Emerging Artists United

he Poor Man’s Art Collective (PMAC) began in early 2003 as the idea of two Detroit artists: Geno Harris and Mychal Noir. Galleries wouldn’t give us, as emerging artists, a second glance because of our lack of academic degrees and awards. We needed to express ourselves through our work on our own terms, so we decided to take on the art world through an approach all our own.

We found other emerging artists, pooled our resources, rented spaces and began producing our own shows. I like to call our strategy “guerilla tactics.” We put our fate in our own hands.

In the early days of PMAC, we would work late nights and early mornings preparing ourselves for the day that we could show our works to the world. We found empty spaces to work in, creating in the building where we lived- River Park Lofts-and people began to take note.

We created a buzz even before we had our first show because of the tenants in our building. One of the tenants happened to be Katrina Redd, who opened her Redd Apple Gallery in our building. Thanks to Katrina, we learned what it would be like to have our work displayed in a gallery. Professional artists were born.

It was and still is the mission of PMAC to find and nurture the talents of emerging artists who otherwise would not know where to begin to have their work exhibited. It is not the mandate of PMAC to judge an artist’s work, only to foster their desire to become better and to provide a vehicle to realize their dreams.

PMAC is hosting its first show of 2011, entitled “Believing in Detroit-A Spectrum Of Creativity!” at the Majestic Cafe. The exhibition opening takes place March 24 from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. Pieces by five artists–Kenya Vinson, Anna Coleman, Reggie Singleton, Mychal Noir and me-will be on display until April 21, 2011.

PMAC is calling on all emerging visual artists to come and let us know about you and your work. We are looking for talent to put in our next show in the coming months.

EXHIBIT
“Believing in Detroit-A Spectrum Of Creativity!”
Majestic Cafe
4140 Woodward Ave., Detroit
March 24-April 21, 2011
For more information: 313-671-7983, union10@comcast.net, www.genosart.blogspot.com