‘We were versed’

Exhibition opportunities for Black and brown visual artists were few and far between in Philadelphia in the 1980s; the white art establishment in Philly mostly gave Black artists the cold shoulder. But that decade also saw the emergence of the Minority Arts Resource Council (MARC), founded through the vision and perseverance of artist and educator Curtis Brown.

The organization developed programs, spaces, and places for Black art in Philadelphia, and hosted an annual MARCFest that counted with participation of the cream of the crop of Black and brown, established and emerging visual artists.

Brown learned how to persevere and overcome obstacles when growing up with his six siblings in the Francisville section of North Philadelphia. Now in his 80s, he recalls growing up in Philadelphia during the 1940s and 1950s.

“Francisville playground … that’s where we did most of our playing around and fighting and [laugh] whatever. ... There are a couple of things, you had to, as a young Black boy, you had to know. ... You had to know how to fight, and also you had to know how to read. And most of the time if you see some of us walking up and down the street, we usually have a newspaper or book in our hand. So we were very versed. I mean, we didn’t know anything about Black history ‘cause it wasn’t taught in our schools. But we [were] versed with poems and literature and things like that. … We did that on our own because we want to impress the young ladies in the community.”

Brown discovered his passion for the arts while attending Benjamin Franklin High School, but like most Black students at the time, he was not encouraged to go to college.

“That’s when I started getting more extra in the arts. There was an art teacher called Mr. Michaels that, he thought that I was, had a little talent, and so he encouraged me to pursue my, you know, I guess, my interest in the arts. ... Mostly the people, Black boys in Philadelphia, we weren’t encouraged to go to college because we were encouraged to go to some trade schools or things like that. They had a program in the [Bok] school called postgraduate course.

“So I took … two years of commercial art ... They should have directed me to a college rather than a postgraduate school. So I wasted two years. I didn’t waste two years, I learned a lot, but I could have put those two years in college.”

Brown moved to New York and lived with an uncle while working as a commercial artist. That’s where he met and married his wife, Monica, an artist and fashion designer.

But Brown still yearned to attend college, so he joined the Army for the veterans benefits. After leaving the Army, he worked as a cartographer for a few years.

Back in Philly, he applied to Temple University’s Tyler School of Art but wasn’t accepted in spite of having an outstanding portfolio. He eventually attended the University of the Arts, and became involved in the Ile Ife Artist Consortium, which was part of Ile Ife Black Humanitarian Center founded by iconic dancer and choreographer Arthur Hall in North Philadelphia.

Ile Ife was one of the foundations of Philly’s Black Arts Movement of the late 1960s and ‘70s, and the consortium was organized by artist John D. Queen — a prolific elder artist who took Brown under his wing and became his mentor. The idea of what would become MARC started percolating then.

“I was always inquisitive in trying to find out why Black artists weren’t [getting] their platform and publicity to showcase their art. So I saw, while I was in college at University of [the] Arts, I saw a flier … for people to apply to go to … National Endowment for the Arts in Washington. So I applied. Fortunately, I did get that grant to go. I was in the program for Minority Arts … and started talking to people and telling ‘em that what I was thinking about, bringing a group of programs to Philadelphia and things like that. ...

“So I said OK, let me get all the Philadelphia artists together. So I formed the Minority Arts Resource Council. … I arranged for [people from Freedom Theatre, Ile Ife Artist Consortium, Philadanco] to go to Washington as a trip … ‘cause they didn’t really know anything about the National Endowment for the Arts. ... So we met with AB Pelman, who was the director of [the] Expansion Arts [program] … and then they started getting grants [to develop their programs] ‘cause they’re aware of, there was, there was money out there for them to develop and improve and to showcase their art. So that’s how the Minority Arts Resource Council started.”

In 1979, with Queen’s guidance and the knowledge he gained working at the NEA, Brown founded MARC in a small storefront on Wayne Avenue, and asked the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts to create a minority arts program and fund an arts festival.

“I said, let me create a festival that will highlight all the artists in Philadelphia. I submitted it to the Pennsylvania Council of the Arts.They thought it was such a … good program that they want to include the Mid-Atlantic states. So they tried to push me out and give it to somebody else and let [them] think that they, they created the program, but, you know, being a little slick, you know, I had to maneuver and make sure that they knew who created the program. Since they tried to maneuver me out, [the next year] in ‘81, I just called it MARCFest and did it myself.”

The last MARCFest was held in 1993 at the William Penn High School field. MARC later moved to Girard Avenue, where it offered arts programs for youth and produced African American Rodeos in an effort to educate people about the role of African American cowboys in the West.

Brown went on to get a master’s degree from Drexel and become a doctoral candidate in art history at the University of Pennsylvania. He lives surrounded by the evidence of Black excellence in the arts — his late wife, Monica, worked in the costume and textiles department of the Philadelphia Museum of Art for decades, and their son Akinseye is one of the organizers of the East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention.

Nevertheless, Brown believes that many doors are still closed to Black visual artists — but advises them to keep pushing.

“It’s still a closed door for African Americans in being on the same level of promotion, financing and making a living in, you know, your field of art, especially in the fine arts. [Keep] your eyes open and, and look at all the opportunities that are available to you as an artist. Just don’t sit back and not get involved actively in programs. Even if you’re just the only Black person or Latino or whatever, just let ‘em know that you’re there. And, you are just as qualified … as they are. And mostly probably better [laugh].” ...

“I think what you need to know is your history. Mostly look, look back at your history and see what it tells you and what it teaches you, and shows you the direction that you should go.”

Listen to Curtis Brown’s recollections in full below or click here.

African American art in Philadelphia in the 1980s

African American cowboys