gina fuentes walker | portfolio

CREATING A SPACE FOR HARLEM ARTISTS
by Gina Fuentes Walker, for TiempoNY

I discovered HOAST last fall, as an artist searching through exhibition opportunities and listings on the NYFA and ArtNet websites. I came across and clicked the link for a Harlem Open Artist Studio Tour (HOAST), scheduled for Spring of 2005. After trolling the salmon colored and crisply designed pages of the HOAST website, I discovered that there were many more artists living and working in Harlem than I had realized and that a studio tour could spotlight Harlem as the next neighborhood to watch for emerging talent. I wanted to become involved, so I sent out an email to schedule a studio visit and soon after I became actively involved in the production side of the tour, first as a staff member and later serving as a board member of the organization. This year I am organizing the second annual studio tour as co-founder and director of artHARLEM, the not-for-profit organization under which HOAST now operates.

HOAST is the brain child of Reuben Sinha, an artist and Harlem resident who lives and works in a recently renovated brownstone which also houses his studio. As Sinha states on the artHARLEM/HOAST website, he envisioned the tour to be a weekend of studio visits that will give art lovers an opportunity to visit the neighborhood, and to observe the creative process by talking to artists in the relaxed atmosphere of their studios. Ninety-five visual artists participated in the first studio tour and, because we are expanding the tour to include artists of all disciplines (musicians, dancers, spoken word, theatre and film), we anticipate that number to increase.

I was inspired by the number of artists that I met on the first studio tour who live in Harlem. However, many of them were unaware that they lived down the street or around the corner from each other. So I began organizing informal get togethers in local spots like Cafe Society and Camaradas to introduce new artists to HOAST and to create a space where artists can meet and network. My favorite characteristic about HOAST and the events related to it, is that we are creating a place where artists can gather to talk about each other's work and exchange information about performance and exhibition opportunities in the very locations where the artist get togethers are being held. In the process, we are becoming another thread in the fabric that is the rich tapestry of Harlem culture. While working on the first studio tour, I also had the opportunity to meet long time Harlem residents like Dindga McCannon, a fiber artist, and Kim Hamilton-Shakir, who exhibited HOAST artists (including my own work) at her Hamilton Landmark Galleries on west 144th Street.

To participate in HOAST, visit www.hoast.org. You must be a Harlem resident, or have a studio in Harlem. All media and styles are welcome. Participation is on a first-come basis. Artist participation fees are thirty dollars ($30.00) before January 1, 2006, and fifty dollars ($50.00) after January 1, 2006.