Local initiative pairs queer artists with Black and Brown owned businesses

November 17, 2021 1:00 pm

Love-and-Grit-1 — A selection of art from the Love + Grit Storefronts Project.

In order to support Black- and Brown-owned businesses that were adversely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, Visit Philadelphia has launched the Love + Grit Storefronts Project, which pairs 12 QBIPOC artists with 24 local businesses across Philadelphia to help beautify empty storefronts. Each artist created two original works based on the pair of businesses they were assigned, with the artworks installed in various neighborhoods around the city. In addition to encouraging Philadelphians to frequent Black- and Brown-owned businesses, the project also serves to supplement the City of Philadelphia’s commitment to cultivating and growing small, diverse businesses. This year is the second year of Philadelphia’s Shop Black Business Friday initiative, which takes place each Friday in December.

“We’re ecstatic that the Love + Grit Storefronts Project is beautifying the city, building civic pride, shining a light on local QBIPOC artists and supporting the Black- and Brown-owned businesses that are so vital to our neighborhoods,” Rachel Ferguson, chief innovation & global diversity officer of Visit Philadelphia, said in a press release. “The love and grit, creativity and resilience of Philadelphia’s artists and entrepreneurs are the soul of this city, and the campaign demonstrates what Philly does best: Turn loss into inspiration and empty spaces into opportunity.”

Curated by Conrad Benner (who runs the Streets Dept. photo blog) and curator Ginger Rudolph, the installation features works by 12 QBIPOC artists: Illkya Acosta, Fabiola Lara, Manny Hernandez, Tiff Urquhart, Kathy Chung, Jonai Gibson-Selix, Mz Icar, Tash Billington, Cindy Lozito, Derick Jones, Lauren Lopez, and Nazeer Sabree.

“I’m really excited about this project,” Sabree said at the launch event. “I worked on this project with Shannon [Maldonado, owner of Yowie], and we were trying to collaborate and find a middle, something we were inspired by, and the thing that came up was our mothers.” Sabree continued, saying “It was a personal project and also one for the community. The businesses here in Philadelphia contribute to the culture of Philadelphia in a big big way. So I wanted to depict that in the work, and also the influence of Black and Brown women.”

The artworks will be displayed in empty storefronts in Center City, Chinatown, Graduate Hospital, Northern Liberties, Northwest Philly, Old City, Roxborough, and South Street. A map of locations is available on the Visit Philly website.

The 24 highlighted businesses include restaurants and cafes, clothing and home goods stores, hair and beauty salons, museums, auto repair, and plant stores. The full list is below: