About HAA

By increasing the exposure of its membership through our collaborative programming, HAA bridges gaps between artists and major arts institutions; amplifys the unique voices of our member artists and expands the conversations surrounding their work.

Clip of artwork: SAANVI by Aleathia Brown

HAA is a primary source for information dissemination, provides workshops, and produces a number of showcase and presentation programs featuring the work of its members.

BECOME A MEMBER

The Harlem Arts Alliance (HAA) was founded in 2001, led by our Chairman Voza Rivers a local, national and international impresario for the Advancement of Arts and Culture whose experience includes Award Winning Production of Theater, Film, Music and Live Events.

At the core, HAA has cultivated a dynamic membership base artists and arts organizations. HAA plays an essential role in the lives of emerging and established artists by helping build the resources, networks, and capacity of its richly diverse membership.

Our membership includes 400+ individual artist members & collaborators such as:

Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce
Harlem Fine Arts Festival
Harlem Business Alliance
Harlem Community Development Corporation
Harlem Week INC
Lower Manhattan Cultural Council
Museum for the City of New York
Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone
New York Foundation for the Arts
Manhattan School Of Music
American Museum of Natural History
Apollo Theater INC.
Asian American Arts Alliance
Association of Hispanic Arts
Bronx Council on the Arts
Center of Cuban Studies
Community Works
City College of New York
Dance Theater of Harlem
Department of Cultural Affairs
The Field

Board of Directors

Voza Rivers, Chairman
New Heritage Theatre Group, President / Executive Producer

Lloyd A. Williams, Vice-Chairman
The Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce, President / CEO

Linda Walton, Secretary
Jazzmobile, Inc., Vice President Board Secretary, HARLEM Arts Alliance

Geoffrey E. Eaton
NY Congressional Office of Charles B. Rangel, Deputy Chief of Staff

Donna Walker-Kuhne
Walker International Communications Group, President

Bill Covington, Esq.

Staff

Voza Rivers
Executive Producer

Jasmin Heatly
Interim Director

Lainie Cooke
Chief Financial Officer / Executive Administrator

Darryl T. Downing
Producer / Marketing Director / Audience Developer

Shawn Shearer
Executive Consultant

Associate Partners

A Walk Through Our History

2001

In 2001 HAA received an Emerging Organization grant from JP Morgan Chase Foundation. HAA was then appointed to September 11th Recovery Fund grant committee and hosted two workshops in partnership with the committee. HAA also lead multiple initatives that advocated for funding artists and organizations impacted by September 11th. In 2001 HAA alos produced is first showcase of HAA members at Schomburg Center for Research and Black Culture.

2002

In 2002 HAA received the Arts & Business Council technical assistance grant. Building on grassroot effort in 2001, in 2002 HAA collaborated with NYFA and received a $100,000 grant from Rockefeller Foundation that was distributed to arts organizations & artists effected by September 11. With NYFA, HAA coordinated & established Leadership Circles, a series of workshops to train arts administrators. In the summer of 2002 HAA showcased HAA members during Harlem Week and Collaborated with the Theater at Riverside to produce an outdoor family arts festival.

2003

As the HAA community continued to expand HAA received grants from Harlem School of the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, Department of Cultural Affairs, Mertz Gilmore Foundation, Ford Foundation. These grants and fundraising efforts provided funding opportunities for artists members. In 2003 HAA awarded $50,000 in grants to HAA members. HAA also produced a Film screening with Black Programmer’s Consortium at Columbia University’s Miller Theater, multiple member showcases at Black Expo, Harlem Week, and the Harlem Congregations for Community Improvement outdoor arts festival. HAA also co-hosted town hall meetings at Apollo Theater re: Salman Rushdies’s “Midnight Children”.