New Art at Dyckman Farmhouse Uncovers the Voices of Enslaved People

Discover Unspoken Voices: Honoring the Legacy of Black America, a new public art project inside the Dyckman Farmhouse Museum. This unique exhibit is made up of artwork inspired by data being uncovered about the enslaved people of upper Manhattan and by research into an African burial ground located at the parking lot of P.S. 98. This research and exhibition together are part of the DyckmanDISCOVERED initiative of the museum. Join Untapped New York for a special virtual tour of the new exhibit where you will get to see the new site-specific works of art with the guidance of the museum’s Executive Director Meredith Sorin-Horsford.

Front Parlor-Rachel Sydlowski, Marquise Foster-Photo Credit Max Yawney

Unspoken Voices brings life to the enslaved and free Black individuals who lived, worked and cultivated the Dyckman farmland. That land covered 250 acres amid the once rural area of Upper Manhattan. The exhibition is inspired by the DyckmanDISCOVERED initiative, which has uncovered data surrounding these individuals, some of whom were previously unnamed. Unspoken Voices follows the close of No Records, another site-specific exhibit by artist Reggie Black. Tonight, Wednesday, December 9th, is the last night to view the exterior projections of Black’s work.

Second Floor Bedroom-Gwendolyn Black, Creator, Clothing By Wilma Ann Sealy, Title: My Soul Sings of Freedom(tm). Photo Credit Juan Brizuela

In response to these discoveries, Unspoken Voices includes the collaborative and solo works: Assembly of Ciphers by Rachel Sydlowski with Marquise Foster, My Soul Sings of Freedom by Gwendolyn Black with Wilma Ann Sealy, and Humanity VS Insanity by Sheila Prevost. In Assemly of Ciphers, Sydlowski and Foster transform the Dyckman family’s leisurely front parlor into a space honoring Upper Manhattan’s enslaved Black community. Ceremonial and mourning clothes with floral embroidered lace are presented along with printed flora and fauna screen prints, furniture and portraits by Sydlowski. The installation pieces are overprinted with an invisible, ultraviolet medium that can only be viewed with the aid of a backlight or UV-A lantern – symbolizing hidden, untold history that now rises to the surface.

Second Floor Hallway-Sheila Provost, “Uhuru” Last Enslaved-Credit Juan Brizuela

In My Soul Sings of Freedom, visual artist Black and designer and seamstress Sealy capture the daily life, fashion and historically ignored humanity of Manhattan’s enslaved people through mixed media such as paint and fabric. “Like Leaves” by Broadway composer and pianist Emme Kemp and writer Milton Polsky plays in conjunction with Black and Sealy’s work to symbolize the mixed feelings of sadness and hope still felt among Black Americans today. With her piece, Prevost creates integrated textured, mixed-medium and hand-drawn portraits that depict Black African individuals interacting with nature, the spiritual and the struggle of forced labor to build New York City. Combined with the portraits is an original musical composition by Prevost that collectively makes up her series “Play on Culture and Play on Ritual.” See all these unique works on tomorrow’s upcoming tour!

This live virtual event on Thursday, December 10th, is organized for Untapped New York Insiders. Not an Insider yet? Become a member today and get two months free with code JOINUS. After that plans start at $10/month. A video of the tour will also be made available to all our Insiders afterward in the Video Archive section of our website.

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Next, check out 5 Historical Farms in NYC You Can Visit: Dyckman Farm, Wyckoff House, Decker Farm, Queens County Farm, Kingland Homestead