FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
AHL Foundation Presents SPACE UPTOWN: COMMUNITY (FOR) FAIR 2026
A Collective Exhibition Featuring Harlem- and Bronx-Based Arts & Cultural Nonprofits
NEW YORK, NY — AHL Foundation announces Space Uptown: Community (for) Fair 2026, on view from February 13 to March 14, 2026, at its gallery in Harlem. Curated by Jiyoung Lee, Director of Programs and Development at AHL Foundation, the exhibition brings together Harlem- and Bronx-based arts and cultural nonprofit organizations in a collective presentation. The exhibition highlights each organization’s mission, work, and contribution to the local cultural ecosystem through objects and materials selected by each participating organization.
Since relocating to Harlem in 2022, AHL Foundation has developed the exhibition project ‘Space Uptown’ as an ongoing initiative responding to the cultural, historical, and artistic landscapes of Harlem, Upper Manhattan, and the Bronx. Previous editions connected artists and organizations across these neighborhoods with Korean artists working in New York, fostering cross-cultural dialogue around community, identity, and place.
The 2026 edition, Community (for) Fair, builds on these relationships by centering arts and cultural nonprofit organizations that sustain community-based cultural work across Harlem and the Bronx. Participating organizations represent a wide range of practices, including youth advocacy, diasporic performance, historical preservation, arts education, and experimental support for emerging artists.
Participating organizations include Artistic Noise, Children’s Art Carnival, Garifuna Heritage Center for the Arts and Culture, Inc., Sisters in Sharqi / Harlem Hafla, While We Are Still Here, and AHL Foundation, Inc.
Each participating organization contributes objects and materials representing its mission and cultural practice. These include archive materials, artworks by resident or affiliated artists, performance costumes worn on stage, musical instruments, performance videos, and historical objects that reflect Harlem’s cultural legacy. Together, these materials expand the definition of exhibition objects beyond traditional artworks, foregrounding the practices, labor, and relationships that sustain community-based cultural work.
The term “Fair” is used intentionally, not only as a conceptual framework but also as an exhibition format. Community (for) Fair brings together organizations in a shared exhibition that emphasizes gathering, exchange, and visibility, foregrounding how equity and community are practiced through proximity and ongoing relationships.
“AHL Foundation is pleased to present an exhibition that brings together such a diverse group of arts and cultural organizations. We are honored to share space with our partners and to celebrate the collective work that sustains our communities.”
— Sook Nyu Lee Kim, Founder & President, AHL Foundation
The opening reception for Space Uptown: Community (for) Fair will be held on Friday, February 13, from 6–8 PM, at the AHL Foundation gallery (2605 Frederick Douglass Blvd., #C1, New York, NY 10030). Free admission.
Press Contact
AHL Foundation, Inc.
This exhibition is supported in part by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the New York City Council, and made possible by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and the Asian American Arts Alliance (A4) Arts Fund.
Participating Organizations (Listed in alphabetical order)
AHL Foundation, Inc.
Founded in 2003, AHL Foundation is a New York City-based nonprofit organization committed to supporting artists of Korean heritage through exhibitions, public programs, archives, and educational initiatives. Their mission is threefold: 1) to seek, identify, and promote talents Korean and Korean-American artists active in the United States; 2) to provide the artists with a platform and resources to further develop their talents; and 3) to host educational, cultural, and artistic events with the goal of building wider public awareness of contemporary artists of Korean heritage.
