\u201cGreat Migration\u201d<\/a>\u00a0and features 35 illuminated steel sculptures ranging from six to 12 feet high, spread across the 16-acre campus. The installation amplifies the voices, memories, and aspirations of Kingsborough residents while honoring the recently restored, monumental 8-foot-by-80-foot frieze, installed in 1941.<\/p>\nThe design team, led by New York City-based artists Ifeoma Ebo and Jerome Haferd, alongside Pedro Cruz Cruz and Violet Greenberg, sought input from Kingsborough residents, local artists from the Fulton Art Fair \u2014 including the late artist-in-residence Larry Weekes \u2014 lighting designers, and cultural historians to ensure the work reflected authentic community voices.<\/p>\n
Participants shared memories, drawings, and stories, shaping the inscriptions on the sculptures. These include oral histories from residents, historic accounts of Barth\u00e9\u2019s life and work, residents\u2019 personal memories of the Exodus and Dance frieze, and quotes on community, extended family, and resilience.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1765331651_251_kingsboroughhouses-heritagewalk-phcf-115.jpg\")
Each sculpture features integrated lighting that illuminates the pathways and open spaces. ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/kingsboroughhouses-heritagewalk-phcf-65.jpg\")
City officials, artists, residents, and cultural leaders unveil a new permanent outdoor heritage walk and art installation at Kingsborough Houses in Crown Heights.Photo courtesy of Tameek Williams<\/p>\n
All sculptures, fabricated in Brooklyn, feature illustrations inspired by Egyptian and other diasporic motifs as well as Barth\u00e9\u2019s own artistic vocabulary. Some include seating elements to invite engagement and reflection. Each structure has integrated lighting, illuminating pathways and open spaces in the evening and guiding visitors from neighboring streets toward the Exodus and Dance frieze. The open space around the frieze was also transformed with improved lighting and new community-inspired murals on the back wall.<\/p>\n
Ebo, principal at Creative Urban Alchemy, said art is most powerful when it amplifies the voices of the community.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cWorking alongside Kingsborough residents through months of workshops, the heritage walk became inscribed with their memories, dreams, and deep connection to this place,\u201d Ebo said. \u201cWe\u2019ve transformed these outdoor spaces into a celebration where Richmond Barth\u00e9\u2019s historic frieze meets the living creativity of present-day Brooklyn, creating pathways that honor both preservation and the voices that make Kingsborough home.\u201d<\/p>\n
Angelina Whitaker, president of the Kingsborough Houses Resident Association, said the NYCHA public housing community has always been rich in history and pride.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cMigration honors the generations who came before us and celebrates those who continue to make Kingsborough home today,\u201d Whitaker said. \u201cThe stories, art, and light now woven throughout our campus remind us that our community is alive with creativity and resilience.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/04_Migration_395_Photography-by-Anna-Dave.jpg\")
Newly installed artworks at Kingsborough Houses highlight residents\u2019 memories and the historic Barth\u00e9 frieze.Photo by Anna Dave ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/kingsboroughhouses-heritagewalk-phcf-3.jpg\")
Steel sculptures and illuminated pathways bring the stories of Kingsborough Houses to life.<\/p>\n
The project was funded by the Mellon Foundation and New York City Council. In 2019, NYCHA received $1.8 million for both phases from former City Council Speaker Corey Johnson and former City Council Member Alicka Ampry-Samuel, and an additional $2 million grant from the Mellon Foundation to the Public Housing Community Fund in 2023. Funding supported the frieze restoration, an artist-in-residency program, an oral history project, and the installation of the heritage walk. Other collaborators included the Kingsborough Houses Stakeholder Advisory Group, Weeksville Heritage Center, African Peach Arts Coalition, the NYC Public Design Commission, and various local cultural institutions and community organizations.<\/p>\n
For NYCHA Chief Executive Officer Lisa Bova-Hiatt, the restoration of \u201cThe Wall,\u201d as Barth\u00e9\u2019s symbol of community pride is often called, underscores the importance of preserving Kingsborough Houses\u2019 cultural identity.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Migration heritage walk takes inspiration and builds on the momentum of the frieze restoration, providing residents and community members with an incredibly unique and culturally significant art walk experience right on the Kingsborough campus,\u201d Bova-Hiatt said. \u201cWe are deeply appreciative of the Public Housing Community Fund, the Mellon Foundation, artists Jerome Haferd and Ifeoma Ebo, and all the partners involved in this project, which pays homage not only to the original frieze installation but also to the generations of residents who have called Kingsborough Houses home.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The \u2018Migration\u2019 installation at Kingsborough Houses combines public art, history, and storytelling. Photo courtesy of Tameek Williams City…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":66367,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[34597,1150,98,100,99,34598,34599,28541,34600,34601,34602,34603,34604,32982,10884,9,24,12,370,63,305,34605,32983,34606],"class_list":["post-66366","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-angelina-whitaker","tag-art-installation","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-exodus-dance-frieze","tag-exodus-and-dance","tag-frieze","tag-heritage-walk","tag-ifeoma-ebo","tag-jerome-haferd","tag-kingsborough-houses","tag-lisa-bova-hiatt","tag-mellon-foundation","tag-migration","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-news","tag-newsletter","tag-nyc","tag-nycha","tag-public-art-sculpture","tag-public-housing-community-fund","tag-richmond-barthu00e9"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66366","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66366"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66366\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66367"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"kingsboroughhouses-heritagewalk-phcf-1\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/kingsboroughhouses-heritagewalk-phcf-1.jpg\")
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