This year marks a milestone: five years of the Akron Black Artist Guild. What began as a vision is now a movement rooted in creativity, culture, and community. As we celebrate, we look back at our journey and reaffirm our commitment to the future. From the start, the Guild’s mission has been clear: uplift Black artists, amplify diverse voices, and […]
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Progress doesn’t always arrive with ribbon cuttings or headlines. Often, it shows up quietly in shared spaces, honest conversations, and consistent acts of care. Akron Black Artist Guild believe some of the most meaningful change happens when artists gather with intention. Through workshops, youth engagement, exhibitions, and shared meals, we create spaces where people feel seen, heard, and valued. These […]
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The Akron Black Artist Guild proudly launched a pilot program in November in collaboration with the Summit County Maple Valley Library. This initiative, called the Words & Art Workshops, offers a transformative two-week experience that nurtures well-being and empowers participants from diverse artistic backgrounds to unlock their creativity, enhance self-awareness, and strengthen critical thinking skills through the magic of literature […]
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Let’s transform our words into action and embody the change we want to see, while also challenging the narratives that surround us. The call for action has never been stronger, and there’s no better way to ignite this transformation than by returning to the basics. We believe in the vital role that art and literacy can play in this journey, […]
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As the sun rises and determines the day, so it sets beyond the horizon to embrace the night. We rely on this systematic collection of time, and proceed without pause to live. We live to be counted, we live to encourage, we live to be remembered. It is essential as we live to hold a place in our timelines to […]
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After decades of workmanlike progress in his career, the late Cleveland-based artist Michelangelo Lovelace had just begun to see his star rise: in 2018, Fort Gansevoort Gallery in New York presented his solo show, The Land. The Cleveland Museum of Art had acquired his painting, My Home Town. Then Lovelace was diagnosed with cancer in 2020, and passed away in […]
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A partnership that becomes a good relationship is pivotal in cultivating a community for working artists. Producing programs beyond an initiative or grant cycle is rare for a small nonprofit organization. It’s easy to move on and post some pictures on social media displaying “oh, what a great time we had!” But in that rare moment, in the knee-deep of […]
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Just three years ago, a collective of Black professional artists imagined that their city could be a destination for Black artists to flourish. Often, artists travel for work and compete for subjective resources. Being an artist is much more than that! An artist needs like-minded support and genuine encouragement to create the works they imagine. As stated by poet Langston […]
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