ur mission is to honor, dignify and restore the humanity of enslaved Africans in America by transforming them from objects to subjects via art in a public place in Yonkers, NY.

In the spirit of collaboration, the City of Yonkers, City Council-Woman Patricia McDow, the County of Westchester, ArtsWestchester, the Yonkers Board of Education, historians, scholars, community-based organizations, community members and local artist Vinnie Bagwell are working together to develop the Enslaved Africans’ Rain Garden, a multi-million dollar, urban-heritage sculpture garden, featuring art in a public place which honors the legacy of enslaved Africans who resided at Philipse Manor Hall in Yonkers, New York–six of whom were the first to be manumitted by law, 76 years before the Emancipation Proclamation.