A visual Love letter in 100 portraits commemorating Harlem and its Beautiful Everyday People.

FACES OF HARLEM INC. (FOH), a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to shaping public art engagements – for the Harlem community and beyond – that center contemporary art and visual storytelling. Inspired by Harlem's history of ever-changing diaspora, our mission is to create accessible and cross-generational opportunities for communities of color to participate in cultural experiences that reflect their needs and desires.

FOH seeks to act as a cultural mediator, presenting work and people that are often marginalized in this country, with a particular emphasis on highlighting Black, Indigenous, and Latinx cultures. We want to increase the presence of visual art within Harlem and demonstrate how it can be made more engaging and welcoming for diverse audiences.

In disinvested, low-income communities of color, art acts as tools for strengthening cultural identity and processing trauma. With this in mind, photographer, community organizer, and long-time Harlem resident Sade Boyewa El launched FOH in hopes of using photography and oral history as vectors to facilitate an understanding of the past by envisioning a shared, more equitable future.

FOH’s largest public art initiative is a free outdoor photography exhibition that builds on the legacy of the Harlem Renaissance to celebrate the beauty of the Harlem community. For our inaugural edition in 2021, we presented 100 street portraits by 10 contemporary photographers in four locations across the Harlem community.

For the second edition of FOH, which was on view from August 6 to November 30, 2022, we invited a new group of 10 contemporary photographers, as well as three youth photographers, to capture more personal images of our Harlem neighbors and present them in Morningside Park. We moved from the street to indoors with the aim of rebuilding connections that were lost during the past years of physical isolation. By documenting Harlemites in their intimate spaces, we wanted to give our audience a deeper look into family life, creativity, work, faith, relationships, and love within our community.

For this third iteration of FACES OF HARLEM, on view from August 5 to November 30 2023, Founder and Chief-Curator Sade Boyewa El and Co-Curator Madeleine Budd for the youth showcase, continue the mission of inspiring meaningful conversations, fostering connection, and bridging some of the many visible gaps in the community by bringing this public outdoor exhibition to Harlem by exploring intimate stories about Black Love and Black Joy. This year again, FACES OF HARLEM is including a new group of 10 contemporary photographers, as well as teen perspectives in the mix by inviting five Harlem youth photographers to showcase their work in Morningside Park.