Museums & Institutions

Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute

Once an abandoned firehouse at 120 East 125th Street in East Harlem, the Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute was founded as a way to create an educational environment filled with exhibits to showcase and celebrate Yoruba culture and religion.

The firehouse was initially build in 1889, but was eventually restored into the museum beginning in 2014, thanks to City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito.

The CCCADI is made up of three parts, including a virtual exhibition entitled Augmented Reality, which highlights the surrounding neighborhood using a mobile app.

Studio Museum

The Studio Museum at 144 West 125th Street between Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard and Lenox Avenue, is a contemporary art museum devoted to African-American artists of the 19th and 20th centuries.

The museum first opened in 1968 in a rented loft, but eventually moved to its current location in 1977. William T. Williams was tasked to write the proposal for the museum’s hopeful Artist-in-Residence program, and when it was approved, Williams and sculptor, Mel Edwards, prepared the museum’s former loft location into art studios.

The Artist-in-Residence program has been providing three local, national, and international artists with 11-month studio residencies, along with stipends to allow them to perfect their work in an artistic environment. In more recent years, The Studio Museum in Harlem announced a new $122 million design for the museum.