scene features iconic figures from jazz history, such as Cab Calloway and Count Basie. Ten-by-thirty-feet, this mural gifts passersby with vibrant colors, shapes, and stories of Harlem’s musical legacy.