BFAM was founded in 2019 and has been entered into the Congressional Record by Congresswoman Robin Kelly.
Black Fine Art Month (BFAM)®, held each October, is a global celebration of the Black fine art aesthetic, an annual recognition of artists, innovators, collectors, curators and those vested in the Black Art tradition, and an opportunity to commemorate and elevate these contributions through programming that highlights our constituents –artists, art collectors, curators, gallerists, educators and others. BFAM is an initiative of Pigment International™
2022 Calendar of Events
This year BFAM will explore the continuing global influence Chicago creatives are exerting through our theme Black Fine Art –The Gilded Age. Chicago native Simone Leigh was the first Black woman artist to represent the U.S. during the 59th Edition of the Venice Biennale de Arte, the world’s premier art event. And hers is just one of the hundreds of stories about Chicago creati ves – past and present – influen cing the global art landscape.
MARTHA WADE
Cotton Seed Creative Exchange
In partnership with the City of Aurora + Aurora Public
1:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Thursday, September 22 Fine Art Month +
Sunday, October 2 L. PIERCE HISTORY AND CULTURE Downer Place Aurora, IL.
Rap Performance by Ron Allen
EDO
Live Painting Demonstration
CENTER 20 W.
Aurora-based artist DADASOULFACE (Bryan Danial Joseph), artist Jade Williams (Shorewood) and Yvonne Michelle Toney, owner of the Cotton Seed Creative Exchange will participate in a Salon Talk exploring their careers, what they are doing now and what inspires them.
2022 Calendar of Events
Salon Talk
Smith Luncheon
Arts.Arvie
DAVID
Portland, Oregon-based artist Arvie Smith’s artistic career spans over four decades and transforms the history of oppressed and stereotyped segments of the American experience into lyrical two-dimensional master works. His first solo exhibition at Moni que Meloche Gallery is a series of new paintings and legacy works, opening September 23 and on view through November
Brunch
International will host a luncheon for Smith and his wife Julie Kern Smith at the Cliff Dwe llers Club.
Black
PHOTO COURTESY Monique Meloche Gallery
Cliff Dwellers Club Invitation only
Pigment5.
Thursday, October 8
Krista Franklin + Cauleen Smith in Conversation
Drawing from structuralism, third world cinema, and science fiction, Smith creates short films, feature films, installations, and performan ces. Smith and Franklin’s conversa tion will be moderated by the exhi bition’s curator Ionit Behar, PhD.
On Collaboration:
2022 Calendar of Events
DEPAUL ART MUSEUM 935 West Fullerton Avenue Chicago, IL.
On Collaboration is an in-person conversation in conjunction with Krista Franklin’s exhibition Solo(s) at DePaul Art Museum. Solo(s) draws on the artist’s vast range of materials and references, intersec ting poetics, popular culture, and the dynamic histories of the African Diaspora. Often referring to the performance of a single musician, the exhibition’s title, Solo(s) is instead guided by the artist’s commitment to collaboration with fellow artists, writers, and musicians. Franklin is joined by artist Cauleen Smith, who has collaborated with Franklin on multiple occasions.
Presented by DePaul Art Museum in partnership with and generously supported by EXPO CHICAGO and DePaul’s Center for Black Diaspora. This program is also presented in partnership with Pigment International as a part of Black Fine Art Month.
3:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Dilla the Historian, Ciera McKissack (Curator); Jordan A. Porter-Woodruff (Collector); zakkiyyah najeebah Dumas-O’Neal (SSCAC) and Kaila Austin (Indianapolis Artist and Historian).
Friday, October 14 Who’s Got Next ? South Side Community Art Center 3831 S. Michigan Ave. Chicago, IL 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Following the video debut, we will host a Salon Talk with our next gen culture keep ers who are creating, collecting and recording Black art culture to discuss what’s
Moderatornext.
An exhibition highlighting BIPOC artists channeling mental health, awareness & wellness in their work. Artists include Dana Todd Pope, Dwight White and EDO. Pigment International is a partner of Melanin Minds’ Chicago Art Weekend
Calendar of Events
– Angel Idowu
Dilla the Historian has established himself as a chronicler of Chicago history. Pigment International® is proud to partner with him to showcase Chicago’s rich Black art history and its influence on today’s global influence. His video tribute to Black art will debut during the 4th Annual celebration of Black Fine Art Month®.
2022
Monday, October 17
Pigment International is pleased to welcome Myrtis Bedolla owner and founding director of Baltimore based Galerie Myrtis, an emerging blue-chip gallery and art advisory specializing in twentieth and twenty-first-century Amer ican art by Black artists to Chicago. The gallerist and art consultant mounted the exhibition :
Friday, October 21
Calendar of Events
2022
The Afro-Futurist Manifesto: Black ness Reimagined for the European Cultural Centre (ECC) during the 57th Annual Venice Biennale, the world’s oldest and most prestigious art event. The exhibition showcases the work of eight Black artists, ranging in age from their 20’s to their 80’s, and it has been hailed as one of the best ancillary exhibitions in the city.
Black Fine Art Month Reception
A Conversation with Carol Adams, Patricia Andrews-Keenan + Michelle Boone.
6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
African American Arts Alliance
Location TBD
Invitation Only
TAWNY CHATMON ‘remnants stand in the light’
FEARLESSLY HUEFEARLESSLY HUE
PIGMENT INTERNATIONAL THANKS OUR BLACK FINE ART MONTH PARTNERS
Fine Art & Advisory
Galerie Myrtis
