Tatiana Rice, Founder & CEO of BlkArthouse | Sept. 1 2021 During times of racial turmoil and unrest, we rely on Black artists to bring a sense of healing and unity. Yet, it is difficult to find and support Black artists, let alone an easy way to purchase affordable art by Black artists. It can be especially hard for Black artists to gain recognition and meaningfully connect with broader audiences. After a nationwide call to action to support Black communities, I decided to bring Black artists to the forefront and form BlkArthouse — an organization dedicated to connecting people to, and empowering, Black artists. I decided to start collecting art by Black artists in 2019; I wanted something that would reflect my identity as a Black woman and support the Black community. Like many consumers, I tried to turn to the internet to find what I was looking for. Though I knew Black artists were underrepresented, the difficulty of my search was shocking. The murder of George Floyd and the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement exacerbated the market gap – more people were looking for a central and accessible location to support Black artists with nowhere to go. That summer I began talking to Black artists and testing the idea of building out a platform for Black artists. It was time Black artists were brought to the forefront and properly highlighted for their cultural significance. The result was BlkArthouse: a social enterprise organization that supports and empowers Black artists and increases their accessibility. Though BlkArthouse now hosts various art events and an online e-commerce platform for Black artists to sell their artwork directly to consumers, it has transformed into something much greater than I envisioned since its inception in September 2020. Self-portrait, titled “Me as Child” from BLKMKT Artist Brandon Brewer. Follow him on Instagram @Alltheboystotheart. The mission of BlkArthouse has always been to empower Black artists who have been underrepresented in the visual arts, and that required an artist-first approach. An artist-first approach meant taking the time to focus on building a community before blindly launching the BLKMKT. We aimed to increase representation and democratized the global art market in new and creative ways, ensuring Black artists were at the forefront of that movement and creating greater opportunities for consumers to connect with and invest in Black communities. Our path to this goal started with listening. BlkArthouse spent the first eight months since its inception building our artist community. As a practicing attorney with no formal art background, it was integral to our mission to get feedback from the Black visual arts community who have experienced years of racial barriers and discrimination. After spending the first month talking with Black artists, curators, and gallery-owners to learn more about the environment, we beta-tested the idea of BlkArthouse. The thorough process I went through before the launch of BlkArthouse was necessary. By conversing with Black artists, gallery owners, and collectors, we were able to identify and understand their pain points. We learned how Black artists often lacked support networks, education, and access to opportunities—taking time to collect and account for their valuable insight shaped the vision for our BlkArthouse community. We fostered an environment that inspired our initial group of artists and advisors to buy-in to what we were building. We learned what was needed: a community and learning space for Black artists to feel comfortable with us, partner with us, and continue to invest in our mission. Our time spent learning from experts in the visual arts space also formed genuine relationships with people who wanted to continue helping us throughout our journey. Their input assisted in identifying our need for an advisory board, and we’re fortunate to receive constant feedback from our all-Black board bolstering various expertise within the visual arts. We initially started with six artists to determine if there was market demand and whether the artists found value in the platform. The issue and model were validated–we sold about $7,500 worth of art and sold out an exhibition in four months. We kept close contact with our artists throughout this timeframe, who bought into our mission and trusted us. We held meetings with artists to see how we could improve and which services we provided were most beneficial. We learned that the most valuable component for the artists was access to the community and educational resources. The investment of time and effort in the artist has directly correlated with increased capability and visibility of the artist, and therefore increased legitimacy of the business. What started with six artists in our Fall 2020 beta testing phase has organically grown into a community of 170 artists, spanning four continents, solely through word-of-mouth about our enterprise’s mission and successful artists and consumers have found. By the time we launched our first in-person art exhibition this summer, focused on “What is Black Art?” we were generating unprecedented interest from collectors interested in the Black art space. Major newspapers like the Washington Post featured us—all of which led to a sold-out opening night. This rapid growth is greatly attributed to the ongoing feedback and dialogue we receive from our artists and closing the loop by responding to it. For example, we weren’t complacent after our successful summer exhibition. Our team surveyed artists who participated in the exhibition, and we held individual meetings with each artist to hear their personal experiences. Relaying our planned adjustments based on feedback has turned into a natural part of our community. We’ve created an