Elizabeth Henley, Ebony Iman Dallas and Jaiden Jiji McClellan are unpacking, pulling artwork out of boxes and packages, spreading them out on the floor and table at a midtown gallery.
They are beginning the process of arranging artwork for their “Permission to Breathe: A Black Woman’s Perspective on Living Life Unapologetically” that opens a few days later at Positive Space Tulsa, 1324 E. 3rd St.
As they unpack the art, there are lots of gasps and words of admiration for the pieces as they begin laying out the show.
“When we were thinking of the exhibit title for the show, ‘Permission to Breathe,’ we really wanted it to be an excuse for Black women artists to express themselves freely without any restrictions,” Henley said. “The artwork we chose spoke to that call, which was artwork that speaks to being a Black woman and speaks to being a Black creative right now in this time we’re in.”
The show opens 5-9 p.m. Saturday and continues through Feb. 28. Additional events, like an artist talk, will be announced later. Gallery hours during the exhibit are 6-8 p.m. Thursday, 5-8 p.m. Friday, noon-5 p.m. Saturday and by appointment. Most of the artwork is for sale.
“Permission to Breathe” is a vibrant, multidisciplinary art exhibition featuring nearly 30 pieces “celebrating the brilliance and boundlessness of Black Women,” according to the co-curators.
They said the works engage themes of rest, resistance, joy, ancestral memory, embodiment and radical self-acceptance. Some pieces affirm breath as a revolutionary right. Others bear witness to the labor, struggle and endurance required simply to exist.
“I really hope viewers come in and really hone in and ask questions about the pieces individually of how we all kind of find what that breath looks like, how we interpret that and just experience that in a daily way,” McClellan said. “It’s a constant thing that we as women overall strive to kind of find for ourselves is that permission or that allowance to be ourselves, express ourselves and even just as simple a way as breathe.”
Exhibit artists include the three co-curators along with Goldielxcs, Kimberly Thompson, Suzanne Thomas, Tysheona Singleton, Caitlin Varner, Betty Refour, Lyric Manns, Amber N. Wiley, Marie Casimir, Gay Pasley and Cristle Moorer.
This is some of the artists’ first showing. Henley said it was intentional to mix seasoned artists with young, inexperienced women getting their first exposure.
“It was just so empowering to be able to provide that avenue for them,” Henley said. “There aren’t a lot of opportunities for specifically Black women to showcase their art in institutions and art organizations, even here in Tulsa. So I think that’s why we got so many new artists who haven’t shown their work ever.”
Dallas, who moved to Tulsa from Oklahoma City in 2022 after participating in the Greenwood Art Project, said this exhibition is helping create a stronger connection for Black female artists from the state’s two biggest cities, while increasing visibility of their work.
“There’s so much talent here and so much talent there. I’ve often wondered why there wasn’t more of a bridge,” Dallas said. “I’m really glad that some people from Oklahoma City and two who even have moved on from Oklahoma City to New York City and Santa Fe, New Mexico, are represented here. It’s a nice collaboration of a lot of great artists from all over showcasing their art. This is good for all of us.”
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