The inaugural “Nexus: SF/Bay Area Black Art Week” takes place October 1 through 6, 2024.
San Francisco skyline and Bay Bridge at sunset, California USA getty
Nexus: SF/Bay Area Black Art Week
Monetta White, executive director and CEO of San Francisco's Museum of the African Diaspora, is bringing together artists, museums, galleries, and art lovers for the inaugural "Nexus: SF/Bay Area Black Art Week" taking place October 1 through 6, 2024.
Connecting the Bay Area Art Scene
White's goal is to connect the San Francisco art scene with the creative energy of Oakland. She emphasizes the importance of collaboration across the Bay Area, stating "We're stronger when we come together as a region."
The Bay Area lacks a central "arts district," with cultural hotspots scattered throughout the region. "Nexus" aims to bridge these geographical gaps and foster a sense of community.
Week-Long Celebration of Black Art
"Nexus" offers a variety of events throughout the week, including:
- Talks and exhibition openings
- Open studios for artists
- The Black Cowboys Parade and Festival (Oakland)
- Free admission for Bay Area residents at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (October 3)
- Extended hours at SFMOMA (October 3)
Nexus Bookends
The week kicks off with the opening of the Museum of the African Diaspora's exhibition "Liberatory Living: Protective Interiors & Radical Black Joy." It concludes with the museum's annual fundraiser gala, the Afropolitan Ball.
For more information and a full list of events, visit the "Nexus: SF/Bay Area Black Art Week" website.
O’Neal (b. 1942) moved to San Francisco in 1969 after graduating with a Master of Fine Art degree from Columbia. Among artworks on view are early paintings from the 1960s utilizing lampblack pigment—powdered soot created from burning oil—which she rubbed and pushed into her canvases. O’Neal used this technique to address three subjects at the fore of art and culture at that moment, which she describes as “surface flatness, black as a color, and blackness as an existential, racial experience.”
O’Neal was born in Jackson, MS, the black heart of Jim Crow America. She attended college at historically Black Howard University in Washington, D.C. where she was involved with the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee in the 60s. In 1979, O’Neal was hired at the University of California, Berkeley, where she became the first African American professor awarded tenure in the Department of Art Practice in 1985, and chair of the department in 1999.
SFMOMA also hosts a screening and discussion on Sunday, October 6, with contemporary art superstar Titus Kaphar around his new feature film Exhibiting Forgiveness. Admission is free, but registration is required to attend. Friday, October 4, make plans for Oakland First Fridays, an art and community experience from 5:00 PM to 9:00 PM in the KONO District. The neighborhood comes alive with open galleries, artist collectives, street artists, local food, performers, musicians, dancers, DJ’s, and poets gathering.
“We have a vibrant art scene and I wanted to really showcase what the Black artists had to do to contribute to that,” White said. Black Art For All Monetta White, Executive Director and CEO of the Museum of the African Diaspora in San Francisco. Tinashe Chidarikire, courtesy of MoAD “Nexus” seeks to rally and connect the whole of the Bay Area arts community through the talent and experiences of its Black artists.
“If you're an artist, you're an artist, however, I think that with the San Francisco Bay Area, particularly in San Francisco, with a shortage of (Black resident and artist) population, it's important to amplify that we are here and that there's something for this Black community,” White explained. “It's important to have a Black Arts Week because we contribute to the scene differently. Within our Black art and culture–it's the same thing with any other culture–whether music or art or historical backgrounds, it's important to highlight that heritage.”
Black art is produced by Black artists, but it’s for everyone, same as Latinx art, or Asian art, or Native American art. Highlighting Black art and Black artists not only serves to correct art historical biases, it signals a welcome to audiences who may have traditionally felt excluded from the hoity-toity “fine art” world.
“I've lived here all my life and as an African American woman who's been interested in arts, I'm always seeking that. I want other people to know that this is here for them too,” White said. “(Nexus) comes from me always wanting to highlight the richness of the Bay Area and the art scene, and particularly uplift the Black art and cultural scene as well.”
More From Forbes
- Traveling To San Francisco For Art On A Budget By Chadd Scott
- San Francisco Museum Of Modern Art Honors 50 Years Of Creative Growth Aiding Artists With Disabilities By Chadd Scott
- Thai Spirit Houses Inspire Exhibition At Stanford’s Cantor Arts Center By Chadd Scott
Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn. Check out my website. Chadd Scott Following Editorial Standards Forbes Accolades.
Chadd Scott,Contributor