Free Art Class - Black Arts Movement

Saturday, May 31, 2025 Noon to 2 PM.
Octobergallery.com Museum
6353 Greene Street, Philly 19144
Free Admission! - Free Nikki Giovanni Poster See Below!
Limited seating so sign up NOW!
octobergallery.com 215-352-3114

The Black Arts Movement (BAM) was an African American-led art movement active from around the mid 1960s through the beginning of the 1970s. It can be considered the “aesthetic and spiritual sister” of the Black power movement. The artists involved contributed to the creation of not only artworks but also cultural institutions that conveyed a message of Black pride while affirming the autonomy of black art. The group was composed by politically motivated visual artists, musicians, writers, dramatists and poets.

What really characterised the Black Arts Movement was the definition of a “black aesthetic”. By speaking directly to the black experience, the art produced within the movement proposed the creation of a new symbolism, iconology and critique, taking distance from the Western aesthetic. Artists, scholars and critics reappropriated the positive meaning and sense of Black Art. They did not only break free from the Western tradition and style; but they also gave a truthful and honourable representation of African Americans. The development of a black aesthetic was crucial for the development of an African American identity. The early works were murals, usually colourful, with many symbolic imagery and portraying members of the black community.

A first and famous example is the mural painting “Wall of Respect”.

“Wall of Respect” was painted in 1967 by the Visual Arts Workshop of the Organisation of Black American Culture. It depicted many portraits of heroes and heroines of African American history, including the images of Aretha Franklin, Malcom X, Muhammad Ali to name few. The mural was the result of the collective and collaborative effort of numerous artists. The subjects represented as well as the fact that it was a mural accessible to the everyone made it a source of inspiration and pride, sparking the diffusion of large open-air neighbourhood murals all over the United States. The Wall of Respect was an highly visible celebration of black power and pride, it empowered communities to narrate themselves, their histories, eliciting reciprocal identification and community-building. It is also considered as a revolutionary artwork that represented black liberation.

Wall of Respect - Chicago, IL

Angel Davis by Gerald Williams

Nikki Giovanni, a participant in the Black Arts Movement
FREE POSTER by Nikki Giovanni with this invite.
Poster is 11" x 17" on paper.
See art below.

Also check out other Arts events in Philadelphia, Workshops in Philadelphia, Literary Art events in Philadelphia.