West Harlem, treasured for its cultural legacy, vibrant multicultural community, and renowned religious and academic institutions, invites visitors to the Harlem Culture Crawl to explore some of the neighborhood’s established and lesser-known cultural organizations. Over this weekend-long festival from April 23 to 24, explore Harlem’s neighborhoods and experience how the area’s unique structures and organizations keep Harlem at the helm of culture today.

Residents and visitors alike will have the opportunity to experience Harlem’s most treasured cultural institutions from the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, Morris Jumel Mansion, the Sugar Hill Children’s Museum, and more. The festival is free of charge but RSVPs are required on Eventbrite for tours. Find the full collection of Culture Crawl events and register here.

This event is organized by Harlem One Stop & members of the Harlem Cultural Collaborative, with support with Open House New York. For questions and more information, please reach out to Yuien Chen at yuien@harlemonestop.org.

Full Schedule

Saturday, April 23 2022

American Academy of Arts and Letters
633 West 155 Street, New York. NY 10032

• Open Access: Saturday, 12:00pm – 6:00pm, Sunday, 12 pm – 6pm

Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine

1047 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY 10025

• The Zip Code Memory Project Exhibit Opening and Performances:
• Exhibit Opening: Saturday, 3:00pm – 6:00pm | Register Here
• Performances: Saturday, 6:00pm – 8:30pm | Register Here

Manhattanville’s Columbia University’s Campus & Manufacturing District Tour
West 12^th Avenue, from West 125^th Street to West 134^th Street, New York, NY 10027

• Historical Walking Tour: Saturday 1:00pm, 3:00 pm | Register Here

The City College of New York Campus Tour /Highlights: The Collegiate Gothic Complex & The Bernard and Anne Spitzer School of Architecture (Exteriors)
141 Convent Avenue at West 135^th Street, New York, NY 10031

• Guided Tours: Saturday 11:30 am | Register Here

Harlem Stage
150 Convent Avenue at West 135^th Street, New York, NY 10031

• Guided Tour: Saturday 3:00 pm, 3:30 pm | Register Here

The Hispanic Museum & Library, East Building Gallery
613 West 155^th Street (Audubon Complex between 155^th and 156^th Streets), New York, NY 10032

• Open Access: Saturday 12:00pm – 6:00pm
• Performance: Saturday 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm | Register Here

Morris-Jumel Mansion
65 Jumel Terrace, New York, NY 10032

• Open Access: Saturday 11:00 am, 12:00 pm, 1:00 pm and 2:00 pm
• Admission: Limited to 15 persons per time slot | Register Here

Riverside Church Tower Tour
490 Riverside Drive, between West 120^th and 122^nd Street, New York, NY 10027

• Open Access: Saturday 11:00 am – 4:00 pm
• Tower Tours: Saturday, 11:00 am, 1:00 pm and 2:00 pm | Register Here

SoHarlem Designer Incubator for Emerging Artisans and Fashion Designers
1361 Amsterdam Avenue, Suite 340 at West 126^th Street, New York, N.Y. 10027

• Open Access: Saturday 11:00 am – 5:00 pm | Register Here

Sugar Hill Children’s Museum of Art & Storytelling
898 St. Nicholas Avenue @ West 155^th Street, New York, NY 10031

• Open Access: Saturday 10:00 am – 3:00 pm

Sunday, April 24 2022

American Academy of Arts and Letters
633 West 155 Street, New York. NY 10032

• Open Access: Sunday, 12 pm – 6pm

The City College of New York Campus Tour / Highlights: The Collegiate Gothic Complex & The Bernard and Anne Spitzer School of Architecture
141 Convent Avenue at West 135^th Street, New York, NY 10031

• Guided Tours: Sunday 2:30 pm | Register Here

The Hispanic Museum & Library, East Building Gallery
613 West 155^th Street (Audubon Complex between 155^th and 156^th Streets), New York, NY 10032

• Open Access: Sunday 12:00pm – 6:00pm

Morris-Jumel Mansion
65 Jumel Terrace, New York, NY 10032

• Open Access: Sunday 11:00 am, 12:00 pm, 1:00 pm and 2:00 pm
• Admission: Limited to 15 persons per time slot | Register Here

Riverside Church Tower Tour
490 Riverside Drive, between West 120^th and 122^nd Street, New York, NY 10027

• Open Access: Sunday 11:00 am – 2:30 pm
• Tower Tours: Sunday 2:30 pm | Register Here
• English Handbell Concert: Sunday 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm | Register Here

Partners

American Academy of Arts and Letters
The American Academy of Arts and Letters is an honor society of the country’s 300 leading architects, artists, composers, and writers. Each year it elects new members as vacancies occur, administers over 70 awards and prizes, exhibits art and manuscripts, funds performances of new works of musical theater, and purchases artwork for donation to museums across the United States. Located within the Audubon Terrace complex, The Academy of Arts and Letters occupies three buildings, two of which were designed by William Kendal of McKim, Mead & White and the third building housing an auditorium and gallery, designed by Cass Gilbert. The Audubon Terrace plaza is also shared with the Hispanic Society Museum and Library and Boricua College.

Cathedral of Saint John the Divine

In a city of skyscrapers, the Cathedral impresses with sheer size. Its detailed façade towers over Amsterdam Avenue, and the building extends a full avenue block to Morningside Drive. The Cathedral is more than 120 years old, and remains unfinished. Despite incomplete construction, it is the largest cathedral in the world, making it a global landmark. The Cathedral’s distinctive architecture is an equal claim to fame, and an important monument in the history of its neighborhood and city. Among self-guided and tour highlights are treasured tapestries, the American Poet’s Corner, and numerous chapels and gardens.

