Dorsey’s Art Gallery
Brooklyn, New York
Located in Brooklyn, Dorsey’s Art Gallery is the oldest, continuously run, Black-owned and -operated art gallery in New York City. Founded by Lawrence Peter Dorsey in 1970, the then–gallery/frame shop became a haven for Black artists and collectors. Regulars included
, Tom Feelings,
,
, Bob Blackborn,
,
,
,
, Christopher Gonzales,
, and James Brown, among many others. Though Dorsey died in 2007, the gallery has been passed down to his daughter Laurette and members of the community.
Ground Floor Gallery
Brooklyn, New York
Founded in 2013 by Krista Scenna and Jill Benson in Brooklyn’s Park Slope neighborhood, Ground Floor Gallery shows local artists and nurtures nascent art collectors. In their seven years running the space, Scenna and Benson have tried to program exhibitions of affordable works—from summer shows of
to presentations devoted to prints or artist-designed gifts—as well as ambitious thematic solo and group shows that have included the works of
,
, and
.
Housing
Brooklyn, New York
In 2016, KJ Freeman opened Housing in Bed-Stuy as an antidote to the traditional white cube. “The white cube can determine a representation of white supremacy,” Freeman once
told Spike. “A twenty-thousand-dollar white cube stands stagnant in a buzzing retail district to appease, and to conform to the desires of the cultured and affluent of the world.” In 2017, the Bed-Stuy space closed, and for a couple of years the gallery found temporary locales for one-off shows, which championed Black artists and artists of color. Housing recently signed a three-year lease in the Lower East Side, opening their new space earlier this month. Their inaugural show, “Vigil for Black Death,” features video work by artists such as Keijaun Thomas and
, shown on a screen that can be seen through the gallery’s window. Visitors are invited to bring flowers, candles, and other expressions of their grief to the site.
Kente Royal Gallery
New York, New York
@kente_royal_gallery
Kente Royal Gallery was founded in Harlem in 2019 by Phyllis and Dodji Gbedemah. After a trip to Africa the year prior, the pair was inspired to establish a place in New York where they could “connect and strengthen the African Diaspora through Art,” as stated on the gallery’s website. Kente Royal Gallery is built around the central focus of community-building inherent in the Ghanian spiritual concept of Sankofa, which urges a “return to the Motherland Africa” and the use of traditions to “propel us into the future.” Since its soft launch, the gallery has hosted exhibitions by the painter Gabrielle Baker, textile artist William Daniels, and photographers Bertram Knight and Alejandro Garcia. The gallery has also hosted exhibitions in support of Black Lives Matter and COVID-19 relief.
Medium Tings
Brooklyn, New York
Driven by a desire to
explore “understated dialogues around black art,” in 2017, cultural producer and editor Stephanie Baptist turned her Brooklyn apartment into a gallery and project space dedicated to emerging contemporary artists. Her program highlights underrepresented young Black artists including Ayana Evans,
,
, Temitayo Ogunbiyi, and
.
Brooklyn, New York
In a
2016 interview, gallerist Richard Beavers recalled how his encounter with artist Alonzo Adams’s painting
The Journeyman changed the course of his life. “This image of a black man shirtless and barefoot, with a pair of blue jeans and knapsack over his shoulder walking into a tunnel of darkness, gave me goosebumps. The man in the painting was me,” Beavers said. “It was a confirmation that I wasn’t alone in the world and that there was someone else who was starting over again not certain of what the future may hold.” Beavers founded his gallery in 2007 in Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood, where he shows works by artists including the storied Black photographer
and the emerging painter
.
sk.Artspace
Brooklyn, New York
Brooklyn’s sk.ArtSpace was founded by Symone Wong, Jarryn Mercer, and Melissa Sutherland in June 2018 with the goal of creating a safe space and platform for community members to show their work and for emerging artists to expand their audience. “As a creative, sharing yourself and your work is very challenging. A lot of creatives do not know where to begin, what kind of dialogues to have, or even how to get their work into shows,” the co-founders
told Refinery29. “Typically, the local creatives in our community have access to exhibits that are held at local bars and establishments that took away from the experience of artists.” Artists can apply to show at sk.ArtSpace
here.
Welancora
Brooklyn, New York
Located in a 19th-century townhouse in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Welancora Gallery was initially founded by art dealer, curator, and Brooklyn native Ivy N. Jones in 2002, then re-launched in 2014. Welancora is also a space for guest curators of color to arrange exhibitions. The gallery’s most recent show featured the work of seven Black artists (Zalika Azim, Elliot Jerome Brown Jr., Colette Veasey-Cullors, Melvin Harper, Daonne Huff, Anders Jones, and Deborah Willis) and was co-curated by the artist Damien Davis.
New York, New York
@billhodgesgallery
Established in 1993, Bill Hodges Gallery highlights prominent modern and contemporary artists of the African diaspora. The gallery is primarily known for its roster of Harlem Renaissance and Abstract Expressionist artists, including
,
, and
. Every summer, Bill Hodges Gallery hosts a multimedia group exhibition with artists who exemplify the diversity of Black artistry. The 2021 edition featured the works of
,
, and others.