environment where artists feel comfortable communicating their needs, and we further share those with our Advisory Board. Quarterly Advisory Board Meetings hold us accountable to our artist-first approach; we share how we need to adapt to best advocate for Black artists. Our board ensures we follow through while consistently giving us new feedback. This cycle helps us stay updated with how we can best serve our Black artists in the evolving visual arts space. BlkArthouse provides educational seminars, markets our artists to new audiences, and highlights our artists’ stories—which allowed us to create a better marketplace because we attract a more outstanding caliber of emerging artists. As they share their personal and collective experiences as Black artists, we provide value to Black artists in ways institutions and galleries were failing them. By listening to the barriers Black artists face to achieve racial equity in the visual arts, BlkArthouse continues to find new ways and better outcomes to empower Black artists. Black Art matters. Although interest in Black art has grown over the past year, there’s still significant work to be done to tackle democratization and racial equity in the visual arts for Black artists to grow and succeed. Consistently adapting based on feedback has been essential to our mission at BlkArthouse. Other organizations working with Black artists must be open to receiving feedback and adjusting accordingly. Organizations like ours have the duty and privilege to strengthen the field in highlighting and empowering Black artists. The best way to create positive change in the visual arts is through collaboration. Black voices throughout the visual arts—including artists, collectors, curators, brokers, and gallerists—should all have a place in our organizations. For Black artists to gain their well-deserved and long-overdue recognition in the visual arts, our organizations must listen, then act. We welcome you to join our BlkArthouse community by signing up for our newsletter. Financial help is always needed, especially as a young social enterprise. Being entirely bootstrapped since our inception in September 2020 has been challenging, but we are thrilled to announce the launch of our first Crowdfunding Campaign, #BlackArtMatters, this month (July 2021). This campaign will provide our first source of any outside funding, and we can’t wait to see how the monetary support will impact so many Black artists. As a special thank-you, funders that donate certain thresholds will be eligible for arts-based rewards, such as exclusive art prints, art classes, and a VIP free trip to our next exhibition. Any amount of financial assistance, no matter the amount, is greatly appreciated. To learn more about how you can support our work, please visit our website at www.blkarthouse.com and follow us on Instagram @blkarthouse and Twitter @BlkArthouse. Pictured: Joli McTerrell – BLKArthouse Creative Director (L) & Tatiana Rice – BLKArthouse Founder & CEO (R) Tatiana Rice (she/her/hers) is the founder and CEO of BlkArthouse as well as a practicing attorney. In her role, she manages the day-to-day operation of BlkArthouse and helps move the organizational mission forward. In particular, she meets with new artists, develops the website and BLKMKT, helps curate available art collections and exhibitions, and sets the goals and vision of BlkArthouse. A native of Wisconsin, Tatiana currently resides in Washington, DC, after spending the majority of her life in the Midwest where she attended the University of Northern Iowa as a track and field student-athlete and graduated with a BA in Criminology in 2016. Following undergrad, Tatiana earned her J.D. in 2019 from Washington University School of Law in St. Louis during which time she was involved in the Black Law Student Association, Women’s Law Caucus, and Student Bar Association and has since worked as a Data Privacy Attorney at Shook, Hardy & Bacon. Tatiana is dedicated to pro bono work and advocating for criminal and racial justice. She works closely with the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project in fighting for the exoneration of those wrongfully convicted and the Jim Crow Juries Project in fighting for those sentenced under Jim Crow era criminal laws. In the future, Tatiana aims to tackle criminal justice reform and further devote herself to diversification and integration of the Black community as a lawyer and founder of BlkArthouse. To learn more about Tatiana Rice and BlkArthouse, feel free to reach out to her through email at [email protected] or Twitter at @tatiianarice. To learn more about BlkArthouse, partnership opportunities, or other ways you can support our work, visit www.blkarthouse.com and complete the “contact us” form.
Black art and artists matter.
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BlkArthouse is a social enterprise dedicated to connecting people to Black art and artists. First and foremost, we are here to support and empower our Black artists. Our artist-first approach is integral to our business model. We believe Black art and Black artists matter, and we strive to create a place for Black creativity to thrive and art is accessible. Unfortunately, it is difficult for consumers to find and purchase Black art, and we aim to change that by showcasing Black art in a central and accessible location. The artworld is too exclusive, and we want the BlkArthouse community to break this cycle by connecting artists, collectors, curators, brokers, and gallerists with each other and with opportunities. We attract emerging and talented Black artists that can offer affordable artwork through access to our educational resources, community-building, and artist-first approach.
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