The City College of New York Campus Tour /Highlights: The Collegiate Gothic Complex & The Bernard and Anne Spitzer School of Architecture
The Collegiate Gothic Complex, designed by George B. Post and George B. Post and Sons (1897-1930), constructed of Manhattan schist, Manhattan’s bedrock, excavated on the site, are the jewels of the City College of New York campus. Initially established in 1847 at a lower Manhattan site as a Free Academy, providing “children of immigrants and the poor access to free higher education based on academic merit alone.” City College continues today to serve a large and diverse immigrant community. City College continues today to attract a large and diverse immigrant community and has produced a distinguished list of alumni, including Nobel laureates. The Spitzer School of Architecture is the more recent addition to the City College campus, housed in a 135,000-square foot, state-of-the-art building designed by Rafael Viñoly Architects. The building, completed in 2009, is centered on a 60-foot-high atrium containing a gallery on the ground floor.

Columbia University Manhattanville Campus
The Manhattanville campus is the first neighborhood development in New York City to earn the prestigious LEED-ND Platinum designation from the US Green Building Council. The campus houses the Columbia Business School, the Lenfest Center for the Arts and the Jerome L. Greene Science Center.

Harlem Stage
Harlem Stage is the performing arts center that bridges Harlem’s cultural legacy to contemporary artists of color and dares to provide the artistic freedom that gives birth to new ideas. In 2006, Harlem Stage opened the landmarked, award-winning Harlem Stage Gatehouse—a New York City landmark built in 1890 as the pivotal facility within the Croton Aqueduct system. This historic building has been restored into a state-of-the-art, flexible performance, rehearsal and support space. What was originally a pivotal source for distributing fresh water to the City is now a vital source of creativity, ideas and culture. RSVP for a tour of the landmarked site and learn its history.

The Hispanic Society Museum & Library

Located on the Audubon Terrace Broadway between 155th and 156th streets, the Hispanic Society Museum & Library was founded by Archer Milton Huntington in 1904, as a free, public museum and library for the study of the art and culture of the Spain, Portugal, Latin America, and the Philippines. HSM&L houses a vast collection of paintings, watercolors, drawings, prints and photographs, as well as sculpture and decorative objects dating from the first millennium BCE to the 20th century. The library offers an unparalleled collection of over 300,000 books and periodicals dating from the 11th century to the present. As HSM&L continues comprehensive renovation of the Museum’s Main Building, it has maintained and expanded its public and educational programs both in virtual platforms and in person, including its popular concert series, public lectures, the monthly Tertulias de Arte Hispano, and launching its first ever temporary exhibition space, the East Building Gallery. They have reactivated the outdoor space with exhibitions and public programs on Audubon Terrace in partnership with several local artists and community arts organizations.

From Noon to 6pm during the Harlem Culture Crawl Weekend, the outdoor installation Art as Solidarity will be opened to the public. It is an ongoing series of artworks by Andrea Arroyo, created in response to contemporary societal issues that we face collectively on a daily basis, such as immigration, civil and gender rights, displacement, violence, international conflicts, and the environmental crisis. No reservations required.

Morris-Jumel Mansion
The Morris-Jumel Mansion was completed in 1765 as a summer house for British Colonel Roger Morris, his wife, Mary Philipse, and their family on approximately 135 acres of land that was estimated to stretch from the Harlem to Hudson Rivers between what is now 155th and 165th streets. Their country estate was named “Mount Morris” and, being situated on one of the highest points of Manhattan, offered clear views of New Jersey, Connecticut, and all of New York Harbor. In addition to serving as a summer retreat, Mount Morris was also a working farm with fruit trees, cows, and sheep as well as a variety of crops. The Mansion is a member of the Historic House Trust of New York City.

Riverside Church Tower
Opened in 1930 and modeled after the 13th Century gothic cathedral in Chartres, France, The Riverside Church overlooks the Hudson River, Grant’s Tomb, Columbia University, and West Harlem. As the tallest church tower in North America, Riverside features spectacular 360-degree views and the 74-bell Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial Carillon, with one of the largest tuned bells in the world, weighing in at 20-tons. Take the “tower tour” to ascend the bell tower and stay for the 43rd Annual Handbell Festival on Saturday.

SoHarlem for Emerging Artisans and Fashion Designers
SoHarlem’s Designers’ Studio, a fully equipped, compact manufacturing plant, has provided Harlem’s creative entrepreneurs and designers of color access to much needed, affordable work space and this an opportunity to explore their work. SOH is housed in the Mink Building, originally part of the former Yuengling Brewery Co. complex built in the late 1800s.

Sugar Hill Children’s Museum of Art & Storytelling

Designed to nurture the curiosity and creative spirit of three- to eight-year-old children, Sugar Hill Children’s Museum of Art & Storytelling provides opportunities to grow as both author and audience, as children and their families engage with the work of accomplished artists and storytellers, and create and share their own. The 191,000 square-feet mixed-use building designed by internationally acclaimed architect David Adjaye is prominently located in Upper Manhattan’s Sugar Hill historic district on 155th Street, the crossroads of the traditionally African American neighborhood of Harlem and the immigrant, largely Latino communities of Washington Heights. For the Harlem Cultural Crawl, the museum will feature artmaking opportunities throughout the day, as well as storytelling performances at 11am and 1pm.

All visitors to indoor venues participating in the Harlem Culture Crawl must show proof of full Covid-19 vaccination. Masks are required on-site.