Black Gotham
New York, New York
Black Gotham originated when its founder, Kamau Ware, was working at New York’s Tenement Museum and giving walking tours on the history of New York City’s immigrants of the 19th and early 20th centuries. After one tour, a young Black girl asked Ware, “Where were the Black people?” That question led him to establish Black Gotham’s walking tours, which focuses on the historic impact of the African diaspora. Black Gotham also creates graphic novels, and has a gallery and event space in Lower Manhattan where artworks from these projects can viewed in person.
New York, New York
Originally founded in 2007 as Number 35 Gallery, Cindy Rucker Gallery in New York’s Lower East Side neighborhood has a roster of international artists who work across disciplines. Among its artists are Japanese sculptor
, who has garnered great attention for his carved wooden sculptures; the Spanish mixed-media artist
; and American painter
. Shows at Cindy Rucker have been reviewed in countless publica
Essie Green Galleries
New York, New York
Originally located in Park Slope, Essie Green Galleries opened its first exhibition on December 15, 1979. Its roster of 19th- and 20th-century Black masters includes artists like
,
,
, Jacob Lawrence,
,
, and
. Since moving to Harlem’s Sugar Hill neighborhood in 1989, the gallery has become a vital centerpiece of
the community’s Black cultural renaissance.
Gallery Kendra Jayne Patrick
New York, New York
Kendra Jayne Patrick has run her eponymous, itinerant gallery program (previously known as Harrison) since 2018, primarily mounting shows at art spaces and temporary locations in New York. Patrick has shown a range of young, international artists, including Qualeasha Wood,
,
,
, and
. The gallery recently participated in NADA’s online sales platform FAIR.
Heath Gallery
New York, New York
New York’s Heath Gallery was founded in 2002 by husband-and-wife artists Thomas Edwin Heath and Saundra Alexis Heath. Operating out of a landmark townhouse (built in 1886) on Central Harlem’s 120th Street, the gallery opened as a space to give artists opportunities to show their work, with priority given to those based in the neighborhood. The gallery also hosts “Hang Nights,” where artists are invited to show up with their work and hang it Salon style throughout the evening.
June Kelly Gallery
New York, New York
June Kelly founded her eponymous gallery in SoHo in 1987, after managing
’s career for 13 years. Kelly’s diverse roster includes influential Black artists such as
,
,
, and
. Alongside iconic dealer Linda Goode Bryant, Kelly helped build a New York gallery scene in the ’80s that was more accommodating to Black artists. “We’re like the guide that helps [the artist] through it,” Kelly
has said of her role as a gallery director. “This is a person who goes in that studio alone, creates alone, there’s no one to tell him or her what to do—that all comes from within. So the most important thing you can do…is to make sure that that person has somebody to say ‘Fantastic, I love it, keep doing it,’ and that’s the key.”
Long Gallery
New York, New York
Harlem-based Long Gallery has honed an ethos inspired by the art of its local community—from the photography of the Harlem Renaissance to the
Studio Museum in Harlem. Owner Lewis Long founded the gallery in 2014 with a mission to show both emerging and established artists of the African diaspora, while also giving a spotlight to underrepresented artists. In recent years, the gallery has shown esteemed and rising artists, such as
,
,
, and
.
Peg Alston Fine Arts
New York, New York
Founded by New York–based art dealer Peg Alston nearly 40 years ago, Peg Alston Fine Arts is a gallery on Central Park West between 100th and 101st Streets that specializes in artworks by African American artists as well as artists of all African descent. Alston’s gallery has its own exclusive roster of artists including
,
, and
. It also sells works by artists it doesn’t represent, including
,
,
,
, and
.
Skoto Gallery
New York, New York
Established in 1992, Skoto Gallery was among the first spaces to specialize in representing contemporary African artists in New York City. Since then, the gallery has expanded its mission to become a nexus for artists of any ethnic or cultural persuasion, allowing African art to be in conversation with the global cultural dialogue. It currently represents artists including
,
,
, and Osaretin Ighile.
The Compound Gallery
The Bronx, New York
Since the early 2000s, Set Free Richardson has run The Compound in the South Bronx, the creative agency where he works on campaigns for major brands and invites friends and creatives to meet and exchange ideas. In 2018, Richardson opened The Compound Gallery nearby—a natural extension of the original business—together with Yasiin Bey (a.k.a. Mos Def). The gallery shows artists and art forms that are underrepresented and often excluded from the gallery system, from rising street artists to legendary photographers who’ve captured the hip-hop community.
Mackey Twins Art Gallery
Mount Vernon, New York
Karen and Sharon Mackey founded the Mackey Twins Art Gallery in 2004 in order to address the lack of representation and support for artists of color in the art industry. The sisters—twins, as the gallery name indicates—are both former high school teachers who purchased their first work, a
print, over 40 years ago by pooling their salaries. The gallery now represents Denmark, along with other iconic Black artists such as
and
. The Mackey sisters are also actively involved with the City College of New York: Sharon is the executive director of continuing and professional studies, while Karen is the vice president of government, community, and cultural affairs.
Tripoli Gallery
Southampton, New York
Tripoli Patterson was 24 years old when he opened his eponymous gallery in Southampton, New York. A longtime acquaintance of art world luminaries like Lisa de Kooning and
—as well as a former surf champion—Patterson started his gallery in 2009 as a “dynamic platform for artistic dialogue between local and international artists and the East End community,” hosting parties and showing works by artists like
,
, and
. In 2020, Patterson prepared to open a new space in Wainscott, but had to postpone due to COVID-19.