Opening Reception: Still Here: Harlem Eternal The Harlem Defender

On View
Friday, July 10 – Sunday, September 20, 2026

Location
The Children’s Art Carnival, 62 Hamilton Terrace, New York, Ny 10031

Opening Reception
Friday, July 10, 6–8 PM

Workshop
Saturday, July 11, 1–3 PM
Harlem Zine Lab: Xerox Transfer Workshop
Led by Dionis Ortiz

Co-Curated by Dionis Ortiz & The Defend Harlem Media Team

Still Here: Harlem Eternal is a multimedia exhibition honoring the people, histories, and cultural legacy of Harlem through photography, poetry, visual art, and film.

Organized by Defend Harlem, the exhibition responds to the ongoing effects of displacement, rising housing costs, and gentrification impacting longtime Harlem communities. Through storytelling and visual art, the exhibition highlights the voices of residents, organizers, and artists who continue to fight for the preservation of Harlem’s cultural identity and community life.

Defend Harlem is a community-based media and advocacy collective founded by The Interfaith Housing Commission for Housing Equality in partnership with Young Atlas. The collective uses visual storytelling, public programming, and grassroots organizing to advocate for housing justice in Uptown Manhattan.

Featured photographs were hand-printed by the Defend Harlem Media Team through a handmade image-transfer process using photocopies.

Exhibition Statement

Still Here: Harlem Eternal honors the enduring legacy of Harlem through the stories, memories, and creative voices of its residents, organizers, and cultural workers. The works featured in this exhibition pay tribute to the rich cultural contributions made by generations of Black and Latino working- and middle-class communities who have shaped Harlem for more than a century.

In the face of longtime residents being pushed out by rising housing costs, displacement, and ongoing gentrification, Defend Harlem organized this exhibition as both a celebration and a declaration: our communities are still fighting to protect Harlem, and we are still here. Even as the neighborhood continues to change, Defend Harlem believes Harlem’s cultural identity, collective memory, and community ties can still be preserved and carried forward by those who continue to live, work, organize, and create here.

Defend Harlem is a community-based media and advocacy collective dedicated to confronting displacement and housing injustice in Uptown Manhattan. Founded by The Interfaith Housing Commission for Housing Equality in partnership with Young Atlas, the collective organizes through visual art, storytelling, public programming, and grassroots community engagement to challenge gentrification and advocate for housing justice.

This multimedia exhibition is a collaborative project produced by the Defend Harlem media team alongside local artists, organizers, and contributors committed to art as a tool for social awareness and collective action. The photographs featured in this exhibition were hand-printed by the Defend Harlem Media Team through a handmade image-transfer process using photocopies. The exhibition includes portraiture, street photography, poetry, visual art, and short film works that reflect the lived experiences, resilience, and cultural memory of Harlem communities.