Three Black Women Discuss the Problem of Economic Racism
“Challenges are lessons in disguise. If we can embrace a challenge with the same openness as we would a blessing, we could see how everything about it works to our benefit.” — Whitney McCauley Carnes, freelance arts writer
“Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.” — Maya Angelou
By a conservative estimate, Kansas City has 40 or so art galleries and/or exhibition spaces. On a typical First Friday, patrons are treated to an aesthetic smorgasbord ranging from graffiti art to Renaissance portraiture and from self-taught artists to those possessing terminal degrees.
As in every other American industry, minorities are dramatically underrepresented in terms of ownership. Only three of the galleries in Kansas City are owned and operated by African Americans; joining Ron Chaney’s EthnicArt Gallery, two are owned by Black women, who face the double-edged sword of structural racism and structural sexism. Racially created economic and social disenfranchisement has made it unfairly difficult for these women to open galleries, build a sustainable client base and maintain solvency.
“Institutionalized racism and financial disparities within the business of the arts have plagued the industry, said well-known Kansas City artist Sonié Joi Thompson-Ruffin. “The story of the African American community is being interpreted by those that have not lived or experienced our truth.
“Contributions made by African Americans in the arts have not been taught in public or private educational institutions,” she added, “therefore many do not understand or appreciate the challenges we have been faced with in the business.”
Thompson-Ruffin knows all too well the struggle of operating a Black-owned art gallery in Kansas City. Her Faso Gallery, in the old Woolworth Building near 31st and Troost, was open from 2005 to 2010. The deep recession that plagued America at that time, exacerbated by the always present economics of race, led her to close the gallery.
Refusing to go “quietly into the night,” Thompson-Ruffin cofounded the African American Artists Collective (AAAC) in 2013. The AAAC, which meets monthly, is a multidisciplinary collective that hosts seminars, exhibitions and performances, and is currently a 2020 resident with Charlotte Street’s Pendleton ArtsBlock in Northeast Kansas City.
While Thompson-Ruffin began as a gallery owner and segued into co-founding an artist’s collective, acclaimed poet Natasha Ria El-Scari began as the founder of a collective and then added co-owner of an art gallery to her resume. While El-Scari’s journey avoided the dire economic downturn that led to the closing of the Faso Gallery, she has experienced similar challenges posed by the intersection of race and economics in America.
Co-founded by El-Scari and artist Warren ‘Stylez’ Harvey, the El-Scari Harvey Art Gallery was established in the lobby of the Center for Spiritual Living, 1014 W 39th St., in 2018. Christened with an exhibit by El-Scari’s Black Space Black Art collective, the gallery is as much a personal endeavor as a professional one.
“I have always wanted to have a gallery so that I could exhibit the artwork of my paternal grandmother, who is well into her 90s,” El-Scari said. “When we achieved that, I was satisfied. For Warren, it was about always wanting a gallery. We were both passionate about our love of visual art.”
Through a combination of ingenuity and help from El-Scari’s faith community, El-Scari and Harvey were able to avoid the major hurdles of finding, financing and preparing a gallery space. “I think what would normally challenge a Black-owned gallery did not with us because we came up with inventive ways to get started, and we are occupying a space that was ready to go. It was full speed ahead on the preparation and execution of the gallery,” El-Scari said.
The El-Scari Harvey Art Gallery hosts thematic exhibitions every month. The gallery frequently exhibits unknown, first-time and self-taught artists, providing collectors a chance to acquire unique and quality artwork at affordable prices. Financing is available, and the gallery is also open for private viewing by appointment.
Despite its success, the El-Scari Harvey Art Gallery is not immune to the challenges of race entwined into the American fabric. “I believe that anytime people see Black people doing anything without consideration for what the majority race thinks or wants, they will be under attack and or surveillance,” El-Scari said, “whether culturally, socially or actually.”
These attacks take various forms, El-Scari said, including “internalized oppression (Black people not supporting the gallery), misnomers (people creating stories about who we are that are so far from the truth) and (charges of) disrupting the status quo.”
“When Black people are their authentic selves, there is always a significant amount of scrutiny,” she said.
Bridging the gap from past to present, Pat Jordan opened her first gallery in 1994 on 39th Street. Escalating rent costs precipitated moves to the Crossroads, on 18th Street, and to the basement of the Vine Street Lofts. Her current gallery, located in the Old Fire Station No. 11 on Vine Street, is aptly named “Vine Street Studio.”
Jordan was inspired to open a gallery by the lack of spaces showing African American artists. Like Thompson-Ruffin and El-Scari, she too has experienced the challenges created by the intersection of race and economics in America. “The ever-continuing escalation of the costs of operations including utilities and insurance costs in the urban core continue to be issues,” she said.
Jordan, president of the Gem Cultural and Educational Center, has woven her sense of community and outreach into her gallery operation. “It’s a good idea to leave exhibitions up longer to give me and the artist time to collaborate on outreach,” Jordan said. She cited a recent show by Alexander Austin that included a special reception, with the proceeds of any of his artwork sold that evening donated to City Union Mission.”
While the Vine Street Studio mainly exhibits experienced artists such as Austin, Thompson-Ruffin, Lonnie Powell and Joseph Newton, Jordan is open to exhibiting previously unshown artists. “If I see he or she has great talent, I’ll take that chance,” she said.
Jordan has set up a unique working relationship that gives more ownership to the artists she exhibits. “I usually give the artist a key to the gallery and a ‘to do’ list,” she said. “Though I may help curate, it’s up to the artist to hang and help market — as if the gallery were owned by that artist during the time the exhibition is up. The difference with my gallery is that it is owned by a not-for-profit, so therefore our goal is an awareness and educational focus — not necessarily just to sell.”
Their paths have been different, but facing similar challenges, Sonie Joi Thompson-Ruffin, Natasha Ria El-Scari and Pat Jordan each have taken the reins of their destiny within the pantheon of art and are determined to survive and prosper.
Black people are not monolithic.
Black women are not monolithic.
Black women who operate art galleries and collectives are not monolithic either.
Whether it is a collective that partners with local art organizations, a gallery with monthly thematic exhibitions that consistently introduce new artists or a working model that gives the artist unprecedented freedom in managing the exhibition of their art, these three art professionals have found a way to face obstacles head on, survive them and still prosper.
For more information: El-Scari Harvey Art Gallery, www.natasharia.com/el-scari-harvey-art-gallery; Vine Street Studio, www.gemrocksart.org/vine-street-studio-art-gallery; African American Artists Collective www.aaac-kc.com.
For more information about EthnicArt Gallery, visit ethnicartgallerykc.com. Watch for our profile of owner Ron Chaney in a future issue.
