7 Black Collectors Shaping the L.A. Art Scene

As Beyoncé reminded us last year, we are in the midst of a renaissance, specifically a Black arts renaissance. In Los Angeles, this is taking shape in an active and growing arts scene, led by a number of dedicated Black art collectors.

In recent years, Los Angeles has grown into a thriving scene for Black art and has emerged as an attractive and welcoming destination for Black artist transplants from other cities.

Monumental shows such as “Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power 1963-1983” made its West Coast premiere at The Broad five years ago and brought a host of Black artists and collectors together. Roughly four years before, the artists Karon Davis and her late husband Noah Davis founded the now-shuttered Underground Museum, which served as an oasis and safe space for Black artists and creatives. The space became a template for many artist collectives and spaces in Los Angeles that continue to flourish today, such as the Black Image Center, Zeal Artist Coop, and Context Projects.

Several Black-owned galleries have opened their doors in the last decade including Band of Vices, Residency, Dominique Gallery, Sow & Tailor, and Galerie Lakaye. Museum curators and professionals such as Naima Keith, Essence Harden, and Erin Christovale have helped transform L.A.’s institutions into destinations for art and culture, as evidenced by jam-packed opening parties held at LACMA, the California African American Museum, and the Hammer Museum. Next year, the Lucas Museum will soon open its doors under the leadership of Sandra Jackson Dumont.

For Black collectors, the opportunity to establish a voice, vision, and influence requires navigating through the well-documented barriers to access that many Black artists themselves have championed. Thanks to the influence of trailblazing collectors such as Janine and Lyndon Barrois and an abundance of creative spaces and neighborhoods spread throughout the city, collectors are today able to connect with a wide range of artists and galleries while building outstanding collections that not only fuel this current moment, but also create a lasting legacy for L.A. and the culture at large.

Here, Artsy speaks to seven Black collectors based in the city, who share their approach to engaging with their local arts ecosystem.

Ayesha Selden is a noted financial services executive, economic activist, investor, and art collector. Originally from Philadelphia, her remarkable work in finance, investing, and educating marginalized communities has garnered recognition from media outlets such as CBS, NBC, Entrepreneur, and AfroTech.

Selden’s contributions in this space have shed light on the importance of investing in underserved communities, which also extends to her efforts as an art collector.

Since planting roots in Los Angeles during the pandemic, Selden immersed herself in the local arts community, amassing a varied and impressive collection that includes emerging and mid-career artists like Bisa Butler, Shinique Smith, Alteronce Gumby, and Mustafa Ali Clayton in addition to historic names like Gordon Parks.

“I’ve acquired art through most of the traditional ways: galleries, fairs, Artsy, auctions, art advisors, and often, directly from the artists,” said Selden.

The collector has been incorporating a “new process” during her visits to museums, such as when she recently came across an “incredible” photograph of Nellie Mae Rowe by Melinda Blauvelt at the National Portrait Gallery. Selden reached out to the artist’s studio to inquire, and discovered that Blauvelt was the first woman admitted into Yale’s MFA photography program.

“After finding Melinda on Instagram, we developed a solid rapport, and she offered me one of the editions,” recalled Selden. “Through this interaction, I not only added a remarkable piece to my collection but also learned more about Nellie Mae Rowe the subject and folk artist from Vinings, Georgia. I recently acquired another photography work after seeing it in the Philadelphia Museum of Art using the same process.”

Selden’s dedication to nurturing creative expression and building communities is further exemplified through her efforts in collecting, donating, and lending artworks to prestigious institutions like the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., the Spelman College Museum of Fine Art in Atlanta, and the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art. Her support for the arts also extends to the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, where she is a dedicated member of the prestigious Hammer Circle.

Angela Robinson Witherspoon is an actress, producer, and the widow of the actor John Witherspoon. She is an avid patron of the arts and embodies what it means to be a custodian of the culture.

Originally from Washington, D.C., Witherspoon traveled internationally with her family and made her first trip to the Louvre at the age of 12. She later interned at the National Portrait Gallery before moving to New York to study art and film. Los Angeles later became her home, where she became involved in the arts community, forming long-term friendships with artists including Betye Saar and her family, which includes artists Alison Saar and Lezley Saar. She recently produced and directed the award-winning documentary Betye Saar: Ready to be a Warrior.

