From Feb 1, 2007 until April 7 2008, Motema participated in a Harlem adventure to preserve Langston Hughes's Landmarked Brownstone as a performing venue and monument to the legacy of the great poet Langston Hughes. Unfortunately the adventure has come to an abrupt end, at least for now, due to legal and infruastucture issues surrounding the house. Many wonderful events have happened in Langston Hughes House of which many are well documented in photos, video and audio recordings. If you are interested in seeing these events on video, join the Hughes House mailing list at motema.com and we will notify you of screenings and webcasts or other developments.
MISSION
- To honor the legacy of Langston Hughes and The Harlem Renaissance
- To serve as a catalyst for a new Renaissance Movement
- To function as an educational resource for the youth, focusing on poetry, music and art
- To become a center to experience, share, and explore art in the Harlem community
- To broadcast the art and the artists of this communty to a gobal audience utlilizing new media outlets
THE STORY
Founders Shon ‘Chance’ Miller and Marc Cary had been commissioned to do a musical accompanyment to the Energy and Experimentation Exhibit at the Studio Museum in Harlem. This one song quickly turned into an entire album as the artists found themselves so inspired by the concept and the imagry. The lead song of this record was a the Langston Hughes Poem ‘Harlem’ (aka a dream deferred) set to music. Shon ‘Chance’ Miller also shot and edited an experimental video piece for the song which became a part of the exhibit. During this time Chance had been looking at several studio spaces each day for the teo musicians/entrprenuers to house their budding production house. While driving across 125th street listening to their newly mixed
“A Dream Deferred”, they received a call from a broker they had been in contact with stating “i’ve got a place you have to see”. Although the building was in complete disrepair and the two had limited funding resources to put towards renovation, they knew they could not pass up this opportunity. Within a matter of weeks the restoration had begun. Motema music founder Jana Herzen was brought into the house as both a benefactor and a strategic partner to make the house a self contained production, performance and distribution center. 9 months later the Hughes House opened its doors to an eager public on February 1st the commencement of Black History Month and the Birthdate of the late Langston Hughes. Today the Hughes House is quickly extending it’s presence in the Harlem community while staying true to it’s mission by offering a diversity of music and art related programs and events.
