Update:
While the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020 may seem like a distant memory, the calls for action, support and representation are just as prevalent today as ever. Several years ago, we compiled a list of Black-owned galleries and museums around the world that should be on all art radars. In celebration of Black History Month, we’ve updated that list to include seasoned vets such as INIVA in London, to exciting newcomers, from Nicola Vassell Gallery in Chelsea, Hannah Traore Gallery in the Lower East Side and Sow & Tailor in Los Angeles.
Check out the full list below.
Written by Shawn Ghassemitari.
Original Story: Black Lives Matter demonstrations have erupted across the country since the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25, 2021. Protesters from New York City to Los Angeles have called for racial justice and pressured local officials to defund police departments following Floyd’s death in the hands of local authorities as well as Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, Ahmaud Arbery and countless Black victims. As massive crowds continue to march in solidarity, there has been overwhelming support for the Black community with people taking to social media to share lists of Black businesses to support across fashion, music and more categories.
In the art world, many institutions including the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Guggenheim Museum were criticized for not reflecting on their stated commitments to antiracism in their programming and hiring practices during the #BlackoutTuesday social media campaign. The industry, as a predominantly white entity, must now grapple with the lack of Black and minority representation in institutional spaces.
For years, Black people have largely been excluded from the executive board and permanent collections of America’s most prestigious museums such as The Met, National Gallery, MoMA, and the Guggenheim. The Guggenheim itself did not have a full-time Black curator until 2019 when the museum hired Basquiat scholar and journalist, Chaédria LaBouvier.
To help elevate Black visibility, we compiled an ongoing list of over 90 Black-owned museums and galleries from around the world, below. Be sure to also check out Dazed’s global list of Black-owned/founded museums, art galleries and spaces to support.
USA
Hannah Traore Gallery (New York, NY)
Sow & Tailor (Los Angeles, CA)
Nicola Vassell Gallery (New York, NY)
Welancora Gallery (Brooklyn, NY)
Hammonds House Museum (Atlanta, GA)
September Gray Fine Art (Atlanta, GA)
Sabree’s Gallery of the Arts (Savannah, GA)
Waller Gallery (Baltimore, MD)
Galerie Myrtis (Baltimore, MD)
The Gallery About Nothing (Baltimore, MD)
Annie’s Art Gallery (Upper Marlboro, MD)
Gallery Guichard (Chicago, IL)
Terrance Osborne Gallery (New Orleans, LA)
Stella Jones Gallery (New Orleans, LA)
Rush Arts Philadelphia (Philadelphia, PA)
The Museum of African American Art (Philadelphia, PA)
The Colored Girls Museum (Philadelphia, PA)
The Spite Haus (Philadelphia, PA)
Moody Jones Gallery (Glenside, PA)
Northwest African American Museum (Seattle, WA)
Mariane Ibrahim Gallery (Seattle, WA)
Woodcuts Fine Art Gallery (Nashville, TN)
N’Namdi Contemporary (Miami, Florida)
Dorsey’s Art Gallery (Brooklyn, NY)
Ground Floor Gallery (Brooklyn, NY)
Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts (Brooklyn, NY)
Richard Beavers Gallery (Brooklyn, NY)
Jenkins Johnson Gallery (Brooklyn, NY)
Essie Green Galleries (New York, NY)
The Studio Museum (New York, NY)
Cindy Rucker Gallery (New York, NY)
Essie Green Galleries (New York, NY)
Peg Alston Fine Arts (New York, NY)
Mackey Twins Art Gallery (Mount Vernon, NY)
Gallery Kendra Jayne Patrick (New York, NY)
June Kelly Gallery (New York, NY)
Left of Center Art Gallery (Las Vegas, NV)
Terrance Osbourne Gallery (New Orleans, LA)
The Mayme A. Clayton Library and Museum (Culver City, CA)
The Underground Museum (Los Angeles, CA)
Thinkspace Projects Art Gallery (Los Angeles, CA)
California African American Museum (Los Angeles, CA)
The William Grant Still Arts Center (Los Angeles, CA)
Band of Vices (Los Angeles, CA)
Nous Tous Community Gallery (Los Angeles, CA)
Dreamhaus LA (Los Angeles, CA)
Paulson Fontaine Press (Berkeley, CA)
Thelma Harris Art Gallery (Oakland, CA)
Gallery Chuma (Charleston, SC)
Neema Gallery (Charleston, SC)
Lybenson Gallery (Beaufort, SC)
Black Wall Street Gallery (Tulsa, OK)
Hearne Fine Art (Little Rock, AR)
The Well Art Gallery (Richmond, VA)
11:Eleven Gallery (Washington D.C.)
Art of Noize (Washington D.C.)
Mehari Sequar Gallery (Washington D.C.)
Ethiopia
Ghana
Nigeria
SMO Contemporary Art (Lagos, NG)
SMO Contemporary Art (Lagos, NGA)
Senegal
Uganda
United Kingdom
198 Contemporary Arts & Learning (London, UK)
Black Cultural Archives (London, UK)
Institute of International Visual Arts (London, UK)
France
Gallery Nelly Wandji (Paris, FR)
Gallery Nosco, (Marseille, FR)
The Netherlands
Museum of Modern African Art [MoMAA] (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
Germany
