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Bronx African American History Project (BAAHP)

BAAHP Undergraduate Assistant, Sarah Neiman

Art Exhibit Summary: Museum Reopening Weekend

Sarah Neiman is a senior at Fordham University studying philosophy and theology. She became interested in the Bronx African American History Project after having Dr. Naison as a professor for Rock & Roll to Hip Hop in her junior year. Since then, she has developed a passion for writing and finds the work she does with BAAHP incredibly rewarding. She is also an aspiring filmmaker, and was driven to do this through the way her philosophy degree has encouraged her to see and think about the world. One of her favorite classes at Fordham has been Buddhism, and this class has driven her to have a passion for helping others and incorporating the idea of seeing the other in their wholeness throughout all of the work she does with BAAHP as well as her career. In the summer of 2024, Sarah was a recipient of the Fordham Undergraduate Research Grant in which she was able to conduct her own personal philosophical research on the Platonic conception of absolute beauty as it manifests in the natural world. Sarah incorporates everything she has learned through this research project and the enriching classes she has had the opportunity to take at Fordham into her work with the BAAHP. She looks forward to all of the work she will be taking on for the BAAHP in the future and is committed to applying her research skills to her BAAHP work.

Disciplines

Black History | Fine Arts | Social History | United States History

Abstract

Museums have a unique ability to situate themselves in the present moment while also commemorating the past and imagining the future. Studio Museum Harlem (SMH) does this, especially on the day of its reopening. The museum originally opened in 1968, amongst many Civil Rights and Black Power demonstrations occurring across the country. This innovative spirit is still visible today despite the museum closing and reopening again. The museum made its grand reopening on November 15th, 2025, after seven years of having its doors closed for construction. The Bronx African American History Project team had the special opportunity to visit SMH on November 16th and experience the energetic atmosphere of a reopened museum as well as take an immersive walk through new exhibits on display. Whether through paint or pastels, taking an electronic/technological approach, or using chains and various forms of metal it became clear while walking through SMH that the way in which the artists utilized their resources when creating their work was in an attempt to express the experience and the historical context shared by many marginalized communities in Harlem both past and present. Creating art served as their way to express what need not be said in words, and this work was ultimately made using a wide range of artistic mediums.

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