The Black Wall Street Gallery: Bringing Art and Unity to Revive a Community

The spirit that may have been seeded dormant on the streets of the Greenwood District in Tulsa, Oklahoma is now coming alive. The Black Wall Street Gallery’s Conciliation Series is etching its way onto the pages of history. The gallery operates in the first building constructed after the Tulsa race massacre that destroyed every building within a 32-block range.

Dr. Ricco Wright is the Black Wall Street Gallery’s Artistic Director. His idea for a yearlong Conciliation Series project is a step to bringing people together as a community. The series pairs a black artist with a white artist in collaborative works of art. Wright says this the first time in history of Tulsa for the gallery to participate in a project like this one. His vision is to attract young black entrepreneurs and to support black owned businesses.

“We need people who will patronize the businesses,” Wright comments. “I thought with the Conciliation Series, creating a platform for artists, would be a great way for us to start that process.”

The gallery represents more than just black people and black art; it supports a diverse group of new and talented artists and edifices new and unknown artists in the process.

A featured artist at one of the Black Wall Street Gallery’s Shop Talk events was Marjorie Atwood. Her painting using a burned list of the massacre’s victims covering an African American female was an intense interpretation of the mark on history.

“The list of the damage and the loss. And the map which there’s nothing there,” Atwood stated. “That’s kind of what I was wanting to represent, those lists.”

Recently, New Economist tweeted a question about the reality of Black Wall Street today. According to the mission of the Black Wall Street Chamber of Commerce in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the effort is still building opportunities for community businesses.

The corner lot on Greenwood Avenue may seem to serve as a symbol of bringing all people together. It’s unique because it brings attention to the arts rather the businesses that were not represented in the history of the community such as dry cleaners, bankers, lawyers, and restaurants owners.

Ricco Wright had been an intricate influencer in the development of combining art and unity to the historic district and welcomes the ideas of bringing positive change to the community and encouraging the spirit of unity for all people.