While walking on Lenox, between West 122nd and 123rd Streets, community members or tourists can visit the Artfullwalls Gallery at Home to Harlem, in the townhouse owned by Maria Granville. At the gallery, which also operates as a communal space, there is also visual art on display to purchase.
Granville, 69, was ahead of her time when she created the Home to Harlem website in 1997 — the first website dedicated to Harlem. It started as a guide for tourists in the neighborhood and eventually grew into the physical space when it opened in 2019. In addition to art, the space has been used for jazz shows, poetry, film screenings, book clubs, meetings, and more. Granville connects with different artists and curators to present the art.
The Home to Harlem name was adopted from the Claude McKay book of 1928.
“I think it looks more like a home,” Granville said about the uniqueness of the space compared to other venues. “It’s a very neighborhood kind of environment.”
Granville was born and raised in Harlem, attending schools like Our Lady of Lourdes and playing basketball. After graduating from high school early, she attended City College and Syracuse University; graduated with an economics degree; and got into technology, becoming a programmer and business analyst.
In 1990, after leaving Wang Laboratories, a computer manufacturing company, Granville started her own consulting firm, Madisyn Consulting. Her clients have included the New York Urban League and Jazzmobile.
In 1997, Granville used her developer knowledge to create the website. She conceived of the idea when she would sit on her stoop noticing tour buses stopping in Harlem. Yet she observed that the tourists never went to local businesses and or spend money that went to the community. To that end, the website would have a “daily itinerary” featuring local businesses to patronize while spending a day in Harlem, such as restaurants and historic spaces like the Schomburg Center or Studio Museum.
“The idea was to give people an opportunity or at least a reference so they would get off of the bus and spend some money,” Granville said.
The site grew to feature historical facts about Harlem and its notable residents. However, Granville said it was unable to gain major reach and was unsustainable without support from advertisers. Later, she partnered with the Carver Bank to allow them content from the website.
Around the time Granville was marketing the website, she attended an event with artist Willie Torbert that was her introduction to original independent artwork. Since then, she has become a collector and connoisseur of original work, such as paintings and sculptures, from the artists directly for her home.
“I never went back,” Granville said. “I became this person where if it is not original, I’m not buying it.”
After purchasing the brownstone in 2010 and finally completing renovations in 2019, Granville officially opened Home to Harlem and the gallery as a result of all the wall space. That year, she first connected with artists and curators Ernani Silva and Minna Dunn, who brought in works of other artists to be sold at the gallery. Over the last seven years, the gallery has run three-month showcases where people can look at and purchase art. Artists can run a one-person showcase at the space as well.
For Granville, one of the best aspects of running Home to Harlem is the fact that so many artists and community members convey to her how much having the space in Harlem means to them. “I would say we have to maintain it because people have told me that it’s necessary and they are glad we are here,” she said.
The garden level of the five-story brownstone is used for community space, such as meetings of the Mount Morris Park Community Improvement Association, hosting book clubs, theatre screenings, music, and private access to the garden. The parlor floor is for the gallery. Granville recalled recently offering the space to a young entrepreneur who was doing activities for children in the park and needed an indoor venue.
“I just feel I have to help a sister out,” Granville said. “I think if we all did that, maybe we would all be well.”
A special feature each year that Granville holds dear is during the Harlem Holiday Lights Celebration put on by the 125th Street BID, in which Home to Harlem is one of the viewing spaces. People gather, and drink hot cocoa while watching the show. On Saturday, Adrienne Adams will host a fundraiser for her race for lieutenant governor.
Granville remains modest despite all of it, saying she doesn’t think too deeply about what she has created but maintains all she does is about a love for community.
“I always loved Harlem. I love being here. I made sure to raise my children here. I refuse to move, even during the time other people would have,” she said. “Nothing is deliberate. Everything I do is just organic.”
Artfulllwalls Gallery is currently on hiatus and expected to open up again around Black History Month in 2027, when Silva is set to return as the curator.
