To kick off Black History Month, I thought we’d take a look at an organization known as the Black Artist Collective. Founded by twenty-something art collector and artist advocate Destinee Ross-Sutton (A.K.A. Destinee the Disruptor), the Collective features up and coming black makers, and their Instagram feed delivered to me an astonishing quantity of fine artists!
In 2020, Ross-Sutton was asked to curate a show called “Say It Loud (I’m Black and Proud) for iconic auction house Christie’s. Incredibly, she got Christie’s to agree to agree to give 100% of the proceeds of each sale to the artist. Ross-Sutton was particularly concerned with art flippers, so she asked art buyers to sign a special contract promising not to sell the works for at least 5 years, and if they did sell, to kick back 15% of the resale’s price to the artist. Although she was unsure how buyers would react to the terms of the purchase, she called the auction a feeding frenzy. Every buyer agreed to sign the contract, which seems to have actually increased interest rather than proving daunting to buyers.
You can follow the Black Artist Collective on Instagram, and you can follow the remarkable Destinee Ross-Sutton on her gallery’s website and on Instagram as well.
Because of my ongoing struggle with Instagram embeds, I did try to find another source for the art, but Instagram is all there is. If you can’t see the embeds below, please check out the Black Artist Collective’s Insta account. You won’t be disappointed.
Share:
My OBT 
January 15, 2024 at 10:16 am
I love the art work you have highlighted in your post and I am going to follow the link to see even more. What I really, really love, however, is that Ross-Sutton took on an institution as powerful as Christie’s and was able to negotiate such a great deal for the artists and that the whole venture was massively successful. What an inspiration!
LikeLiked by 1 person
January 16, 2024 at 8:56 am
She should run for office (when she’s older)!
LikeLiked by 1 person
January 15, 2024 at 10:17 am
PS The Instagram embeds worked perfectly for me. Hopefully whatever glitch was happening is now remedied.
LikeLiked by 1 person
January 16, 2024 at 8:57 am
Really??? OMG what a relief!
LikeLiked by 1 person
January 15, 2024 at 5:59 pm
Could only see the banner picture, but that sculpture, and the painting that inspired? it were both amazing.
LikeLike
January 16, 2024 at 8:59 am
I hope you’ll go to their Instagram account and give them some love. The artists are remarkable!
LikeLiked by 1 person
January 16, 2024 at 2:29 pm
Sadly I don’t have Instagram or I would. 😦
LikeLiked by 1 person
January 18, 2024 at 12:05 pm
If you go on a computer, it will just take you to the website. No app needed.
LikeLiked by 1 person
January 18, 2024 at 5:13 pm
Ah, I didn’t know that. I’ll give it a go next time. Thanks. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person