Longtime Brooklynite To Unveil Art Installation In Prospect Park

BROOKLYN, NY — An art project set to premiere this spring will contribute to Prospect Park's initiative to acknowledge the property's role as a site of slavery.

The Prospect Park Alliance, a non-profit organization that works with the city to manage the borough's second-largest green space, has named Adama Delphine Fawundu as its first artist in residence.

Fawundu, a multidisciplinary artist who has previously worked with BRIC, Columbia University, the Norton Museum of Art, and more, will create a monumental, site-specific installation at Lefferts Historic House Museum.

Fawundu will use research from the new ReImagine Lefferts initiative to create an installation that will highlight the significance of the indigenous Lenapehoking people, whose unceded land the house sits on, as well as the Africans enslaved by the Lefferts family.

The installation will debut in spring 2024, coinciding with the seasonal opening of the museum, and it is funded through a Humanities in Place grant from the Mellon Foundation.

Fawundu, who was born and raised in Brooklyn, spoke to the personal relevance of this opportunity.

"When the Alliance reached out it was so special because we were both on a specific trajectory. My whole existence is based in this neighborhood," Fawundu said. "The smell of the grass when it rains in the park means so much to me…I have such a history here. It felt very much like a 360-degree event to connect with the ReImagine team here in Prospect Park."

Fawundu also explained that her work is influenced not only by her relationship with the park but also by her over 10 years of experience working as an educator in New York City schools.

"Resistance is so important for the younger generation. Black people have always been resisting from generation to generation and telling stories that make our youth feel less-than is violent," Fawundu said. "Stories of the past clearly impact how younger people see themselves. The way we understand the past informs the present and future. This is something I have grappled with throughout my career as an artist and educator."

This recent partnership is not Fawundu's first work with the park. In 2020, her performance art piece “In the Face of History Freedom Cape,” was partially filmed in Lefferts Historic House and Prospect Park.

“Prospect Park Alliance’s first ReImagine Lefferts Artist in Residence is a step towards healing deep-seated wounds from our nation’s past,” said Prospect Park Alliance President, Morgan Monaco. “Art is a key medium for storytelling and this installation will help tell the stories of those who have traditionally been silenced. I look forward to park visitors engaging with and reflecting on Delphine’s installation as a form of healing, learning and community building.”

Fawundu’s exhibition will feature 25 individual textile pieces, each paying tribute to the 25 enslaved Africans who lived at Lefferts House from 1783 through the abolition of slavery in New York in 1827.

"Delphine’s work builds upon research to honor the humanity of those whose stories were previously not told," said Maria Carrasco, Prospect Park Alliance Vice President, Public Programs. "Her vision and work fit seamlessly with the ReImagine Lefferts Initiative in centering the resistance and resilience that enslaved Africans and generations of descendants have embodied throughout history."