Black art in colonial spaces

by themoneyoffice2.com@gmail.com February 11, 2024 · Art

Cityline: Black art in colonial spaces

Making Black art accessible to all

LOCAL BLACK ARTISTS IN THE SPOTLIGHT. THE WEEKLY COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER HAS CREATED A VIRTUAL ART GALLERY MAKING ART AND THE ARTISTS THEMSELVES MORE ACCESSIBLE. JOINING US NOW IS RON MITCHELL. HE’S EDITOR AND PUBLISHER OF THE BAY STATE BANNER AND AQUA HOMES. CELEBRATED ARTIST FROM ROXBURY. WELCOME TO YOU BOTH, RON. WHAT WAS THE INSPIRATION BEHIND THE VIRTUAL GALLERY? WELL, AS YOU KNOW, WHEN WE PURCHASED THE BAY STATE BANNER NEWSPAPER FROM MEL MILLER, THE LEGENDARY FOUNDER, SOME 911 MONTHS AGO, OUR GOAL WAS TO SUPPORT OUR COMMUNITY IN ALL DIFFERENT WAYS AND BRINGING AFRICAN AMERICAN ART TO OUR AUDIENCE IS IMPORTANT. IT INSPIRES US. IT SHARES OUR HISTORY, AND IT ALSO HELPS ARTISTS TO PROMOTE AND SELL THEIR ART. SO IT WAS AN IMPORTANT GOAL FOR THE PAPER AND TALKING WITH PAUL GOODNIGHT, A LONG TIME FRIEND OF MINE AND FAMOUS ARTIST. YOU KNOW, WE WANTED TO FIGURE OUT HOW THE PAPER COULD HELP SHARE THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE ART WORLD AND ALSO HELP AFRICAN-AMERICAN ARTISTS GROW. SO THAT WAS REALLY THE FOCUS FOR ADDING IT. AND SOMETHING NEW FOR THE BANNER. 2.0. NOW YOU HAVE SOME WELL-KNOWN ARTISTS FEATURED IN THE ONLINE GALLERY FROM AQUA TO PAUL GOODNIGHT. TELL ME ABOUT THE PITCH THAT YOU MADE TO THEM TO BRING THIS TO AN ALTERNATIVE SPACE. WELL, YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WHEN I WAS ORIGINALLY TALKING WITH PAUL, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT CAME CLEARLY, THAT CAME OUT CLEARLY TO US, WAS THAT A LOT OF AFRICAN AMERICAN ARTISTS HAVE ALWAYS STRUGGLED TO GET THEIR ART SEEN, BE THEY, YOU KNOW, A WORLD CLASS ARTIST LIKE EQUAL HOMES AND PAUL GOODNIGHT LYNCHIE FRAZIER, OR A NEW ARTIST LIKE ROB STULL AGAIN, WORLD CLASS, BUT ON THE YOUNGER SCALE, WHEN YOU COME TO AN INTERNATIONALLY KNOWN ARTIST. SO STOW PAUL REALLY SHARED WITH ME THE GOAL TO HAVE IT ON THE WEBSITE, TO HAVE IT IN THE PAPER AND WHY IT WAS IMPORTANT, YOU KNOW, FROM A CREATIVE STANDPOINT TO SHARE. SO YOUNGER ARTISTS CAN SEE THAT THIS CAN BE A CAREER, IT CAN BE A VIABLE. YOU KNOW, CHOICE. A LOT OF FOLKS IN THE BLACK COMMUNITY DON’T SEE ART AS A CAREER, THOUGH. SOME OF THE MOST WORLD RENOWNED ARTISTS ARE FOLKS OF COLOR. YOU KNOW, GOING BACK CENTURIES. SO WE JUST WANTED TO SUPPORT THAT AND SUPPORT OUR COMMUNITY. NOW YOU, ALONG WITH SOME OF THE OTHER ARTISTS AND THE BAY STATE BANNER, ARE TAKING PART IN A TALK AT THE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS. IT’S CALLED BLACK ART AND COLONIAL SPACES. HOW DO YOU DEFINE COLONIAL SPACES? AND I KNOW YOU’VE BEEN ASSOCIATED FOR MANY YEARS WITH THE MFA TALK ABOUT THAT PIECE OF IT. WELL, YOU KNOW, I WOULD SAY LIVING IN BOSTON BOSTON IS A COLONIAL SPACE. ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS LOOK AROUND AT THE BUILDING, THE AGE OF THE BUILDINGS, AND KNOW THAT THIS IS A SPACE THAT WAS COLONIZED, THAT WAS TAKEN FROM THE NATIVE AMERICAN POPULATIONS, THAT NOT SO MUCH TAKEN FROM, BUT, UM, DEFINITELY BE REMOVED. THE POWER SOURCE AND MOVED IT INTO A COLONIAL SPACE. SO I THINK THE WHOLE CITY, I THINK OF THE WHOLE CITY THAT WAY. AND INSTITUTIONS LIKE, LIKE THE MFA, SOME OF THE CHURCHES THAT YOU JUST TALKED ABOUT IN YOUR LAST SEGMENT, THOSE WERE A PART OF UPHOLDING THAT COLONIAL, UM, UPPER HAND. UM, NOW THIS DISCUSSION IS GOING TO TAKE PLACE IN THE BEAUTIFUL WILLIAM KOCH GALLERY. IT’S A SPACE THAT FEATURES EUROPEAN PAINTINGS DATING FROM THE 16TH AND 17TH CENTURY. WILL BE WHAT A CONTRA ART, YOU KNOW, ORNATE SILVER TAPESTRIES. YOU KNOW, UM, WHAT’S BEEN YOUR EXPERIENCE WITH WHAT SOME MIGHT CALL GATEKEEPING IN THESE SPACES? WELL, I LIKE TO GO BACK TO THE STORY OF THE DORCHESTER TEENS THAT VISITED THE MFA, FOR INSTANCE, AND THEY WERE FOLLOWED AND PROFILED DURING THE TIME THAT THEY WERE THERE. BUT WHAT I LOVE ABOUT THAT STORY IS THAT THEY WENT BACK, THEY WROTE A LETTER, AND THAT THEY GOT THE MFA TO REALIZE WHAT THE EXPERIENCE CAN BE. LIKE FOR PEOPLE OF COLOR GOING INTO THESE INSTITUTIONS. DEVENS I FEEL LIKE THEY HAVE TRIED TO MAKE SOME NEW INROADS. I HAD A SOLO SHOW THERE THAT WAS VERY WELL ATTENDED, AND IT MADE ME FEEL PROUD THAT MAYBE THE REASON FOR THAT SHOW HAD TO DO WITH THOSE TEENAGERS STANDING UP FOR THEMSELVES AND SPEAKING UP FOR THEMSELVES. SURE. AND WE ALL CELEBRATED IT. WHEN YOUR WORK WAS MADE VISIBLE IN THE AT THE MFA PROMINENTLY, I THINK I EVEN SENT YOU A SELFIE OF ME STANDING IN FRONT OF ONE OF THE PIECES. SO, UM, HOW HAS IT MADE YOU FEEL TO HAVE PLACES LIKE THE MFA MAKE CHANGES THAT FEATURE YOUR WORK ALONGSIDE OTHER ARTISTS? IT’S MADE ME FEEL WONDERFUL. UM, IT’S ALWAYS GREAT TO BE A PART OF CHANGE, AND I JUST WANTED TO ALSO ADD THAT THE BAY STATE BANNER WAS THE FIRST NEWSPAPER THAT EVER WROTE ANYTHING ABOUT ME AS AN ARTIST, AND HOW IMPORTANT IT IS FOR COMMUNITY PAPERS WHEN THEY CELEBRATE US. THAT SOMETIMES IS THE THING THAT KEEPS YOU GOING. BEING AN ARTIST IS NOT AN EASY CAREER, AND SO WHEN YOU GET SOME INK, IT’S LIKE, OKAY, I’M DOING THE RIGHT THING, LET ME KEEP GOING. SO I JUST WANT TO GIVE THAT THAT PRAISE TO THE BAY STATE BANNER. AND THAT’S THE LEGACY THAT WE INHERITED WHEN WE PURCHASED THE BAY STATE BANNER FROM MEL MILLER, YOU KNOW, THE LEGENDARY PUBLISHER, HE FOUGHT HARD TO MAKE SURE THAT ALL AFRICAN AMERICAN STORIES WERE TOLD AND THAT OUR AFRICAN-AMERICAN, OUR AFRICAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY, THE ROXBURY, THE GREATER BOSTON, THE NEW ENGLAND BLACK COMMUNITY WAS REPRESENTED IN HIS PAPER AND WAS UPLIFTED BY HIS EFFORTS. SO BIG KUDOS TO TO MR. MILLER. I’M GOING TO HOLD UP THIS BOOK. MY DIRECTOR IS GOING TO KILL ME, BUT I WANTED TO SHOW YOUR NEW BOOK THAT JUST CAME OUT. THANK YOU SO MUCH. BEAUTIFUL ILLUSTRATIONS. I KNOW YOU’VE ILLUSTRATED LOTS OF CHILDREN’S BOOKS. THE IMAGES IN HERE ARE JUST BEAUTIFUL. I THINK THIS IS NUMBER TEN AND THIS IS THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MRS. CORETTA SCOTT KING. THIS IS WRITTEN IN HER OWN WORDS. IT’S EXCERPTED FROM HER LARGER AUTOBIOGRAPHY, AND I’M HONORED TO BE THE ILLUSTRATOR THAT WAS CHOSEN TO DO IT. AND