The Magic 25: 1985, Members Gallery
In the 1960s a group of high school students started an organization called the Albina Art Center which operated a facility that provided music, dance and visual arts classes. When it closed in the mid-seventies some of the African American visual artists saw a need to continue an alliance, and Members’ Gallery was formed. Most of us had been creating our works in isolation, without feedback or encouragement from other artists, and few of us had connections or access to galleries to show our work.
From the beginning, in the 1970s, this collective was never short on participants as the need to express ourselves and have our works viewed by others was essential so that we could continue to hone our crafts. Members’ Gallery provided us a means to identify fellow artists, a forum to examine our works, an opportunity to collaborate on projects and occasions to celebrate our accomplishments. Monthly meetings (over fabulous home-cooked food) helped us organize and plan. Within no time we became known, not just in Portland, but throughout Oregon. We supported individual artist’s invitations to show their work, and we juried and put together group shows. We also had the honor of being nurtured by Jacob Lawrence, one of the greatest artists in this country’s history.
The very first gallery show at the Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center was a group show of artists in this collective. We went on to be invited to show in places that ranged from the University of Oregon, Portland State University and the University of Oregon to the Portland Building and the Federal Building and in various artist’s studio-galleries.
As some members of our group began to become better known and experienced successes, we decided to also mentor young, up-and-coming artists. With this addition, we realized a name change was also in order. The name Members’ Gallery was a play on the word “member” which was used in African American communities throughout the U.S. to identify those who were “members” of that community. With our expanded mission and a desire to include some “traditional” crafts people, we chose to change our name to the Black Artists’ Guild.
Even though our group no longer meets on a regular basis, we continue to support and encourage each other in our artistic endeavors. This network has allowed many of us to take our interests in the arts outside of our comfort zones and chosen mediums. For example, while still producing art I spent six years as the educational director for Young Audiences of Oregon and Southwest Washington, served for two years as the chairman of the New Columbia Art Committee (Housing Authority of Portland) that selected the artists and artwork for that development, received a grant to study art history and studio to add an arts endorsement to my teaching certificate, and have received several art grants to complete projects with my middle school students. All of the opportunities came as a result of my involvement with these ongoing collectives of African American artists, beginning with the Members’ Gallery.
by Janice Ingersoll
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