Harlem Sculpture Gardens Expands to the Broadway Corridor With Two New Works

This summer, Harlem Sculpture Gardens will expand to reach residents along upper Broadway in Manhattan with the help of new partners. As part of a collaboration between the Beam Center, a youth-based organization, fabricator Gary Linares, and the Lewis Latimer House Museum, NYS Senator Cordell Cleare and the Broadway Mall Association sponsored the works, Trinity and Beacon.

Trinity is 8ft high, 6 ft. wide and 3ft. deep. The entire work including the base was made from pressure treated wood.

According to artist Iliana Emilia Garcia, "In conceiving Trinity, I wanted to pay homage to the diverse immigrant communities that reside near the Broadway Malls. The flat versions of the typical handmade Dominican chair, sitting as in conversation and contemplation, represent the time spent and lived out of your native land, the places that have become home, and the shadows that track the movement of time and history as we stand firm in a place we now call home. Shapes, smells, and sounds fluctuate back and forth, creating new individuals and chapters in the richly diverse history of our communities. In search of light, guidance, and opportunities, one looks north and upwards."

The fabricator of Trinity, Gary Linares, shared, "It was an amazing experience working with the artist. Iliana Garcia is the definition of professionalism. Being a part of her vision and watching it come to life through her eyes was a great moment and one that I will never forget. We need more of her secret sauce in our community. I look forward to seeing her next masterpiece."

BEACON is a 12-foot tall steel and LED interactive public art installation designed to spark curiosity and encourage conversations about local New York history while deepening our understanding of Latimer's contributions to the invention of the lightbulb. This installation honors the brilliance and ingenuity of one of New York's residents during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The installation features proximity sensors that activate the filament inside, illuminating it with a soft, pulsing light when the public interacts with it. No physical touch is required; the installation responds based on proximity. As a viewer approaches, the pulsing light increases in speed, mimicking a heartbeat or breathing pattern. This interactive element is intentionally crafted to Honor Lewis Latimer, acknowledging his contributions to electrical engineering, science, and improving our lives from the 1880s to the present day.

The artist Shervone Neckles stated to us,"I'm honored to bring my public interactive installation, BEACON, to Harlem this summer and connect the inspiring story of pioneering American inventor and electrical engineer Lewis Howard Latimer with its residents. In the spirit of Latimer's commitment to improving the quality of life for society through innovation, we've added a new solar panel component to BEACON, allowing the sculpture to run on clean solar energy instead of relying on electrical wiring. This addition pays tribute to Latimer's visionary approach to advancing technology through ongoing adjustments and improvements. Latimer would likely be advocating for cleaner, more sustainable energy solutions for everyday life today."

Brian Cohen, Executive Director of Beam Center and collaborator on the sculpture, related to us "When Beam Center's collaboration with Shervone Neckles, The Lewis Latimer House Museum and the young people who built Beacon was interrupted by COVID in March 2020, we would never have imagined the journey this work would ultimately take. From his final home in Flushing to his birthplace of Chelsea, Massachusetts, with stops in Brooklyn and The Boston Museum of Science in between, Beacon has literally shed light on both Latimer's world-changing impact and the capacity for the youth of NYC to make spectacular things happen. We are thrilled to have Beacon's next home to be at Montefiore Plaza."

Andrew Genn, Executive Director of the Broadway Mall Association "We are thrilled to participate in Harlem Sculpture Gardens 2025. We welcome the beautiful works of Iliana emilia Garcia at the mall of 148th Street and Shervone Neckles at nearby Montefiore Park. Their works, Trinity and Beacon, activate these public spaces providing our neighbors and visitors to these small parks something to ponder and visual delight."

About the Broadway Mall Association

The Broadway Mall Association (BMA) is a nonprofit that stewards, advocates and cares for the 5-mile environmental resources in the heart of upper Manhattan. The 83 verdant malls from 70th Street to 168th Street stretch from the Upper West Side through Harlem to Washington Heights.

In addition tp preserving and protecting the 10.6 acres of malls along Broadway, BMA stages museum-quality public art exhibitions for the benefit of the local communities that Broadway traverse as well as visitors to the area.

Michael Gormley, Executive Director, New York Artist Equity Association (NYAE) writes, "NYAE is proud to partner with the Harlem Art Fund to advance a new public art initiative; we seek to activate our city parks and community gardens with an egalitarian curatorial practice that situates art outside [both literally and figuratively] of self-segregating spaces--and thereby allow art to be accessible to all."

Savona Bailey-McClain, Executive Director & Chief Curator, of the West Harlem Art Fund, shared that the organization is launching a fabrication studio to bring more public art and design to the city. McClain stated, "There is a need to make fabrication more affordable and accessible to artists and designers wishing to expand their practice. Harlem Sculpture Gardens has shown that the public across all neighborhoods desire more art and all the benefits it can bring."