Over the past 20 years, they have hosted more than 140 exhibitions and supported over 400 artists nationwide––including Korean American adoptees, LGBTQ+ artists, recent immigrants, and emerging creators navigating language and cultural barriers. Since their inception, they have also awarded an average of $50,000 annually in grants to more than 150 artists, curators, and researchers. In addition, they offer over 40 art history lectures each year, enriching the public’s understanding of contemporary art and operate the Archive of Korean Artists in America (AKAA), a public digital archive documenting Korean and Korean American artists in the United States. www.ahlfoundation.org
Artistic Noise
For 25 years, Artistic Noise has built community with system-impacted young people to enhance lives through the empowering and therapeutic potential of art making. Located on Adam Clayton Powell and 129th street, our organization has created art in collaboration with thousands of young people who are incarcerated, on probation, in foster care, or otherwise impacted by the juvenile court system. Through visual arts, therapeutic, and entrepreneurship-based programs, participants give voice to their experiences, build community through collaborative projects and explore a variety of valuable life skills in the process. https://www.artisticnoise.org/
Children’s Art Carnival
Originally founded in 1969 by renowned artist, the late Betty Blayton Taylor, as a community outreach program of the Museum of Modern Art, the Carnival has served Harlem and the New York community as an autonomous center for the education of young people in the arts since 1972. CAC has been a safe space for young people, community members and artists to gather to actively explore the arts and hone their creative voices. Today, CAC continues to build on that history by supporting artists in the development of new work and in direct engagement with community through visual arts activities, arts workshops, for young people and area residents of all ages, exhibitions and professional development opportunities for emerging artists. CAC is committed to the idea that the arts are a bridge to understanding, and critical to healthy communities. Its work extends the vision of its founder and her legacy of cultural advancement. https://childrensartcarnival.org/
Garifuna Heritage Center for the Arts and Culture, Inc.
Garifuna Heritage Center for the Arts and Culture, Inc. (GHC) is a Bronx-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving, celebrating, and advancing Garifuna culture (an Indigenous people of West African and Arawak descent) through the performing arts. Founded in 1992 by Executive Director Luz F. Soliz-Ramos, GHC uses dance, music, song, theater, and language as living tools for cultural transmission, education, and community empowerment. GHC creates accessible, intergenerational programming including classes, workshops, performances, festivals, and public cultural events that strengthen identity, historical awareness, and creative expression. Cross-cultural connection is important in our work, participants always relate to some part of the culture. Through partnerships with schools, cultural institutions, parks, and community organizations across New York City, GHC ensures that Garifuna traditions remain visible, relevant, and alive for future generations. The arts are a pathway to cultural pride, wellness, historical awareness, and long-term cultural preservation. https://garifunaheritagecenter.com
Sisters in Sharqi / Harlem Hafla
Sisters in Sharqui, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that focuses on sharing the diversity of North African Dance, commonly known as Bellydance. We recognize these dances as part of the African Diaspora so we share workshops and shows in underserved communities like Harlem and The Bronx. Harlem Hafla’s Executive Director, Brandy Heyward, uses her backgrounds in Art, Education, Dance and Writing to pour into the organization. We share the dances nationally and internationally in Illinois, Missouri, California and in Bermuda to name a few locations. Our most recognized contribution is with our annual show, Harlem Hafla—Bellydance with SOUL. Since 2017, Harlem Hafla has staged Harlem shows with people of color but predominantly Black dancers who may otherwise not get chosen nor paid for our work. Harlem Hafla, 2026 will take place at Harlem School of the Arts on June 27, 2026. We offer open level classes by day and a gala show at night that reflects the Harlem community. We hope you’ll join us at the presentation. To learn more, please go to www.sisters in sharqui.com and for show tickets, please visit www.harlemhafla.com.
