Art News & Updates

PIGMENTED: BLACK FINE ART FAIRE ANNOUNCES ZHOU B ART CENTER AS 2025 VENUE

Chicago’s First Black-run Fine Art fair Opens Gallery Registration, Names First Exhibitor.

CHICAGO, IL — May 1, 2025 — Pigment International proudly announces that the inaugural Pigmented: Black Fine Art Faire will take place October 31 – November 2, 2025, at the acclaimed Zhou B Art Center, located at 1029 W. 35th Street in Chicago’s Bridgeport neighborhood.

The four-day celebration will be a cultural cornerstone during Black Fine Art Month (BFAM), featuring national and international art programming, dynamic panels, youth showcase, and creative commerce, all designed to elevate Black artistry and ownership.

A limited number of gallery exhibition spaces are now available, and Pigment International is thrilled to welcome Faie Fine Art of Bronzeville as the first confirmed exhibitor, effective May 1. Gallery registration remains open through July 1, 2025.

DR. KELLI MORGAN AT EXPO CHICAGO

Dr. Kelli Morgan was a featured speaker at the 2025 Curatorial Forum at EXPO CHICAGO, presented in partnership with Independent Curators International (ICI). with the theme: Building a Cathedral—exploring long-term, intergenerational approaches to cultural work.

The panel focused on alternative and expanded modes of practice in the arts and asked how cultural institutions can construct lasting frameworks that serve present and future generations.  

She was joined on the panel by Albert Heta (artist, designer, Ph.D. candidate, and co-founder of Stacion—Center for Contemporary Art Prishtina) and Dr. Romi Crawford (professor, writer, curator, and Founder of The New Art School Modality).

RICHARD HUNT SCULPTURE FROM

PLAYBOY CLUB ACQUIRED BY HEYMANS

COUPLE SERVE AS HONORARY CHAIRS OF PIGMENTED

Vicki and Bruce Heyman acquired this work by esteemed Chicago sculptor Richard Hunt in a 2024 auction of works from the iconic Playboy Mansion.  

The work was part of an auction held in April 2024 according to ArtNet. The couple, prominent art collectors, who formerly served in the Obama Administration, are members of the Honorary Committee producing the Pigmented Black Fine Art Faire coming this October, You can read more about their collection in the most recent Pigment Magazine.

Photo credit Tony Smith.

MOURNING THE PASSING OF A NEW KIND OF GRIOT

Dr. Michael Butler was the founder of The Griots’ Gallery and Academy in the Little Haiti section of Miami. The gallery’s core collection includes more than 700 works of art by more than 200 artists. It showcases the breadth and depth of Black Diaspora artistic production across media, styles, geographic distribution and eras.  Dr. Butler operated the gallery alongside his medical clinic. The Grambling State University graduate passed away on March 27th.  

Butler was one of the premier collectors of works by the Florida Highwaymen and participated in a conversation about them orchestrated by Pigment International for Black Fine Art Month.   

The Griots’ collection allows us to recontextualize the past in ways that assist us in moving forward. It offers its community ways of seeing and experiencing art that more closely resonate with their lived experiences, rather than the view of art promulgated by the commonly expressed western art canon. The Gallery and Academy provides a differing curatorial perspective from the mainstream arts community, recapturing the humanity of those who are often discarded, forgotten and marginalized. 

Our sincere condolences on his passing.  

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