“I always collected art and antiques but it was only after John and I were married for several years that I actually had a budget for buying art,” said Witherspoon. “We started with some small and rather obvious purchases but quickly graduated to original art by African Americans. Tony Ramos introduced us to Betye Saar. Betye introduced us to John Outterbridge, and so on.”

For a time, the couple ran a gallery in Burbank called ARTPEACE. “It didn’t last long but it was a great introduction to collecting and to the art circle here,” Witherspoon recalled.

Gathered throughout a 32-year marriage, Witherspoon’s collection includes works by John Outterbridge, Oliver Nowlin, Pablo Picasso, Rembrandt, Romare Bearden, Ernie Barnes, Bambo Sibiya, Talita Long, and Monica Ikeguwu. Selections from the collection were recently on view as part of a special exhibition at Band of Vices gallery.

Dr. Joy Simmons is an art collector and philanthropist who has supported artists of African descent and whose work is informed and inspired by Black culture. She also mentors the next generation of art collectors and cultivates interest in supporting the networks of culture that sustain creativity.

Dr. Simmons has played a vital role in the establishment and growth of various small to mid-size institutions in L.A.’s vibrant cultural landscape. She served as a founding board member of LAXART and currently serves as board chair at The Mistake Room. She is also a commissioner for the Smithsonian American Art Museum and is on the board of the California African American Museum. Having recently retired from a long career as a physician, she is currently working as the senior art and exhibition advisor for Destination Crenshaw, a 1.3-mile public art corridor on Crenshaw Boulevard. And she has also been an active supporter of arts and diversity at Stanford, where she served as a trustee of the university.

Dr. Simmons’s collection includes David Hammons, Mickalene Thomas, Mark Bradford, Carrie Mae Weems, and Kerry James Marshall as well as installations in her home by Lauren Halsey and Genevieve Gainyard.

“I collect work by Black artists because I am interested in telling the stories of our time, our culture, and my culture with images that I wanted to surround my children with and that I wanted to surround myself with,” said Dr. Simmons. “I haven’t collected the Old Masters because I didn’t, for the most part, have the opportunity to meet them and interact with them, and relationships and friendships are always very important to me.

“I’m interested in artists and their dreams, ideas, and talent. I want to know them and I want them to know me. That’s why it was important for me to collect contemporary artists that I personally knew and know. I know every single artist in my collection personally.”

Dr. Simmons’s commitment to a personally meaningful collection also extends to her work as a board member and trustee. She is focused on fostering greater inclusion, which serves as the mission for groups like the Black Trustee Alliance, which she is a part of. “There is a lot of fine work by artists from all over the world; however, I want to ensure that work by Black people is preserved and that we are cherished and honored,” she added.

Darnell Moore and Yashua Simmons have built a home and collection where they actively engage with all artists and creatives from across sectors. The two are an example of what it means to live with art and curate a lifestyle that continues to inspire both their professional and personal lives.

Moore is a media maker and the author of the award-winning memoir No Ashes in the Fire: Coming of Age Black & Free in America, which was listed among the New York Times’s 100 Notable Books of the Year in 2018. He is also the editor of the photography book Nicolaus Schmidt: Astor Place, Broadway, New York by photographer Nicolaus Schmidt. His writings have appeared in outlets including the New York Times and EBONY, and he has written essays focused on the works of Black artists like Rashaad Newsome, Devin Allen, Clifford Prince King, and Mickalene Thomas. He is the former vice president of inclusion strategy at Netflix.

Yashua Simmons is a creative, fashion director, and image maker who has contributed his talents to the world’s leading publications—from styling the covers of Harper’s Bazaar and Vanity Fair to fashion stories that have appeared in Vogue, Interview, i-D, and CULTURED magazines. His collaboration with artist Marilyn Minter was shown at Frieze New York 2019, and his collaboration with photographer Daymion Mardel was on view at MoMA in 2017.

Yashua also partnered with Chanel on a custom-designed ready-to-wear look for the 64th-annual Grammy Awards, worn by recording artist Givēon. He is currently working on his curatorial debut with UNREPD gallery, which aims to uplift and center the beauty of systematically marginalized people and their cultural contributions.

