NEW IMMERSIVE ART INSTALLATION EXPLORES BLACK AMERICANA, FASHION & STATUS SYMBOLS

Artist Jamea Richmond-Edwards will transform CulturalDC’s Mobile Art Gallery

WASHINGTON, DC – CulturalDC presents its 10th installation in their Mobile Art Gallery: Stay Fly by DC-based artist Jamea Richmond-Edwards. The Mobile Art Gallery is hosted at CityCenterDC.

Running February 8—April 13, as part of CulturalDC’s 20th Anniversary Season, Stay Fly engages viewers around the concepts of haute couture and status symbols. Like her paintings, the exhibit draws attention to the historical and often complex relationship between Black consumers and luxury goods.

Jamea’s colorful, textured portraits are inspired by the flamboyant style of the 90’s, growing up in Detroit, Michigan and Ebony magazine’s “Fashion Fair” spreads, which featured beautiful Black models dressed in the latest couture.

She will transform CulturalDC’s Mobile Art Gallery with large and small-scale collages, and personal designer items. Stay Fly finds a home amongst the high-end retailers at CityCenterDC.

“Jamea’s installation in particular highlights the potential of CulturalDC’s Mobile Art Gallery. We are providing a unique opportunity for an artist to display their work directly next to the subjects they are in conversation with. We’re also thinking critically about other artistic disciplines, like fashion, and their representation in our curatorial repertoire,” says Kristi Maiselman, Executive Director of CulturalDC.

Richmond-Edward’s work has garnered the attention of art critics including the Washington Post and the Huffington Post’s “Black Artists: 30 Contemporary Art Makers Under 40 You Should Know.” She is the recipient of a 2018 Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant.

"We are excited about our on-going relationship with CulturalDC through the 10th installation of the Mobile Art Gallery. We welcome the opportunity to showcase emerging artists here at CityCenterDC and to support the dialogue that thought-provoking art fosters,” said Timothy R. Lowery, General Manager of CityCenterDC.

Stay Fly by Jamea Richmond-Edwards presented in CulturalDC’s Mobile Art Gallery, runs Friday, February 8—Saturday, April 13. Opening Reception: Friday, February 8, 6-8pm. Gallery Hours: Tuesdays through Saturdays from 11-7pm at CityCenterDC. Admission is free.

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ABOUT JAMEA RICHMOND-EDWARDS

Jamea Richmond-Edwards was born and raised in Detroit, MI. She graduated with a Bachelor of Art degree from Jackson State University in 2004, where she studied painting and drawing. Jamea went on to earn an MFA from Howard University in 2012. Throughout 2019, her work will be on view in the Rubell Museum in Miami. Jamea has exhibited her artwork nationally and internationally including the Delaware Art Museum, California African American Museum, Charles Wright Museum in Detroit MI and her current representation Kravets Wehby Gallery. Her work has been highlighted in Art News, Departures and NY Mag’s The Cut. She resides in MD with her husband and three sons.

ABOUT CITYCENTERDC

CITYCENTERDC (www.citycenterdc.com) is a unique, pedestrian-friendly, 10-acre mixed-use development, located in the heart of downtown Washington, D.C. Developed by Hines and Qatari Diar, the project is home to more than 191,000 square feet of retail space, 520,000 square feet of prime office space, 458 rental apartment units and 216 condominium units, a 1,550 space parking garage, a public park, a central plaza and pedestrian-oriented streets and alleyways. Construction of the Conrad Washington, D.C., a 370-room luxury hotel with 30,000 square feet of additional retail space, commenced in 2016 and is expected to open in 2019.

ABOUT CULTURALDC, “WE MAKE SPACE FOR ART”

CulturalDC (www.culturaldc.org) celebrates its 20th year of creating affordable, sustainable artist spaces in the Washington, DC, area. Since 1998, CulturalDC has brokered more than 300,000 square feet of artist space, including: the Arts Walk at Monroe Street Market, Atlas Performing Arts Center, GALA Hispanic Theatre, Source Theatre and Woolly Mammoth Theatre. In addition to providing space, we facilitate opportunities for and present innovative visual, performing and multidisciplinary artists. CulturalDC’s Mobile Art Gallery is DC’s first moveable artspace and a commitment to use art as a catalyst to build community. Each year, CulturalDC serves more than 1,000 artists and welcomes 40,000 audience members and participants who patron local businesses and contribute an estimated $1 million to the local economy.

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For local press inquiries:
Caitlin Caplinger

External Engagement Associate

caitlin@culturaldc.org