SaveArtSpace is pleased to present Radical Black Joy a group public art exhibition, focusing on Radical Blackness and defiant joy, on billboard ad spaces throughout Pittsburgh, PA. Curated by Tara Fay. Selected artists are Evangeline Mensah-Agyekum, Jessica Gaynelle Moss, and Trent Bozeman. On view starting June 14, 2021, for at least one month.

Founded in 2015, SaveArtSpace is a non-profit organization that works to create an urban gallery experience, launching exhibitions that address intersectional themes and foster a progressive message of social change. By placing culture over commercialism, SaveArtSpace aims to empower artists from all walks of life and inspire a new generation of young creatives and activists.

Curator

Tara Fay is an independent curator, producer, and conceptual artist from Buffalo, NY. She serves as a board member and Associate Curator at Bunker Projects, and is a member of the Carnegie Art Associates, as well as the Associated Artists of Pittsburgh. She has curated exhibitions for various institutions, which include the August Wilson African American Cultural Center, Phosphor Project Space, Denison University in Granville, Ohio, and Brewhouse Gallery.

Her curatorial process is rooted in creating space for underrepresented Black and Brown artists, and centering the Black experience. She currently resides in Pittsburgh, PA.

Connect with Tara on Instagram at @mstarafay.

Selected Artists

Location: 5080 Baum Blvd, Pittsburgh, PA

Evangeline Mensah-Agyekum is a multidisciplinary artist whose main work aims to capture individuals, in part by transforming them. Her genre of portrait, fashion, and conceptual photography lends itself well to portraying undaunted characters, but her work aims to simultaneously show vulnerability in all of its subjects. Evangeline also makes use of her technological background to execute physical creations which further drive the narrative of the human experience as a whole. She is inspired by the banalities of daily life and the Black experience, and looks forward to continuing to explore film as another storytelling medium. Evangeline’s photos have been published in PhotoVogue of Vogue Italia. In addition her technical piece, "An Extension of Us," was part of the group show "Roots Run Deep" at Brewhouse Association.

Statement: “A Daughter's Inheritance” addresses the responsibilities daughters are expected to uphold and maintain in the household starting from a young age. As the oldest of six children, two brothers and four sisters, I saw and experienced how this played out in my own family. With this photo I wanted to confront this narrative and create dialogue around these shared experiences.

Connect with Evangeline on Instagram at @evv.fotos.

Location: 1205 Penn Ave, Pittsburgh, PA

Jessica Gaynelle Moss (b. 1987) is an artist, independent curator and arts consultant to institutions and private clients. She has an extensive background in program management, production and fabrication, nonprofit leadership, grant writing, community engagement, education, and the advancement of equitable development. Jessica is committed to developing innovative, ethical and responsible solutions to improve the conditions that directly affect Black people, women and underrepresented artists.

Her artwork can be found in both private and public collections including The Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) Baltimore, The Joan Flasch Artists' Book Collection (JFABC) and The University of North Carolina Charlotte (UNCC). She is the recipient of grant awards from The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation (2017), United Way of Central Carolinas (2017), Foundation For The Carolinas (2019, 2020), The Arts & Science Council (2018, 2019, 2020), The Heinz Endowment (2020), The Pittsburgh Foundation (2020), The Opportunity Fund (2020), The Office of Public Art (2021) and The McKnight Foundation (2021).

Some of her curatorial projects have included Sibyls Shrine: Taking Care (2021) at Silver Eye Center for Photography, Southern Constellations (2019) at North Carolina A&T State University, Black Blooded (2018) at the New Gallery of Modern Art, Chris Watts: Blahk on Blahk on Blak (2017) at Gallery Twenty Two, mood:BLACK (2017) at Goodyear Arts, Noah Davis: 1975 Paintings (2016) at the Stony Island Arts Bank, and MONSTER ROSTER: Existentialist Art in Postwar Chicago (2016) at the Smart Museum of Art, University of Chicago.

As an arts worker and consultant, Jessica has experience with a diverse roster of institutions including The Joan Mitchell Center, The City of Pittsburgh, The National Trust for Historic Preservation, The National Museum of African American History and Culture, The National Portrait Gallery, The Harvey B. Gantt Center for African American Art + Culture, The Center for Craft, Rebuild Foundation and DreamWorks Animation.

Jessica received a bachelors in Fine Art from Carnegie Mellon University; a masters in Arts Administration, Policy and Management from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago; and a masters in Studies of the Law from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.

Statement: Jessica Gaynelle Moss reimagines new frameworks and strategizes ways to build, maintain and sustain Black autonomous spaces devoted to our survival, resistance and healing. Her dedication to Black space began in 2007 when she transformed a neglected property in a historic Black neighborhood into a creative community hub for local students and artists.

Jessica is the Founding Director of The Roll Up CLT, a neighborhood-embedded artist residency program that invites Black artists from outside of the state to collaborate with North Carolina-based artists and arts organizations. She also serves as the Administrative Director of Sibyls Shrine, a four-tiered artist residency program for Black women, womxn, trans women, and femmes who are mothers and identify as artists, creatives, and/or activists in Pittsburgh, PA.

Although building and protecting Black space and investing in collective community service are an extension of her creative practice, Jessica works across many media to uplift, honor and celebrate Black people, Black women, Black mothers and Black artists. Jessica's artwork has been exhibited at McDonough Museum of Art, Carlow University, Denison Art Space, Above The Frame Shop, UnSmoke Systems and PNC Park Stadium.

Connect with Jessica on Instagram at @jesseplane.

Location: 8440 Frankstown Rd, Pittsburgh, PA

Trent Bozeman (b. 1992) is a lens-based artist currently living in Northwest Arkansas. Coming from a journalism background, he is interested in how legacies are reshaped, documented, and preserved. His recent work is an ongoing long-term collaborative project with children and adults in the small town of Elaine, Arkansas. He is currently pursuing an MFA in photography at the University of Arkansas.

There are people in this town who do not want to talk about it, rightly so. There are people in this town who have to talk about it. There are people in this town who do not believe the massacre occurred. And of course, there are people in this town who did not even know about it. I’m sure as you are reading this, you are wondering why you have not heard about this atrocity. The racial divide is as strong as ever in Elaine. I have been told that it has always been this way. The invisible line separates the town right along Main Street, where you’ll see birdhouses on the front porches of abandoned buildings and unkept homesteads. Elaine is the birdhouse capital of the world, so they say.

For the past year amidst COVID-19, children in Elaine, Arkansas have been attending school in a town about an hour away twice a week. In an area like the Lower Delta where schools are not equal, these kids do not have access to art programs outside of summer events hosted by The Elaine Legacy Center. During one of my first visits, I unintentionally travelled to Elaine on the 101st anniversary of the 1919 massacre. A majority of the children had never heard of the tragedy that occurred there. Not only was this interaction astonishing but it also made me realize the lack of education and history these kids must deal with. They do not understand the levels of inequity in their lives such as why their mayor was never elected, why they travel to Marvell for school, or why the north side of Main Street is riddled with potholes and debris. It is through our collaborative efforts that we will start to address, investigate, and expose these issues.

Connect with Trent on Instagram at @trentbozeman.