Staff photo by Jake Daniels/Chattanooga Times Free Press
James McKissic, left, of the Friends of African-American art, stands with Ellen Simak, chief curator at the Hunter Museum of American Art, on Friday morning at the Hunter Museum.Some Chattanooga residents say they’re so interested in seeing black art in local museums they’re willing to purchase it themselves.
“There is a powerful connection you can have with artwork, and sometimes it’s not even beautiful. Sometimes it’s raw,” said Ellen Simak, chief curator of the Hunter Museum of American Art.
Simak is among more than a dozen people working with Friends of African-American Art to bring more black artwork to Chattanooga. Each member in the culturally diverse group pays $150 to help buy African-American art for the Hunter and the Bessie Smith Cultural Center.
The plan is to buy a work of art for the Hunter Museum one year and the Bessie Smith Center the next. The partnership is intended to enhance the visual art experience at both galleries, Simak said.
Friends of African-American Art will host its first community meeting at 6 p.m. Feb. 3 at the Hunter. “Lois Mailou Jones: A Life In Vibrant Color” will be on display during the gathering. Jones was a black painter and a retired professor at Howard University.