Regional Focus: African-American Artists of Kansas City
In 2003, the members of The Light in the Other Room gathered at the American Jazz Museum, on 18th and Vine Street in Kansas City. This historic neighborhood, also home to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, is the place where, in years past, you might have seen Charlie “Bird” Parker practicing at night on the median. This particular night in 2003 was the opening of the exhibition, First Light, and included varied works of “politically charged quilts, paintings, and intricate wood carvings” by the aforementioned African-American artist collective founded by artist Lonnie Powell. Dean Mitchell and Leroy Allen were among the members of this group who would meet once a month to critique each other’s work in addition to buying supplies together to reduce costs.
“Understanding that culture and civilization had its beginnings on the continent of Africa, and realizing art is an inextricable part of culture and civilization, and also possessed of the knowledge of the esteem in which all great civilizations have bestowed upon the arts, it is the mission and indeed the duty of The Light In The Other Room to make sublime the art of African descendants now living in our beloved metropolitan area.
To this end, we are committed to being the unifying thread which will make our section of the universe a place where our art is defined, appreciated, cultivated, and supported.”
Lonnie Powell
Lonnie Powell (b. 1941) graduated from Central High School in Kansas City and went on to earn a degree in art education from Lincoln University in Jefferson City, MO. After his retirement from teaching, Powell was able to focus entirely on his art. Powell is an accomplished genre painter in both watercolor and oils.
“The magic of music and baseball and everyday life come alive to us through his tender and talented representation of things we might take for granted.”
Anne Potter Russ, Art Scene -Lonnie Powell, The Independent, September 18, 2021
His artwork is included in the collections of Sprint Corporation, H & R Block Corporation, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, Kansas City Chiefs Arrowhead Art Collection, the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Overland Park, KS; and the Mulvane Art Museum, Topeka, KS. His work was included in the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum’s traveling exhibit, Shades of Greatness. He is also a Signature Member of the National Watercolor Society. Powell founded the Light in the Other Room in 2001.
Leroy Allen
Leroy Allen (1958-2007) became a noted figurative artist in little more than a decade, his work appearing in many exhibitions and receiving much critical success. He was adept at working in oils, charcoal, watercolors, and pastels, which allowed him to reveal a greater depth of humanity and character in his subjects. Allen’s favorite subjects were young people. “I like the youth, the strength.” A particularly poignant moment in his career occurred when the family of one of his youthful subjects attended the exhibition of the painting, Sundrops, at the Mississippi Museum of Art. He was equally talented in his rendering of landscapes, especially those of his favorite fishing spots. “They are a part of me,” he said, “…I see backroads places that most people don’t see.” Allen participated in the American Watercolor Society’s 133rd Annual Exhibition, NY (2000) and the National Watercolor Society’s 78th Annual Exhibition, CA and exhibited at the Stella Jones Gallery in New Orleans.
Dean Mitchell
Dean Mitchell was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1957 and raised in Florida. He attended Columbus College of Art and Design, Ohio, working his way through by selling his watercolors. After graduation, Mitchell worked at Hallmark Cards until he decided to paint full time. Although he initially found it difficult to find gallery representation, he has since won numerous awards and had his work exhibited extensively. He is well known for his figurative works, landscapes, and still lifes that evoke Andrew Wyeth and Edward Hopper.
Michael Kimmelman, art critic of the New York Times singled out Mitchell’s work as
“subtly tuned character studies with an eye toward abstract form and charismatic light. Mr. Mitchell is a virtual modern-day Vermeer of ordinary black people given dignity through the eloquence of his concentration and touch.”
Mitchell is primarily focused on capturing his immediate surroundings and conveying a sense of intimacy between the viewer and his subject. He has felt especially drawn to the city of New Orleans, where he has painted the city streets and the musicians that populate them.
Allen and Mitchell were acquainted with each other through their employment at Hallmark Cards in the 1980’s. Along with Jonathan M. Knight, Henry Dixon, Thomas Blackshear, and Ezra Tucker, who were also employed at Hallmark, they formed the collective the Kansas City 6. Mitchell, Allen, and Knight also went on to national acclaim in the show, Black Romantic: The Figurative Impulse in Contemporary African American Art, held at the Studio Museum in Harlem in 2002.
Jonathan M. Knight
Jonathan Knight (b. 1959) received a BFA from the Art Institute of Ft Lauderdale. He also studied etching and printmaking at the Kansas City Art Institute. His subjects include portraits, landscapes and still lifes.
His work has been exhibited extensively and been illustrated in numerous art magazines. He is a long-standing member of numerous watercolor societies across the country, including the American Watercolor Society and the National Watercolor Society.
Knight’s work is in the collections of the Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art, Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale, Hallmark Fine Art Collections, Anheuser Busch Corporate Collection, Museum of African American Art, Miami, and the Camille O. And William H. Cosby, Jr. Collection.
Dean Mitchell, Leroy Allen, Jonathan Knight, and Lonnie Powell, in addition to many other African American artists in the Kansas City area, have contributed significantly to art in America, creating works of Black joy and portraying their subjects with strong presence.
“These artists see themselves as activists. They see themselves in the role of educators, anthropologists, archivists.”
Thelma Golden (Thorson, Alice, Black Romantic in Harlem Has KC Touches, Kansas City Star, 21 Apr 2002.)
As the popularity of art created by African American men and women increases, it is natural that the work of certain individuals will take hold more quickly than others within the mainstream marketplace. Works by Norman Lewis, Alma Thomas, Jacob Lawrence, Romare Bearden and others have brought more than $1 million at auction. In fact, in many cases the price structure has increased so quickly, many collectors are “priced out” before they even had the opportunity to acquire such works, so the success is a bit of a double-edged sword. The positive side to this is that the market naturally grows in breadth and informed collectors begin to look at work by contemporaries of these more nationally recognized artists.
This small collection of works by Kansas City-based artists provides an excellent example of why looking at regional markets for high quality work by artists well-known within their geographical region but less so on a national stage is not only a viable collecting alternative, but a really good idea.