About the Exhibit:
NACC Exhibit Curator Ray Robertson in Partnership with the WNY Urban Arts Collective invites people of all ages and backgrounds to experience the 10th Annual Artists of Color, art exhibit.
This year’s special anniversary looks back on the last 10 years of this exhibit and celebrates the collective work by African American Artists in Western New York in new works and works that will return to the NACC for this anniversary show. All visual art genres and mediums – two-dimensional and three-dimensional.
WNY Urban Arts Collective is an organization created to address the need to recognize, develop, educate, support and promote the professional development for visual artists of diverse backgrounds
Artists & Artworks in the Exhibition |
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| Arrie Moore | UMOJA – UNITY | Acrylic, (Kwanza Series #1) | 3″ x 4″ | $500.00 |
| Arrie Moore | KUJICHAGULIA – SELF DETERMINATION | Acrylic, (Kwanza Series #2) | 24″ x 26″ | $250.00 |
| Arrie Moore | UJIMA – COLLECTIVE WORK & RESPONSIBILITY | Acrylic, (Kwanza Series #3) | 8″ x 4″ | $500.00 |
| Arrie Moore | UJAMA – COOPERATIVE ECONOMICS | Acrylic, (Kwanza Series #4) | 23″ x 23″ | $250.00 |
| Arrie Moore | NIA – PURPOSE | Acrylic, (Kwanza Series #5) | 30″ X 40″ | $250.00 |
| Arrie Moore | KUMBA – CREATIVITY | Acrylic, (Kwanza Series #6) | 3″ x 4″ | $500.00 |
| Arrie Moore | IMANI – FAITH | Acrylic, (Kwanza Series #7) | 3″ x 4″ | $500.00 |
| Arrie Moore | THE SEVEN PRINCIPLES OF KWANZAA (Series) | Acrylic, (Kwanza Series 1-7) | Varying Sizes | $2,500.00 |
| Betty Pitts Foster | KIND OF BLUE | Oil on Canvas | 32″ x 28″ | $700.00 |
| Betty Pitts Foster | POPPIES IN PINK & RED | Oil on Canvas | 20″ x 16″ | $550.00 |
| Christopher Patton | THE TEACHERS OF CHRIST | Colored Pencil | 32″ x 18″ | Price on Inquiry |
| Christopher Patton | BLESSED BE THE EARTH | Colored Pencil | 18″ x 28″ | Price on Inquiry |
| Dorethea Edwards | I SEE YOU | Oil on Canvas | 24″ x 30″ | $1.200.00 |
| Dorethea Edwards | LIFE IS A MASQUERADE – Mask Series #5 | Oil on Canvas | 22″ x 28″ | $700.00 |
| Gerald Seals | IN CONCERT | Acrylic | 24″ x 36″ | $400.00 |
| Gerald Seals | SLICK RICK | Acrylic | 12″ x 36″ | $550.00 |
| James Cooper III | AWAKE! | Acrylic | 36″ x 48″ | $1,325.00 |
| James Cooper III | BROTHER’S PERSPECTIVE | Acrylic | 18″ x 24″ | $700.00 |
| James Cooper III | VAGUE 1 | Acrylic | 36″ x 48″ | $800.00 |
| James Cooper III | NORTHWARD | Acrylic | 30″ x 40″ | $850.00 |
| James Cooper III | MUSE-SELF | Acrylic | 36″ x 48″ | $1,100.00 |
| Jay Hawkins Sr. | JAMES & NINA | Acrylic | 30″ x 40″ | $1,200.00 |
| (The Artist) | ||||
| Jay Hawkins Sr. | A PANTHER PARTY | Acrylic | 30″ x 30″ | $800.00 |
| Jessica Thorpe | WINTER TREES | Watercolor | 19″ x 30″ | $225.00 |
| Jessica Thorpe | BIG FAMILY DAY | Watercolor/Collage | 16″ x 20 | $750.00 |
| Jessica Thorpe | RUST BELT REMEMORY; TRYPTYCH | Mixed Media Collage | 36″ x 36″ | $2,000.00 |
| John Baker | JAZZ-FEST II | Acrylic | 24″ x 36″ | $850.00 |
| John Baker | JAMM “N” | Acrylic | 24″ x 36″ | $550.00 |
| Kobie D Barber | COLORS | Oil on Canvas | 16″ x 20″ | $400.00 |
| Kobie D Barber | SHADOWS | Oil and Spray Paint on Canvas | 18″ x 24″ | $550.00 |
| Kobie D Barber | TOO SOON | Oil and Spray Paint on Canvas | 20″ x 30″ | $700.00 |
| Markenzy Cesar | LA PETITE DANCEUSE | Oil on Canvas | 40″ x 30″ | $550.00 |
| Markenzy Cesar | LES BAIGNEUSE (THE BATHERS) | Oil on Canvas | 36″ x 46″ | $550.00 |
| Nicholas Lumpkin | VOLCANIC GLAZE | Oil Based Acrylic | 20″ x 20″ | $50.00 |
| Nicholas Lumpkin | SPLASHED FLOWER | Oil Based Acrylic | 20″ x 20″ | $45.00 |
| Paula O. Jones | FLOWER | Colored Pencil | 11″ x 14″ | $260.00 |
| Paula O. Jones | PLANT | Colored Pencil | 11″ x 14″ | $260.00 |
| Paula O. Jones | BUSY | Colored Pencil | 11″ x 14″ | $260.00 |
| Paula O. Jones | BREEZE #4 | Colored Pencil | 11″ x 14″ | $260.00 |
| Ray Robertson | GRANDMA’S HANDS | Photo | 17″ x 22″ | $200.00 |
| Ray Robertson | BACK LIGHTS | Photo | 17″ x 22″ | $150.00 |
| Ray Robertson | GREEN & YELLOW SUNRISE | Photo | 24″ x 36″ | $250.00 |
| Ray Robertson | FOREST LAWN YELLOW | Photo | 22″ x 34″ | $200.00 |
