Harlem Renaissance 100’s Spring 2025 Calendar of Harlem-wide events include tributes to Duke Ellington, Aretha Franklin, Louis Armstrong, James Brown, Maya Angelou, Celia Cruz, Gordon Parks & More

Harlem Renaissance 100™ announces its Spring 2025 cultural highlights presented by The Harlem Cultural Collaborative, an artistic coalition originally convened in 2020 to launch the Centennial Celebration of the Harlem Renaissance’s birth. Then, Now, and Forever: Harlem Renaissance 100 is a community-wide celebration of a defining era in American history — an unprecedented cultural explosion led by African American artists and performers. Emerging in the wake of World War I, these visionary creators shaped the essence of American culture through groundbreaking contributions to literature, music, visual arts, and social activism. Their legacy continues to inspire and influence contemporary culture today.

This season’s lineup features dynamic tributes to Duke Ellington, Aretha Franklin, Louis Armstrong, James Brown, Maya Angelou, Bessie Smith, Celia Cruz, Robert Johnson, Florence Price, Mary Bethune, and Gordon Parks with performances and exhibitions across Harlem’s cultural institutions including The Apollo, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture,  Classical Theater of Harlem, Harlem Stage, Dance Theatre of Harlem, and The Museum of The City of New York.