News

Discover “Aleia,” an immersive outdoor installation by Assistant Professor Jerome Haferd, now open at Marcus Garvey Park in Harlem! Featuring a stunning woven canopy adorned with paintings by local students and artist, Thomas E Heath, this project came to life with the help of talented CUNY students and alumni.

Haferd also recently co-founded the new Place, Memory, and Culture Incubator at the CUNY Spitzer School of Architecture with support from the Mellon Foundation. This innovative incubator collaborates with Harlem community groups to create impactful projects at the intersection of design, humanities, and social justice.

“Aleia” marks the second phase of interactive public artworks for the Mellon-funded Culture, Creativity, and Care initiative by Harlem Grown. These public artworks play an important role in the community, doubling as spaces for respite, gathering, and connection. As with the 2023 installation “Sankofa” at the base of the Park, the project is designed by Jerome Haferd Studio, a local Black-led public art and architecture practice. “Aleia”, a name that has multicultural origins meaning “ascendant”, and “exalted”, was chosen for the piece, which sits high atop the Mt. Morris Acropolis at the center of Marcus Garvey Park. 

The main structure is shaped and sits atop a 32-foot semi-circular stage, which opens to embrace the natural proscenium that is formed by the recently renovated Acropolis terrace. Inspired by Sankofa’s modular system, the design conceptually breaks apart and reaches out, allowing several pieces of Aleia to form a meandering Storywalk of steel totems that lead parkgoers up the stairs to the new installation. The Storywalk features historical and contemporary compositions of the Park, Harlem, and Marcus Garvey himself. 

For more about the installation, see the recent The Architect’s Newspaper and Pix11 News pieces.

The design and installation team includes adjunct faculty member Pedro Cruz Cruz M Arch ’22; Project Manager Gabriel Moyer Perez B Arch ’25, and alumnae Violet Nash Greenberg B Arch ’22 and Tiffany Gonzalez B Arch ’22.

Consultants and Collaborators:

Steel Fabrication: Ziello Custom Framing and Fine Art https://www.ziello.com/
Printed Canopy and Art Panel Collaboration: NVS Visuals https://nvsvisuals.com/
Wood fabrication, design, and detailing: Tyreik Jackson, AREYOUAFIXER.com
Sitework, Platform, and Framing: Franpen Restoration (Ruben Gregario and Frank Jimenez)