In this episode, Eric speaks with esteemed scholar and writer Dr. Halima Taha. She shares her experience of how she first came into contact with the arts, her experience as co-owner of the Onyx Art Gallery, the first gallery in Gramercy Park to sell abstract art by African American artists New York City, combating the historic limitations and stereotypes that have been projected on artists of African descent… to her journey of getting her book published, paving the way for creating a market for African American art and her perspective on the recent boom and interest in African American art.
Guest Bio: Halima Taha is recognized throughout the United States as a leading authority on collecting African American art and arts management. For more than twenty years, she continues to contribute to the field as an appraiser, art advisor, educator and speaker. Author of best selling book, “Collecting African American Art: Works on Paper and Canvas” (1998, 2005) the first book to validate collecting African American fine art and photography as an asset and commodity in the marketplace and “Three Decades of American Printmaking: the Brandywine Collection”. The success of this publication also inspired the National Gallery of Art to create a Collecting African American Art Symposium and was a catalyst for major museums worldwide to pursue collections of African American art to exhibit, catalogue and travel. In addition it provided solid market criteria for publishers to print more monographs about African American artists and collections independent of museum shows, which had not previously been the norm. Currently — Taha has a professional arts and education service company in art advisory, appraisal, collection management and curatorial services for more than 25 years. Corporate, academic and civic lectures include; Collecting, Protecting and Appraising Fine Art, Building Bridges between Art School and the Art World, Corporate Collection Strategies & Ethics, Intellectual Property & Diversity in Art.