| Ray Robertson | MARTIN’S SONG | Photo | 17″ x 22″ | $150.00 |
| Ray Robertson | THE BAPTISMAL | Photo | 17 x 22 | Price on Inquiry |
| Ray Robertson | THE BASS MAN | Photo | 24″ x 34″ | $250.00 |
| Ray Robertson | GATHER YEE THAT BELIEVE | Photo | 22″ x 34″ | $250.00 |
| Ray Robertson | THE FAMILY PICNIC | Photo | 17″ x 27″ | $150.00 |
| Ray Robertson | RIVER ROCKS #7 | Photo | 22″ x 24″ | $250.00 |
| Ray Robertson | GOAT ISLE RAPIDS | Photo | 20″ x 36″ | $250.00 |
| William Y. Cooper 1934-2016 | WOMAN LOOKING FOR HER CAT | Oil on Canvas | 36″ x 36″ | $2,500.00 |
| William Y. Cooper 1934-2016 | BLUE CUP | Oil on Canvas | 36″ X 40″ | $2,200.00 |
| William Y. Cooper 1934-2016 | (ARTIST AND MODEL) IN THE STUDIO | Oil on Canvas | 36″ X 48″ | $2,700.00 |
| William Y. Cooper 1934-2016 | HERE LIES THE N WORD | Oil on Canvas | 30″ X 40″ | $2,500.00 |
About the Curator:
Born Reginald Ray Robertson in 1949 in Birmingham, Alabama to mother (Elizabeth), father (Nathaniel), sister (Mareatha), who relocated to Niagara Falls, New York in 1952. I attended local schools graduating from Niagara Falls High School in 1967. I entered Buffalo State College in the fall of 1967 later transferring to University of Buffalo where I took a B. A. in Philosophy.
In 1968, I met C. Magnus Harrell who had formed the Masten Community workshop located on the east side of Buffalo, New York. Magnus saw potential in my incomplete drawings and sketches. This was the beginning of my art career
As a kid, I had a desire for collecting things, usually natural things such as rocks, leaves, wood, etc. I would put these things together in unique ways. I would “collage” them. I am more of a collage maker than anything else. My collages have evolved from two dimensional wall pieces of wood, metal, and stone to three dimensional floor pieces of the same material. The organic form has always fascinated me from childhood. As a boy I was ashamed to say how much I liked the colors and shapes of flowers and trees. When I obtained my first car, the world of driftwood opened up to me. I became an avid collector. So, today I consider myself to be a multi-dimension painter, photographer, sculptor, and collagist. I am looking forward to the evolutionary bleeding and bleeding of all mediums I work in.
Exhibiting Artist Statements |
| My goal is to produce art that is engaging compelling and memorable long after the exhibit. I work knowing that each canvas is my teacher so I am always the student.
-Gerald Seals |
| My art is an inner visual response to what God created; using beautiful colors with abstract shapes combining in realistic visions of the natural.
-Betty Pitts Foster |
| I explore a variety of themes in my paintings; In the Mask Series which consists of five canvases speaks to human desires and unspoken fears. The Mask Series: #1 Incognito, #2 Ariel Leaving #3 I See You #4 Serenity #5 Life is a Masquerade.
-Dorethea Edwards |
| Painting is first and foremost a visual and a visceral experience. Composition is critical to my work. I use it to compel the viewer to stop and contemplate the illusions I create through the relationships of line, form and color. Usually, I am symbolically expressing an idea I deeply care about. The meanings may change with the observer, as each person views the work through the lens of their own experience. My work is not so much about the subject, as it is about how I render the subject. I use symbols to express ideas and concepts. Color, which is never haphazardly selected, shapes the mood of the composition and creates rhythm and harmony.
-William W. Cooper |
| When I was in Haiti, I remember the house I grew up in had these colored glass windows embedded in the ceiling when the sun shone through it was like being inside a church. Now and then I would go up to the roof and clean the dirt off the glass and I realized now that I was the only one who cared enough to preserve this beautiful moment. In a say, My art is all about me sharing what I consider is precious and noble.
-Markenzy Cesar |
| When I charge my works with power, they heal.
-Paula O. Jones |