IT COVERS HER LIFE IN EARLY HER EARLY LIFE IN ALABAMA. AND IT KIND OF SHOWS US THE KIND OF PERSON SHE WAS THAT MADE HER THE PERFECT PARTNER, MATE AND WIFE OF MARTIN LUTHER KING JR AND THE PERFECT MOTHER FOR HER CHILDREN. SHE REALLY WAS A DYNAMIC WOMAN AND SHE CAN STILL TEACH US A LOT. YEAH, YOU SAID YOU LEARNED A LOT ABOUT HER WHEN DOING THIS BOOK. IT’S ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL. RON, I WANT TO ASK YOU, UH, BAY STATE BANNER IS ABOUT TO COME UP ON THE ANNIVERSARY OF YOUR PURCHASE OF THE PAPER. WHAT DO YOU WHAT DO YOU GOT GOING ON MARCH FIRST WILL BE OUR ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY. UM, THERE’S A LOT OF NEW THINGS COMING. WE’RE GOING TO BE EXPANDING THE PAPER IN MANY WAYS, TRYING TO BRING MORE NEWS AND COMMUNITY INFORMATION TO OUR GREATER NEW ENGLAND COMMUNITY OF COLOR. I DON’T WANT TO GET INTO THE DETAILS OF THAT AS MUCH RIGHT YET, BUT KEEP KEEP YOUR EYES AND EARS OPEN. THERE’S GOING TO BE A LOT OF, UH, NEW GROWTH COMING TO TO OUR PAPER AND COMING TO OUR COMMUNITY. I ALSO WANT TO GIVE A BIG SHOUT OUT TO THE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS. THEY WERE SUPPORTIVE WHEN WE FIRST STARTED THE VIRTUAL ART GALLERY. I WANT TO REMIND PEOPLE, IN ADDITION TO GOING AND SEEING THE ART, MANY OF THE ARTISTS YOU CAN PURCHASE THE ART THROUGH THE BAY STATE BANNER ART GALLERY. PAUL, ONE OTHER STORY THAT PAUL BROUGHT TO ME WAS THAT A LOT OF THE ONLINE WEB PURCHASE PORTALS FOR OUR ARTISTS OF COLOR ARE NOT OWNED BY BLACK AND BROWN FOLKS. THERE ARE BLACK AND BROWN GALLERIES AROUND THE COUNTRY, BUT IF YOU WANT TO BUY LIMITED EDITION ART ONLINE, THE BAY STATE BANNER VIRTUAL ART GALLERY IS A PLACE YOU CAN DO IT. MANY OF OUR ARTISTS HAVE GIVEN US LICENSING AND YOU CAN SEE THEIR ART RATE ONLINE. SO COME AND SUPPORT THE ARTISTS. THE ARTISTS, MAKE THEM MAKE. IT’S ANOTHER. OPPORTUNITY TO BRING EQUITY TO SPACES SO THAT BLACK ART IS AN CAN BE SHARED AND APPRECIATED BY ALL. ABSOLUTELY. AND THAT’S WHAT THE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS DID. WELCOMING US INTO THEIR CITY TALK SERIES. YOU KNOW, REALLY HELPING TO CONTINUE THEIR QUEST TO PROVIDE EQUITY AND A PLATFORM TO BRING MORE DIVERSITY TO THE MUSEUM. SO I DO WANT TO APPLAUD THEM FOR THEIR EFFORTS. OKAY. IT’S AN ONGOING PROCESS. AND RON MITCHELL FROM THE BAY STATE BANNER, THANK YOU BOTH FOR JOINING US. THANKS FOR HAVING US TODAY, AQUA PAUL. GOOD NIGHT. ROB STULL AND OTHERS WILL BE PARTICIPATING IN THE CITY TALKS, BLACK ART AND COLONIAL SPACES. IT’S A PANEL AT THE MFA BOSTON ON THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 29T

Cityline: Black art in colonial spaces

Making Black art accessible to all

The Bay State Banner, a weekly community newspaper, has launched a virtual art gallery making contemporary works by black artists more accessible. Ron Mitchell, Editor and Publisher and celebrated Roxbury artist and illustrator Ekua Holmes are also participating in a talk at the Museum of Fine Arts called “Black Art in Colonial Spaces” that explores making black art more accessible in traditional art institutions.

BOSTON —