Students from FIT’s Visual Presentation and Exhibition Design (VPED) have made the holidays a little brighter through their work on window displays for eight Harlem businesses. Spanning the corridor of Frederick Douglass Boulevard between 114th and 122nd streets, the displays depict holiday scenes from the Harlem Renaissance (1910–1940). The period was defined by the artistic, literary, and political activism of Harlem’s large African- American community. The windows offer both an educational and festive holiday experience, with designs ranging from jazz and historical references to dance, fashion, and Prohibition scenes.
The following businesses’ windows feature work by these VPED students:
- Land Yoga, 2116 Frederick Douglass Boulevard ― Jennifer Pickard and Kokoro Naruke
- Harlem Skin and Laser Clinic, 2119 Frederick Douglass Boulevard ― Gena Gugert and Lior Gensler
- Harlem Tavern, 2153 Frederick Douglass Boulevard ― Kelly Landolina and Ashley Russo
- Lido, 2168 Frederick Douglass Boulevard ― Marina Shalman, Austina Xuecheng Tian, and April Ziyue Zhu
- Vinateria, 2211 Frederick Douglass Boulevard ― Laura Pariot and Kira Bianca Diwa
- Chocolat, 2223 Frederick Douglass Boulevard― Nadia Tai and Nicolle Centrella
- Vintage Harlem NYC Wine and Spirits, 2235 Frederick Douglass Boulevard ― Alexa Giammanco and Yahelor Kanizo
- Silvana, 300 West 116th Street ― Marina Shalman, Austina Xuecheng Tian, and April Ziyue Zhu
Harlem Holiday Windows is an initiative to stimulate cultural and community activity to promote tourism in Harlem during the holidays. The program is presented by Jacqueline Orange’s ArtCrawl Harlem with curator Omo Misha. It is funded by the Frederick Douglass Boulevard Alliance (FDBA) and Harlem Tourism Board (HTB) in partnership with Harlem Park-to-Park (HP2P).
The windows will be on display through January 2.