The couple’s collection includes works by Corey Pemberton, Murjoni Merriweather, Clifford Price King, Herb Ritts, and Velma Rosai-Makhandia. “We acquire what we love, what moves us, because it is our way of participating in that timeworn, Black practice, of transporting ourselves and our culture into the future,” said the pair.

Ramon Alvarez-Smikle is EVP and head of digital marketing at Interscope Records. Despite being the youngest collector in this group, he started buying art about 10 years ago and currently serves as a founding innovator member of the Studio Museum in Harlem, Frieze 91, and is a part of LACMA’s AvantΩ Garde group.

Alvarez-Smikle’s vision for his collection is clear, committed, and community-driven. He also inspires other young professionals to invest early in long-term and meaningful relationships with artists and galleries.

“I would like to believe that it inspires every aspect of my life,” he said. “I was raised in a household with two parents who are fine artists [Candida Alvarez and Dawoud Bey], who, in addition to their own work, always had incredible works in our house as part of their collection by many of their peers [including Sol LeWitt, Kerry James Marshall, David Hammons, and Ed Clark].

“Now later in life working as an executive within the music industry, I have developed a deep passion for collecting and building a collection of my own. I focus primarily on collecting contemporary art by both established and newer artists, many of color, whose work resonates with me.”

Buying work that he loves and from artists he wants to support always comes first for the collector. “I want to live with the work in my house and feel good every time I look at it,” he said. “I have great relationships with galleries that I have acquired work from, and also have great [many lifelong] relationships with many of the artists in my collection.”

The collector hopes to inspire more creatives and executives in the entertainment industry to collect: “Supporting incredible artists and building an amazing collection is something that has brought me an incredible amount of joy,” he added.

Reginald Cash is the CEO of 3BLACKDOT. His current role parallels his commitment to investment and cultivating community. Originally launched as a talent management company for gaming content creators, 3BLACKDOT has since evolved into a production and distribution business, leading the model for others in the industry to embrace diversity and inclusion.

The company’s new offices are located in West Hollywood, close to several art galleries that Cash regularly frequents. 3BLACKDOT is one of the few Black-owned global entertainment firms and is valued at $87 million, according to the Wall Street Journal. Cash’s bold move to acquire the company he’s worked for since 2017 serves as an example of the importance of ownership and commitment, and he also worked recently as an executive producer of the film Queen & Slim. In the art collecting community, Cash has taken another bold leap, this time into investing in and building a contemporary collection.

The Cash Collection includes works by Carmen Neely, Abe Odedina, Megan Lewis, Genevieve Gaignard, Tionna Nekkia McClodden, February James, Raelis Vasquez, Ferrari Sheppard, and many more.

“Art helps complete my perspective. It’s a thin slice of someone else’s perspective in creative form,” he said. “The more I collect, especially Black and Latinx art, the better I understand and contextualize my own humanity and feel more connected to that of others.”

In life and art collecting, George and Azita Fatheree are focused on fostering inclusion across society—an issue of particular importance as parents raising a child with disabilities.

Azita has devoted the last two decades to advocating for people with disabilities. She currently serves on the boards of the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles and the Exceptional Children’s Foundation, whose programs include art centers and gallery space for persons with intellectual disabilities. George is an attorney who led the landmark Bruce’s Beach case in 2022, which marked the first time in U.S. history that the government has returned property to a Black family. He recently launched a social impact Fintech company to help remove barriers to homeownership, serves on the boards of the National Portrait Gallery and Loyola Marymount University, and is a 2024 Rockefeller Bellagio Resident.

“We still don’t consider ourselves ‘collectors,’” said George. “Almost every piece of art we own is by an artist who has been to our home, shared meals with us, who we’ve introduced to our friends, and who’s become part of our circle—we want to support them as artists, beyond just buying the work.”

The couple approach art with a patronage model: “It’s important to us that Black and Brown artists, and artists with intellectual disabilities, get the same type of support that other artists receive,” George noted.

Art is akin to traveling to a new country together for the couple. “We need to feel something, but we also want to learn something, to discover something new. We make all of our art decisions together,” said Azita.