On Saturday, Philly Art Collective Gallery on Third and New streets hosted the “All That Jazz Art Festival,” an exhibit featuring artwork from local Philadelphia artists and performances by jazz musicians.
Along the walls of the gallery, local artists, like Chris Lewis, displayed paintings and illustrations of famous jazz artists from the past, including singer Billie Holiday and trumpeter Louis Armstrong.
Liyanni Smith, a freshman political science major who has worked at the gallery since September 2018, said it was important to have spaces for marginalized people to share their art.
“We’re not provided the same platforms as more privileged people are. We have to make our own platforms,” Smith said. “This space is Black-owned, and there’s a sense of community with that.”
Fahir Kendall, 63, from Syracuse, New York, played bass guitar along with other musicians at the event. Kendall has been playing bass for about 50 years.
“In an art gallery, we can come in and we can do art,” Kendall said. “We can express ourselves and we can be creative.”
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