Suncoast Black Arts Collaborative hosts exhibition at Van Wezel

When Jeannette Bradley once saw four ballerinas, who were all white, looking at her painting "Four Ballerinas" and stating, "This is us," she knew she'd accomplished her mission. 

As a child, she had to see herself in images where the people didn't necessarily look like her, such as Norman Rockwell paintings. 

She invites viewers to share the same experience with her paintings featuring Black abstract figures.

Her work is part of the Suncoast Black Arts Collaborative's "Tradition and the Abstract: Improvisations and the Norm," a seven-painting exhibition also featuring artist Shannon Elyse Curry and found at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall. 

Paul Toliver, a board member of the SBAC, said the concept of boundaries represents not only a physical line, but that the exhibition is also about breaking past other lines that keep people "within their sections, their place."

Amplifying voices

The exhibition is part of the Art Innovation Zone, a year-long program that also involves other venues including Sarasota Opera, Sarasota Orchestra, Manatee Performing Arts Center and WSLR + Fogartyville.

Justin Gomlak, director of education and community engagement at the venue, said he hopes the exhibition will be the beginning of many such future collaborations. 

"We should be the place that not only features incredible work from members of our community, but amplifies their work for the large numbers of people who come to our lobbies," he said. 

The artists, who come from the Tampa Bay area, said they were glad for the opportunity to be featured.

“It’s such an honor," said Curry. "It feels great to come to Sarasota — I've never been — and to see this beautiful building and to meet all of these wonderful people and to gain exposure in a new city."

“If I'm all by myself and I'm doing my thing, it's venues like this that allows me to say, ‘Okay," said Bradley. "It's sort of a validation. So it's pretty thrilling.”

Curry, a jazz musician, vocalist, book cover illustrator, muralist and painter, said her work spans areas that include photorealism, abstract work and even sculpture, and says color is a "huge vehicle" through which she communicates.

“I hope that I can impact the community in a positive way," she said. "I hope I can bring back a joy and passion for things that are beautiful. My work really seeks to be aesthetically pleasing, and I like to focus on the beauty of people and the beauty of life, and so I want people to walk away from my work having had a dialog, that they're ready to share about, and I want them to have a personal experience with the work that they walk away from it with.”

Bradley minored in art 30 years ago at Florida State University, but ultimately chose a career in the corporate world. 

However, after retirement, she decided, "I want to do what I want to do."

For a nonprofit she started, which aims to shift the thinking of young children about how they fit into the world, she started creating paintings to convey her message.

She hopes every person will be able to see themselves in the individuals she portrays.

"All of them are Black, but they're really not all Black, but they are, because I want whoever you are, to be able to see yourself in the experience of that game, and so I'm kind of shifting it where the experience that I had, now I'm saying to you, have that same experience," she said. 

Michéle des Verney Redwine, founder and executive director of the Suncoast Black Arts Collaborative, said in many communities, the arts are not being funded, calling them "the most important thing in our life... because it's the essence of who we are."

"It's what we see, it's what we hear, it's what we feel, it's how we dress. It's all about art. It's all about creativity. It's all about embracing your emotions and celebrating the arts.”