Butter, the Black-led, Artist-First Fine Art Fair, expands its national footprint with a summer exhibit at View Park’s  Context Projects, featuring works from April Bey, Doug Hickman Jr.,  FITZ, and Samuel Levi Jones, opening Saturday, July 26. 

Founded in 2021, Butter showcases the work of established, independent, and emerging Black artists from Indiana and across the globe, serving as a new model for economic justice in the arts. 

The no-commission fair works to maximize artist earnings by selling or loaning 100% of the exhibition and giving 100% of the proceeds from art sales to the artists. Artists pay no fee to participate.

Since launching, the exhibit has welcomed nearly 50,000 people and sold almost $1 million in artworks. The Midwest art fair has become a career catalyst and cultural destination for artists across the African diaspora, drawing collectors, curators, and communities who want to experience and protect Black-made fine art.

Now in its fifth year,  the show is presented by Khalil Kinsey’s Context Projects and GANGGANG,  a cultural development firm centering beauty, equity, and culture in cities. Based in Indianapolis, the nonprofit advocates for artists by using creativity to address real-world problems. Founded by creative entrepreneurs Mali and Alan Bacon in 2020, the mission at GANGGANG has been the same: produce, promote, and preserve the culture.

In collaboration with Inglewood’s Context Projects, the GANGGANG founders, along with Kinsey, hope to create a rich cultural exchange between regions and reinforce LA’s role as a champion of Black creativity.

Additional LA  partners introducing Butter to the LA market include Jac Forbes of Jac Forbes Contemporary, Josiah David Jones of Valence Projects, and Nakeyta Moore of Art Loud LA.

Artist

Untitled work by Samuel Levi Jones (Brica Wilcox)