While We Are Still Here
While We Are Still Here (WWSH) will educate, enshrine and preserve the extraordinary legacy of Harlem as an influential incubator that was vital to the intellectual, cultural, social, and political advancements of the Harlem community as well as the African Diaspora. While We Are Still Here ensures that the “post-gentrification” community of Harlem and beyond will honor and find a meaningful connection to the legacy of African American achievement, and its paramount importance to world culture. https://whilewearestillhere.org/
즉시 배포용
알재단, 《SPACE UPTOWN: COMMUNITY (FOR) FAIR 2026》 개최
할렘·브롱스 기반 문화예술 비영리 단체와 함께하는 공동 전시
비영리 한인 예술 지원단체 AHL Foundation(알재단, 회장: 이숙녀)은 2026년 2월 13일부터 3월 14일까지, 알재단 갤러리에서 《Space Uptown: Community (for) Fair 2026》를 개최한다. 본 전시는 알재단 프로그램·개발 디렉터 이지영이 기획했으며, 할렘과 브롱스 지역을 기반으로 활동하는 문화 예술 비영리 단체들이 참여하는 페어(Fair)형식의 공동 그룹 전시이다. 각 참여 단체는 기관을 대표하는 오브제 또는 예술 작품을 통해 미션과 활동, 그리고 지역 문화 생태계에 기여해온 실천을 대중에 소개한다.
알재단은 2022년 할렘에 갤러리와 오피스, 아카이브룸을 개관한 이후, 지역의 역사·문화·예술적 맥락에 부합할 수 있는 전시 프로젝트 〈스페이스 업타운(Space Uptown)〉 을 시리즈로 지속해왔다. 그간 개최된 세 차례의 전시(2022–2024)는 할렘, 어퍼 맨해튼, 브롱스 지역의 예술가 및 기관들과 뉴욕에서 활동하는 한국 작가들을 연결하며, 공동체와 정체성, 이민자로서의 경험 등을 주제로 한 작품들을 선보였다.
2026년 스페이스 업타운 에디션 《Community (for) Fair》는 이러한 관계의 축적을 바탕으로, 할렘과 브롱스 공동체를 기반으로 문화, 예술, 교육 활동을 지속해온 5개의 비영리 기관을 초대한다. 참여 기관은 Artistic Noise, Children’s Art Carnival, Garifuna Heritage Center for the Arts and Culture, Inc., Sisters in Sharqi / Harlem Hafla, While We Are Still Here, 그리고 주최 기관인 알재단(AHL Foundation)이다. 이들은 모두 청소년 예술 옹호, 디아스포라 퍼포먼스, 역사적 기억의 보존, 예술 교육, 신진 작가와 실험적인 예술 지원 등 서로 다른 영역에서 교차하며 지역 문화 생태계를 지탱해온 주체들이다.
각 기관은 아카이브 자료를 비롯해 레지던시 작가의 작품, 실제 공연에 사용된 코스튬, 악기와 퍼포먼스 영상, 할렘의 역사와 문화적 기억을 담은 오브제 등 다양한 형태의 오브제를 직접 선정해 전시에 선보인다. 이러한 오브제들은 전통적인 미술 작품의 범주를 넘어, 공동체 문화 예술 활동을 가능하게 하는 실천과 노동, 그리고 관계의 맥락을 드러낸다.
전시 제목에 사용된 ‘Fair’는 공정함(fairness), 모임(gathering), 그리고 사회·문화·경제적 교류의 장이었던 명사로서의 ‘페어’를 동시에 의미한다. 《Community (for) Fair》는 문화예술 비영리 기관들이 함께 공간과 가시성, 존재를 공유할 때, 공동체와 공정성은 어떻게 실천될 수 있는지를 질문한다.
이숙녀 알재단 회장은 “알재단은 이렇게 다양한 문화예술 비영리 단체들이 함께하는 전시를 선보이게 되어 매우 기쁘게 생각합니다. 이번 전시를 통해 파트너 기관들과 공간을 나누고, 소통하고, 공동체를 지탱해온 문화 실천을 함께 조명할 수 있어 뜻깊게 생각합니다.” 라고 전시 개최 소감을 밝혔다.
오프닝 리셉션은 2026년 2월 13일(금) 오후 6시부터 8시까지 알재단 갤러리 (2605 Frederick Douglass Blvd., #C1, New York, NY 10030)에서 열린다.
입장 무료. 문의는 info@ahlfoundation.org
