Like many creatives, Sia Mason works a regular job, so finding time to be creative can be an ongoing challenge.
“Go See Eddie” was inspired by Mason’s awe of those who make that time to be creative, no matter what else in life is happening. In executing the colorful acrylic painting on wood, she hoped to not only influence others to do the same, but herself as well. “With the uprise in pop-up shops and Black farmers markets, we’re starting to see many Black people share their crafts,” she writes in her artist’s statement. “Things we have grown, mixed, or created by hands enrich our communities when we share them with each other, and it’s a beautiful thing.”
Artspace Gallery’s new exhibition, “It’s All About the Hustle: Black Americans and Labor,” is a direct reflection of the gallery’s commitment to create a space where all voices are heard, and all stories are told. The exhibition isn’t just about art, it’s about sparking conversations. [All of the participating artists names are included after this story and you can visit the shop to purchase their artwork during the run of the show.]
“The show accomplished this at the opening and continues to spark more conversations amongst the visitors who’ve been coming to see the show since,” says Janet Scagnelli, liaison for Artspace. “Our hope is that this exhibition will not only inspire and empower aspiring artists but also create a greater understanding and appreciation for the contributions of African Americans to our society.”
For the Black History Month exhibition, Artspace Gallery sent out a nationwide call to enter the juried show exploring the stories of Black people and their labors in the United States, noting that work, in its vast iterations, is central to Black history and culture They received over 120 submissions and guest juror/curator Franchell Mack Brown chose 30 that she felt best represented that theme.
Accompanying the exhibit is a second, smaller exhibit. “From Sunup to Sundown, But the work Never Stops” curated by the Black History Museum. “The artwork in our juried show is a personal response to the theme we asked of the artists,” Scagnelli says. “The exhibit by the Black History Museum, with objects such as an old Singer sewing machine, historical quilts, photos and stories, gives historical context.”
Guest curator Brown is a professional multi-disciplinary artist whose practice and life speak to positivity through healing trauma. She currently has a solo exhibit “Reclamation” at the VMFA Pauley Center with works dating from 2022 through 2024. With an active studio practice, she’s developing products and implementing a program to expand the reach of her message and commitment to uplifting creatives. Just recently, Brown partnered with the Visual Arts Center of Richmond to expand artist development.
“What I did not want to exhibit was depictions of Black Americans enslaved, because those type of images induce trauma to our community,” Brown explains. “My intention was for this exhibit to reflect more of a positive history of labor, healing and celebration.”
For “It’s All About the Hustle: Black Americans and Labor” Brown was looking for depictions of Black Americans and labor in all its forms, whether that was a traditional job, raising a family, or even an idea of what labor is for the Black community. She also sought work that reflected labor intensive processes related to the art itself. “What I did not want to exhibit was depictions of Black Americans enslaved, because those type of images induce trauma to our community,” Brown explains. “My intention was for this exhibit to reflect more of a positive history of labor, healing and celebration.”
Brown says the call for entries proved that Black artmaking is thriving, with artists such as Mickalene Thomas’ partnership with Ducati North America and Derrick Adams partnering with Movado watches. She points out the obvious: Black American artists are simply American artists. Black American art is American art, and Black American history is American history. “This exhibit encompasses many creative processes that chronicle Black life, existence, and thriving,” she says. “Black artmaking reflects the Black art community’s excellent problem-solving, ingenuity and creative expansiveness that has always existed. It is who we are.”
The exhibition’s first prize winner is Sam Christian’s large, multimedia piece, “Personal Affects: Bloodroot Wedding Dance.” In his artist’s statement, Christian writes of the challenges Black people face in trying to trace their ancestry. He sees “Personal Affects” as part research and interview, part folklore and guessing, but mainly as his effort to give his family a name and a land to be from. “[The work] is telling the story of black folx separated from home and denied their own history. It is a letter to my grandmother, Loretta, who taught me how to quilt and how to dream,” he writes. “’Personal Affects’ is my attempt to tell the truth about my family and connect the long-broken connections from me to the people I am from.”
Brown sees highlighting work such as that of Mason and Christian as part of the same message as her fine-art practice: to help raise people’s vibration, encourage healing, and inspire peace, and joy. “This is the same approach I’ve taken in jurying and curating ‘It’s About the Hustle,’” she says. “I want the viewers of ‘Hustle’ to feel encouraged, at peace, and joyful as they experience this exhibit.”
“It’s All About the Hustle: Black Americans and Labor” and “From Sunup to Sundown, But the work Never Stops” through February 22 at Artspace Gallery, 2833-A Hathaway Road. Artspacegallry.org.
Below is a list of participating artists:
John Anderson
Ron Beckham
Jerome Boyd
Frid Branham
Lizzie Brown
Justyn Canada
Sandra Chandler
Frederick Chiriboga
Sam Christian
Justice Dwight
Daniel Goodwin
Jimmy James Greene
Kelly Johnson
Alexis Jones
Jere Kittle
Taja Lindley
Sia Mason
Barbara Osborne-Harris
T. Owens Union
Vince Quevedo
LaPrea Rich
Teri Richardson
Britnee Scott
Janathel Shaw
Paul Terrell
Leticia Thomas
Alana Walters
Sandra Chen Weinstein
Ashley White
Zakari Yonkers