Akron Black Artist Guild (ABAG) provides support and community for Black artists in Akron, Ohio. The guild is thriving with plenty of new projects and an emphasis on bringing art to the city’s local parks in 2022.
The guild, which launched last year, now boasts around 100 members.
John S. and James L. Knight Foundation awarded ABAG a $128,000 grant, which will go towards several collaborative projects with Summit Metro Parks. The park district serves residents of Summit County, covering Akron. The two-year collaboration, dubbed the Art in the Park Collective, left the planning stage last month with a current focus on creating upcoming programs.
“The idea is to have a collection of different opportunities, because different people come out to the park for different reasons,” Co-founder of ABAG Dara Harper told Akron Beacon Journal. “The idea is to promote the parks and give people the opportunity to see those kind of activities or have those kind of activities – to come out and do a workshop, for example.”
The guild was created in response to data conducted during the making of the 2020 Akron Cultural Plan, a 15-year road map intended to bolster the local community through artistic and cultural endeavors. Over 97% of those interviewed as part of the plan’s creation process named equity as the top priority for the future of Akron’s arts and culture industries.
By February of 2021, the guild hosted its first meeting and soon blossomed into a space for artists to prosper. Through a marketing workshop, ABAG helped artists who were trying to have their art displayed during the pandemic. The guild also held online sessions with speakers including renowned Chicago artist Theaster Gates and Cultural Alliance of Western Connecticut’s executive director Lisa Scails, Ideastream Public Media reported.
“Our first year was focused on experimenting with ideas about what the guild could be,” said ABAG’s co-founder Dominic Moore-Dunson, according to Spectrum News 1. “As we walk into 2022, we have a clearer vision of how we can support Black artists in Akron via artistic and educational opportunities.”
The future holds many expansions for the guild, from workshops and artist fellowships to membership plans.
