The Mellon Foundation Awards $350,000 to Settlement Housing Fund

The Mellon Foundation Awards Settlement Housing Fund a $350,000 grant to Preserve Public Art at Harlem River Houses

December 14, 2023

Contact: acepeda@shfinc.org | (212) 265-6530 x173

NEW YORK, NY – The Mellon Foundation has awarded Settlement Housing Fund a generous $350,000 grant to preserve art and history at Harlem River Houses. This funding will support the restoration of three sculptures, the re-creation of missing sculptures, new mural commissions at the north and south entryways, and the research and installation of interpretive signage documenting the history of the development and its residents.

This art restoration project will be completed as part of Harlem River Preservation, a comprehensive rehabilitation of Harlem River Houses and the neighboring Harlem River II campus, that will provide significant and much-needed renovations and upgrades to 690 apartments and common areas, building facades, and provide energy and sustainability related improvements.

The project will include the preservation of three remaining original sculptures to Harlem River Houses, including Mother & Child with Dog, Black Laborer, and Two Bear Cubs, the recreation or reimagining of four missing penguin sculptures, and the creation of new murals at the north and south entryways of Harlem River Houses. Settlement Housing Fund will work with commissioned artists to execute community visioning workshops open to Harlem River residents to participate in generating ideas for the new murals. As part of the project, community engagement will include sharing the history of Harlem River Houses and the original public art with residents during educational workshops.

“We want to thank the Mellon Foundation for this generous funding that will make it possible to preserve history through sculpture restoration and public art at Harlem River Houses, an integral part of the beauty and heart of the development,” said Alexa Sewell, president of Settlement Housing Fund.

The historic Harlem River Houses development was built for the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) in 1936-37 in partnership with President Roosevelt’s New Deal Public Works Association (PWA), which enforced policies that called for racial segregation in public housing. It was the first of two federally funded public housing developments in the city, standing out for its design and amenities provided to meet the needs of African American residents in Harlem, where the community had endured poor living conditions for decades. While the housing was lauded as a model for what public housing could be, from both a design perspective and affordability, the cost of the project was high, and the federal government decreased construction budgets for public housing going forward so it was not to be replicated.

See current and historical photos of Harlem River Houses below: 

About Settlement Housing Fund:

Settlement Housing Fund creates and sustains high quality affordable housing and programs, building strong and economically diverse neighborhoods throughout New York City. Settlement Housing Fund works closely with community partners to provide low‐ and moderate‐income New Yorkers with pathways to long‐term affordable housing, education, employment, and wellness. Since its founding in 1969, the organization has developed 73 projects with over 9,000 apartments – rentals, cooperatives, and two-family houses – that are home to more than 25,000 low- and moderate- income residents, including a substantial number of families that have experienced homelessness.

For more information, visit www.settlementhousingfund.org or connect with us on LinkedIn, Instagram, or YouTube.