I’m a native of Seattle. This is my home, and what I do and who I do it for is mostly rooted within the confines of the 96 square miles that make up the city, and extend into the 39 counties that make up Washington state, with of course special emphasis on the county in which I live, Martin Luther King, Jr. County.
While being Black in Seattle can be challenging with a demographic that places us at about 7% of the population, this can make for a slightly disorienting experience from time to time. But this is home, and it’s been part of my personal mission to make my home as warm and welcoming as possible to all. ARTE NOIR has become that home.
We are most proud to have created a loving home for Black art and culture in Seattle. This is personal for us as our greatest joy comes from supporting the creativity and soulfulness of Black artists and makers. We’ve been able to log one year of doing exactly that with your patronage and support. As we come close to the end of this year and prepare to welcome a new one, we are grateful for having made the following, and more, possible:
GENERATE REVENUE for artists and makers whose products we carry and showcase (remember, we buy outright and/or cover the cost of production so creators can keep dollars in their pockets)
HOST ROTATING EXHIBITS by Black artists in our state-of-the-art gallery
CREATE ECONOMIC STABILITY for our employees
FIRMLY ANCHOR A HOME for Black art and culture in the historic Central District neighborhood
Your patronage has been essential to keeping our home available and secure.
If you’ve been to our home, you know that our staff is top-flight! Maya Angelou said, “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” We receive countless notes and texts from people who have interacted with our staff and come away from that experience with a positive memory of how they were made to feel welcomed and valued. This means the world to me and I want to give a big shout-out to our fabulous Executive Director Jazmyn Scott, and our incredible Guest Services staff Marcus Mitchell, Nahshon Joshua, and Loren Perkins-Johnson. Thank you all for making everyone feel good in our home!
To sustain our home, we hope you will continue to support us with your contributions and patronage. Our focus is guided daily by the vision of creating tangible results for artists and our community. We're living up to our mission and hope you will consider supporting our work with a fully tax-deductible donation this year. And don't forget that ARTE NOIR is the perfect place to spend your hard-earned dollars this holiday shopping season. Keep those dollars flipping in the 'hood while supporting Black art!
Celebrating our One Year Anniversary, courtesy of Elite Collective