DES MOINES REGISTER / Urban City Magazine to commemorate Black History Month with an art exhibit and flea market
Sierra A. Porter, Des Moines Register
To celebrate Black History Month, Urban City Magazine is hosting a free Black art exhibit at Des Moines' Mainframe Studios from 6-10 p.m. Saturday.
Admission is free. Proceeds from the event at 900 Keosauqua Way will go directly to the artists, said Thressy Jones, the magazine's editor and business administrator.
Jones said masks will be required and the exhibit will be set up to ensure safe social distance.
The exhibit will feature portraits, sculptures, and table art from seven local artists. In addition, there will be vendors with clothing, homemade woodwork and other crafts.
Urban City Magazine also will sponsor a flea market from noon-5:30 p.m. Sunday by the children's playground at Merle Hay Mall, with 20 local vendors and small businesses.
"Please find a Black-owned business you can support daily, weekly, or monthly and build from this," said magazine founder Howell Dixon. "The flea gives consumers options, and each business is unique in their own way."
Jones said Urban City Magazine is hoping to make the Black art exhibit an annual event. There will be another full-week exhibit to mark Juneteenth on June 19, the holiday commemorating the emancipation of slaves in the United States.
"I'm hoping people enjoy the exhibit and feel what Des Moines has to offer. You don't have to go to a big city to get good art," said Jones. "For me, it's nice to shop locally. It's a lot of good vendors out there, a lot of good artists out there to put money back into small businesses in our community."
