Photograph by Kevin A. Roberts
The cultural stereotype of the artist as moody, obscure, prone to drinking too much—not to mention white and male—has stuck. That’s profoundly wrong on at least on two counts: Look back 50 or 100 years or more, and you’ll find a huge number of African-American artists in the canon, including innovative 1930s printmaker Dox Thrash; Henry Ossawa Tanner, whose paintings, whether mystical scenes or humble domestic ones, glowed with light and color; and Robert S. Duncanson, a pioneering 19th-century painter associated with the Hudson River School, whose sublime Landscape With Rainbow hangs in the Smithsonian Institution. And it’s far from all men—Kara Walker’s cut-paper silhouettes, as big as the wall and guaranteed to knock you back on your heels, being just one example.
Here in St. Louis, one of Grand Center’s oldest arts institutions is Portfolio Gallery, which has dedicated itself to showing local, regional, and national African-American artists since 1989. Similarly, Lois Ingrum’s eponymous Washington Avenue gallery has been open for 22 years. There have been black galleries popping up fairly regularly since, including Salon 53, which photographer and curator Freida L. Wheaton opened in her historic house in 2007 (which puts her ahead of the überhip apartment-gallery movement by several years). This August, after noticing that St. Louis had its highest number of black galleries ever—eight, in fact—Wheaton invited the artists and curators to lunch at Panorama, in the Saint Louis Art Museum’s new East Building. She proposed joining forces, and the Alliance of Black Art Galleries was born. Its first big event was a gallery hop in late September under the auspices of the Friends of African American Art Collectors Circle of the Saint Louis Art Museum.
“I know the galleries are already getting more publicity and more interest,” Wheaton says. “And hopefully our audiences will become more and more diverse—especially the ones that are open to the public.”
As far as domestic and private galleries go, looking at Salon 53’s guest book, it’s apparent that audiences that may have visited similar spaces, say on Cherokee Street, may not be aware of Wheaton’s space yet, but would want to be. Its September show, “Southern Roots,” paired multimedia artist Joy Wade’s vivacious portraits of the people she knew growing up in North Louisiana with Wheaton’s fine-art photographs of the Mississippi Delta. And Wheaton’s house, which is open in its entirety during receptions, is filled with interesting objects and art. That includes paintings and wire sculptures from St. Louis artist Kuumba (Katrin Butler-Powell); Is’Mima Nebt’Kata’s fiber assemblages; and paintings by Phillip Hampton, Cbabi Bayoc, and expat painter Manuel Hughes, who now splits his time between New York and Paris. The local artists (many of whom have showed at Salon 53) are mixed with pieces Wheaton has collected during her world travels, such as paintings by groundbreaking Cuban modernist Wilfredo Lam.
“A lot of people who haven’t been here—and it depends on where your radar’s pointed, what your touch points are—some people will say to me, ‘Oh, I’ve heard about Salon 53.’ But they haven’t been here,” she says. Wheaton, who serves on the Saint Louis Art Museum’s Board of Commissioners, has attracted a smart, passionate, and sophisticated following for her gallery, but as with all of the Alliance members, she sees room to grow. She encourages art lovers “not to be afraid to go to venues that are black-owned; you know about the whole ‘north of Delmar’ discussion, and there are people who will not go any further north,” she says. “I’m north of Delmar, but I’m also just down the street from the Chase—but for the half mile, I’d be in the Central West End.”
Next spring, when the Alliance presents its first two-day public gallery hop, audiences will have the chance to see Salon 53’s latest show, as well as Wheaton’s marvelous personal collection, plus seven galleries’ worth of work from painters, sculptors, photographers, fiber artists, and more, all St. Louis–themed, to celebrate the city’s 250th year. And leading up to that, the Alliance will continue to meet, hold salons, and support each other’s work.
“It just occurred to me that we should get together collaboratively on projects and initiatives, to share information; it would only serve to benefit all of us,” Wheaton says. “It was also to illustrate, publicly, that we’re not in competition with each other. There’s a lot of art, a lot of artists who can benefit all of our galleries. Our artists are primarily, but not exclusively, African-American artists, but we also know that most African-American artists will not have other gallery spaces available to them to show. And everybody needs a first place. That was one of the reasons that I focus my gallery on artists who need a place to show—I’m always willing to take a look at their work, and give them an opportunity to do that.”
Salon 53 is located at 4932 Maffitt and is open by invitation and appointment. For more information, call 314-494-4660 or email freiwhea@aol.com.
The Galleries
10th Street Gallery
Proprietors: Patricia Smith-Thurman and Solomon Thurman
Hours: 11 a.m.–5 p.m. Wed–Fri, 10 a.m.–3 p.m. Sat, Mon & Tue by appointment
Address: 419 N. 10th, 314-436-1806, 10thstreetgallery.com
14th Street Artist Community Gallery
Proprietors: William Burton Jr. and Robert A. Ketchens
Hours: 9 a.m.–3 p.m. Tue–Sat
Address: 2701 N. 14th, 314-828-8930, 14startcom.wix.com/14startcom
Exodus Gallery
Proprietor: Carlton Mitchell
Hours: During public exhibits and by appointment
Address: 5075 Delmar, 314-369-8139, cm7exodus@yahoo.com
Gya Community Gallery & Fine Craft Shop
Proprietor: Dail Chambers
Hours: 4–7 p.m. Fri, 1–5 p.m. Sat, 1–4 p.m. Sun
Address: 2700 Locust, 314-374-3282, yeyoarts.blogspot.com
Jah’z Art Private Gallery
Proprietors: Sami Bentil and Annetta Vickers-Bentil
Hours: By invitation and appointment
Address: 5561 Enright, 314-531-2130, tabsales.net/jahzartprivategallery.html
L.D. Ingrum Studio & Gallery
Proprietor: Lois Ingrum
Hours: By invitation and appointment
Address: 4937 Washington, 314-276-9272, ingrumstudio.com
Portfolio Gallery & Education Center
Proprietor: Robert Powell
Hours: 9 a.m.–5 p.m. Mon–Fri and by appointment
Address: 3514 Delmar, 314-533-3323, portfoliogallerystl.org
