Traveling Exhibit of Black Female Art Visits St. Louis This Week

Courtesy Black Girl Art Show

There will be artists painting live in addition to finished works.

When Joshua Love visited art museums and galleries, he would notice something off: There weren’t many Black female artists featured. Instead of just wondering at the deficit, he decided to do something about it: start his own art show featuring the very artists who are too often neglected.

The result of Love’s efforts is about to be in town. A Spectacular Black Girl Art Show is coming to St. Louis’ Mad Art Gallery (2727 South 12th Street, blackgirlartshow.com) on Sunday, October 29, from 3 to 9 p.m. Attendees can enjoy cocktails and live DJ mixes as they explore a variety of art — paintings, sculptures and digital works — by Black female artists. There will be artists working on site to bring their visions to life as well.

Curator and founder Joshua Love intends the showcases to be “a cornerstone in movements [for] racial equality and social justice [that has] birthed countless Black artists, thinkers, and changemakers.” Since its inception, Black Girl Art Show has shown more than 2,000 Black female artists across almost 30 cities, and every show has a unique hometown flavor.

The St. Louis iteration will include more than 40 local artists and celebrate the rich history and talent that has shaped the character of the city, Love says. The theme for the St. Louis show is “you” and is intended to feel like coming home to a family reunion and a place “where you feel seen and you feel safe, and you feel accepted, to feel and to be who you are.”

Love organized his first group exhibition of about 20 artists in an old church in Atlanta in 2019. In the hours and days that followed, Love realized that there was a widespread hunger for this type of exhibit, which led to him making it a traveling show.

“There was a need for spaces like this to exist,” he says “And so I said, ‘You know what, let’s continue to keep the conversation going.”

An artist himself, Love is passionate about creating opportunities for other artists. “I know the importance of having a space where you are seen and you are celebrated, and also patronized,” he adds.

With that in mind, he deliberately made Black Girl Art Show a space where lesser-known artists can thrive. Love shared the story of one artist who showed an extremely personal piece of work at one of the Atlanta showcases. She’d put a $10,000 price tag on it, believing that people would pass it by. But a few weeks after the show, someone reached out asking where they could send a $10,000 check.

“She had been going through a tough financial time trying to pay her rent,” Love says. “[Selling that piece] catapulted her career. She saw her art differently … and it changed her life.”

Curating a show for each city’s tastes and unique art scene is a challenge, but Love has a clear motivation for the work he is doing. “There are always things that come up,” he says. “The why is what keeps you anchored, and the why is what allows you to keep creating solutions because you care about what you’re doing.” The why, for Love, is inclusivity.

Inclusivity is at the core of Black Girl Art Show. When selecting artists to exhibit, the organizers primarily screen for consistency and dedication, allowing for a broad spectrum of experience levels and mediums. They hope this approach will build connections, inspiration and mentors among the artists shown — something Love sees as “the future of Black art.”

He hopes that those attending will continue the conversation beyond the show itself. So when you visit, arrive knowing you might not leave the same.

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