The Harlem Hospital Center murals were developed under the auspices of the Works Progress Administration's Federal Art Project, created in 1935 for the support and employment of artists. In its eight years of operation, the WPA commissioned over five hundred murals solely for New York City's public hospitals. The Harlem Hospital Center murals, initially commissioned in 1936, were the first major U.S. government commissions awarded to African American artists.

Over the decades, these murals, painted in the modernist abstraction style of the time, suffered the effects of both age and environmental assault. Four murals have now been fully restored and are on permanent exhibit in The Mural Pavilion of the modernized Harlem Hospital Center.  The new Pavilion will integrate the hospital’s outpatient, inpatient, and emergency room services, bringing a state-of-the-art medical facility to the Harlem community.

Visit the website of The Fund for HHC, and learn how you can become a part of this important restoration project.

Click here to learn more about the history of the Harlem Hospital Center WPA Murals.