HALO builds on the decades old work of the Sara Roosevelt Park Community Coalition and M’Finda Kalunga Garden‘s Debra Jeffreys-Glass re-creating its Juneteenth Celebrations – over many years (many documented on this website).
Prior to that? The work of Emlyn Brown
Researcher and Historian found the history and wrote of it.
Project Halo Link to video
HALO is a commissioned art installation aimed at illuminating the history of New York City’s Black community. The Chrystie Street African Burial Ground, granted to the African Society in 1795, served as a burial site for New York’s Black community until 1853, when most of the estimated 5,000 remains were moved to Cypress Hills Cemetery in Brooklyn. In 2006, remains believed to be from this burial ground were discovered during the construction of the new museum.
Artist Immanuel Oni’s HALO is a public art installation memorializing the now paved over Chrystie Street African Burial Ground. Located near M’Finda Kalunga Garden in Sara Roosevelt Park
Builds on the “enduring presence of Black communities in the Lower East Side.”
Meet the artist:
IMMANUEL ONI is a first-generation Nigerian-American artist and space doula living between New York City and hometown Houston, TX. He believes design is not about what he is making, but who he is making it for. More on Immanuel Oni here.
Buro Happold ‘s Share Our Skills program, has a commitment to community engagement and impactful design.
“The collaborative efforts of John, Maya, and Galen …emphasize the importance of hands-on involvement and innovative solutions that resonate with the community.”