New Kensington Arts Center celebrating Black History Month with special display

By displaying works from his private collection, Hollin “Tommy” West is hoping to inspire other Black artists to show their work.

West, a New Kensington resident, is a painter, photographer and president of the New Kensington Arts Center on Fifth Avenue. The display, “BAM,” is meant to celebrate Black History Month and Black Art Month.

“My whole idea is to bring out the artists in the community and get them to participate in the arts center,” West said. “We want to create a place where artists can come, show their work and do their work.”

Pieces from his collection, including photos, drawings and paintings by Black artists, are on display in the lobby of the arts center, at 950 Fifth Ave., and in its Fifth Avenue Gallery. It will be open from noon to 5 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays for the entire month of February.

Admission is free.

Bill Hall of Lower Burrell, a former arts center president and treasurer, has similar hopes for the display. There is room in the Fifth Avenue Gallery for works from multiple artists to be shown at the same time.

“We’re not seeing enough Black artists,” he said. “We’re hoping this will attract Black artists who will want to show their work. They don’t know what they have until they show it to someone else.”

Ernesto Camacho Jr., owner of The Manos Gallery in Tarentum, also has found it difficult to find Black artists to highlight in his gallery. Further complicating it is that, outside Pittsburgh, there are not as many places for artists to show their work.

“I’ve met a few, and I’ve been very fortunate to show their work here,” he said. “It’s just a matter of someone encouraging them to go and take that next step.”

Camacho said two Black artists will be part of an exhibit at his gallery in March.

“I like to have a nice variety of ethnicity and backgrounds. I’ve reached out to a couple organizations Downtown (in Pittsburgh) to let them know what we’re about and what we have to offer here for artists so they can participate,” he said. “The city has plenty of places for artists to go to. I meet people every day who walk in here and didn’t know we are here.”

A Tarentum native, West grew up with a love of art, from jazz to graphic design. He started his own sign painting business and enlisted in the Navy after high school, serving as a photographer on the aircraft carrier USS Forrestal from 1963 to 1967.

He moved to New York City, where he did darkroom work and photo retouching and worked for Coca-Cola Bottling as a technical artist. He majored in English composition and African American studies at New York City Community College.

The display includes photos West took while he was in college of Jesse Jackson and Coretta Scott King speaking at the Welfare Mothers March on Washington in 1975. A photographer for the college newspaper and yearbook, he went to the march with busloads of other students.

“It was just a bunch of college students gathering together and just demonstrating with the Welfare Mothers,” he said. “I was right in the midst of everything that was happening.”

In addition to West’s own work, pieces from at least 10 other artists are in the display. West said it represents about one-third of his personal collection.

The works on display are for sale.

“I’m up in age, and I’m trying to downsize,” said West, 76.

Heavily represented in the display are works by Glen Franklin, an artist from San Antonio who signs his pieces “Frank.” West came to know Franklin after becoming editor in 1987 of SNAP, a weekly newspaper serving the Black community in San Antonio. Franklin was a contributing artist.

An oil painting by Franklin, titled “Sister Love,” is featured on the flyer for the event. It shows two Black girls walking away down a dirt road in the South.

West said he appreciates the realism and color in Franklin’s work.

“He’s got a pretty fantastic imagination,” West said.

West met his wife, Carina, a native of Romania, at Washington Square Park in New York. They’ve been married since 1980. They moved to New Kensington from Houston in 2011 after he retired from working as a longshoreman.

“This is home. This is where I was born and raised,” he said. “I had been away from family for so many years. I had new family members I didn’t know. That’s what brought us back.”

Hall said he is excited West chose to display his collection and hopes seeing it will inspire local talent.

He encourages artists to show their work and put a value on it.

He also encourages artists interested in displaying art to drop in at the center or email them at info@nkartscenter.org. They only ask that artists try to find a sponsor for printed programs.

“We know there are artists with work leaning against a wall 10 to 12 deep,” Hall said. “I hate to think anybody’s being held back and not developing their full capacity.”