Parish Gallery facts for kids
The Parish Gallery was a special art gallery in Washington, DC. It was located in the Georgetown area. The gallery was open for 22 years, from 1991 to 2013.
The Story of Parish Gallery
The Parish Gallery was started by a man named Norman Parish in 1991. Norman Parish moved to Washington, DC, from Chicago in 1988. He then opened his art gallery a few years later.
The gallery became well-known for showing art by African American artists. At that time, not many other galleries focused on their work. The Parish Gallery closed in 2013 after Norman Parish passed away.
Artists and Their Amazing Art
For 22 years, the Parish Gallery showed art from many different artists. It mostly focused on African American artists and artists of color. But it also showed art from over 170 artists from many countries!
These countries included the United States, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Ghana, South Africa, Morocco, Haiti, Jamaica, Greece, Turkey, Brazil, Spain, England, Russia, and France.
Some famous artists who showed their work at the gallery were Sam Gilliam, Richard Mayhew, Willard Wigan, Lou Stovall, Percy Martin, Evangeline Montgomery, Victor Ekpuk, Lois Mailou Jones, Romare Bearden, Herbert Gentry, Bruce McNeil, and Wadsworth Jarrell.
Exhibitions That Stood Out
The Parish Gallery had many interesting art shows. In 1992, an art critic from The Washington Post newspaper said it was rare to see art from Jamaica or other Caribbean islands in a small gallery. He enjoyed seeing the works of Cecil Cooper, Kofi Kayiga, and Bryan McFarlane there.
In 1995, another critic wrote about a show by New York artist Lorenzo Pace. The critic said it was a "remarkably effective exhibition." Even though the space was small, the art really touched people's hearts.
That same critic also wrote about paintings by Kathryn Henneberry. These paintings were called "wonderfully exuberant works." They used big, bright colors and felt very free and spontaneous.
In 1996, a review of artist Wadsworth Jarrell's work said his art was full of "vibrant colors and geometric symbols." These ideas came from African art and a group called AfriCOBRA.
In 2012, an article about artist Maria-Lana Queen quoted a collector. The collector said they were "blown away by the color" in her abstract paintings. That same year, British artist Willard Wigan's work was reviewed. His art was amazing because his sculptures were incredibly tiny!
