Art gallery news
New art gallery in east Fort Worth amplifies Black and brown artists
The Tubman Gallery is now open
A new art gallery in east Fort Worth is seeking to make fine art more accessible while amplifying Black and brown artists and their work. Called Tubman Gallery, it’s now open and showing its first exhibit, at 6613 E. Lancaster Ave., next door to the event venue Blank Space. Admission is free.
The project is from Matthew Nelson, a Fort Worth native, artist, designer, and musician, and Dante Williams, the owner of Blank Space. They have partnered with Community Frontline, a nonprofit focused on revitalizing east Fort Worth communities, to launch the gallery in a noncommercial form, making it free to the public and allowing artists to showcase their best art without the stress of trying to sell their work.
“The hope is to present work with no intention of selling it,” Nelson says. “Instead, we want to try to draw as much attention as possible to the artists themselves and their creativity.”
The gallery’s first exhibit, titled “I Ain’t Never Belonged to Just One Person,” opened April 5 and will run until May 24. It features work from a handful of artists that Nelson describes as being on the cusp of major success. The featured artists include:
- Jordan Riggs, a producer, director, and filmmaker (he directed the music video for alternative R&B singer Frank Ocean’s “Thinkin' Bout You”)
- Amandla Baraka, a filmmaker, photographer, and writer from New Jersey
- Remember Charles, a multidisciplinary artist whose work includes painting, cinema, photography, and music
- Phylandra McFaddin, a Dallas-based artist who creates small-batch, hand-thrown ceramics
- Andréa Price, a Southern American mixed media painter
“Our hope is to bring the highest level of art that we can bring to east Fort Worth,” Nelson says. “We want to not only expose east Fort Worth to new artists, but expose artists from around the world to the vibrant art scene here.”
Fort Worth boasts a thriving art scene, from major museums like The Modern Art Museum and Amon Carter Museum of American Art, to popular galleries such as Artspace111 and Kinfolk House.
Nelson believes there’s opportunity for more and wants to create a space to showcase the work of underrepresented artists, especially women and people of color. At the same time, he says, those works need to be made available to underprivileged communities and neighborhoods.
“I’ve been to a lot of the great art institutions around the world and seen what they have to offer, and I think that Fort Worth needs that kind of art,” Nelson says. “We already have some great art spaces, but I think we continue to need more options on a smaller and more relatable level."
"The Last Five Years" film starred Anna Kendrick and Jeremy Jordan.Courtesy photo