Collector Verneida Britton Lived Life Her Way

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS

By Gregory & Ernest Disney-Britton

Recent photo of Verneida Britton in her living room surrounded by a few of the works she has collected by regional and international artists including her favorite, Aminah Robinson.

Educator, collector, and skydiver, Verneida I. Britton, 82, of Cincinnati, passed away on March 28, 2021, after a six-month battle with pancreatic cancer. Due to COVID-19 safety restrictions, a private family service will be held at Spring Grove Cemetery on April 10, but it will be streamed live. Additionally, the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center will hold a private memorial service for docents, with Aminah Robinson's "RagGonNons" as the backdrop, in recognition of her service as a docent. The family requests that memorial gifts be made by purchasing a Freedom Center membership.

Tom Torluemke's Scatological Imagery for Valentines Day

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS

By Gregory & Ernest Disney-Britton

"Let Freedom Ring, The Wedding Bells" (2011) by Tom Torluemke

Happy Valentines Day! Not since James Ensor has there been an artist like Chicago's Tom Torluemke. He's a humanist painter whose work has been called scandalous for sculptures like "Birth of Jesus" and a 2019 show, "Born in the USA," which also included scatological imagery. But Tom's not always in your face. We've acquired two of his softer works, a winter landscape and "Let Freedom Ring, The Wedding Bells." Looking for love or satire? Tom Torluemke is our collector's tip of the week.

These Black Collectors Are Shaping Future Art

ARTSY
By Jewels Dodson

The singer Paul Robeson once said, “Artists are the gatekeepers of the truth. We are civilization’s radical voice.” Collectors of Black art often see themselves as custodians of the history, culture, and nuanced narratives of the global Black experience. These collectors often feel honor-bound to protect Black artists and preserve Black culture, which for so long, and so often, has been excluded from contemporary art spaces. In honor of Black History Month, this list features a group of Black collectors with distinct points of view on whom they collect, how and why they purchase art, and what imprint they want their collections to leave on the world. [More]