Art Is… by Lorraine O’Grady, is a series of forty color photographs. Each photograph measures sixteen inches by twenty inches, meaning each is slightly larger than two regular sheets of paper placed side by side. They all are mounted in white wooden frames that measure twenty-two by twenty-seven inches, with a thick white mat of several inches surrounding each the images. Of the forty total photographs, thirty-nine are in landscape orientation, and one is in a portrait style. The landscape pictures are arranged in three long, stacked rows of thirteen images. The white frames are hung in a tight and neat arrangement of straight rows and columns, with only several inches separating their edges. This large composition requires a wall at least forty feet in width to display such a large collection of photographs. The lone portrait orientation picture is visible to the immediate right of the tight grid of the thirty-nine white picture frames. The entire collection of color photographs documents a performance by the artist Lorraine O’Grady, done in September 1983. Contained in the white frames are scenes of the African-American Day Parade, held along Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard, in Harlem, New York City. The various scenes of the parade unfold in the framed photographs. Visible are the multistory brick apartment buildings that line Lenox Avenue. Storefronts, laundromats and bars all advertise their locations with a variety of colorful signs. The parade goers line the route along the wide street, behind blue wooden police barricades. The crowds are mostly the Black inhabitants of Harlem, people of all ages. In some of the photographs, white policemen are visible along the parade route. The crowds show smiling faces of joy and happiness as they observe the floats pass by. The police are generally stern, but in some photographs, individual officers pose and smile with the parade viewers. In all of the photographs, there are various scenes of Lorraine O’Grady’s performance. For this performance, O’Grady crafted an enormous gilded frame, much like the ones seen bordering famous artworks, but on a massive scale. The frame takes up the entirety of the float, and is purposely left empty. In many of the photographs, the large gold frame surrounds the street scenes of Harlem, turning the neighborhood into a massive work of art. Surrounding the float is O’Grady and a dozen or so other performers, all dressed in white. The majority of the photographs see these performers interacting with Harlem’s residents, holding up empty golden frames around their faces. The photographs all capture this intimate interaction, as the Black civilians and White police officers alternatively pose and smile inside the gilded frames. The one portrait-oriented photograph frames a young woman watching the parade. She is smiling is pointing with her left hand directly back at the camera, and thus, the viewer.