Blytheville native changes the world with art

By Marcus McClain

NEA Town Courier

Black Art in America, one of the leading entities in support of the creation, documentation and promotion of African-American art. And while its home is in Atlanta, Georgia, its roots are firmly planted in Blytheville, Arkansas.

Interstate 240 billboard gets national attention.

Najee Dorsey, a Blytheville native, built BAIA with the help of his wife and fellow artist Seteria. Dorsey reminisced on the beginning of his art interest dating back to the age of 5. Fostering his young mind, he recalled his mother buying his drawings. Although using those funds to buy candy was an early motive, his journey with art grew beyond what anyone could imagine.

He continued to tinker with artwork throughout his school years before graduation from Blytheville High in 1991. He earned a partial scholarship from the Memphis Academy of Art, but learned that the structure of school was not his forte. Although school was not the ideal route, the passion for art remained. He moved to Southern Illinois and found himself connecting with undergrad students in the area. By 1993, Dorsey moved back to Blytheville and immediately hosted an art show at the Ritz Civic Center.

“While that was my first exhibit after school and moving back to Blytheville, I didn’t really start to take it serious until around ’96. I always had the talent, but I didn’t really see the opportunity until then,” Dorsey said “Around ‘98 or ‘99, there was a beauty shop downtown called Edna’s Beauty Salon. She had a little area not being used that was probably about 200 square feet. We ended up renting that space to showcase art, so that was our first gallery in Blytheville.”

In 1999, he recalled opening the second entitled, Dorsey Galley, Najee’s Cappuccino and Jazz located on Main Street as well. Along with the gallery, this was home to a coffee house, a used bookstore and music nights, bringing a flare to Downtown Blytheville.

“We had a huge exhibition space and some beautiful shows there. We had artists primarily local and regional, we had book signings. jazz and blues night etc,” Dorsey said. “We were patrons in that area for art and culture. That space was huge. 7500 square feet is big for any gallery anywhere in the country, but especially for Blytheville.”

Dorsey Galley, Najee’s Cappuccino and Jazz remained on main street for around a year and a half before closing its doors. And while Dorsey was committed to the art and found some success, it had yet to become a full-time way of life. In the midst of this time, Dorsey operated an equipment rental company on the west side of town.

He recounted a conversation with his cousin while working there. And over time, this conversation would turn into a springboard for Dorsey’s art career. “He just told me, ‘cuz, your longest money is going to come from your art.’ And it just kind of alway stuck in my mind.”

By 2005, Dorsey and his wife made the move to Atlanta to pursue art full time. The first five years were spent building a network and establishing himself within art communities across the country. And by 2010, Black Art in America was born.

“I was in Chicago with collectors and artists and we were talking about the challenges for black artists. [At that point], there was no central place for us all to connect. That’s when I had the idea to start an online publication. Thankfully, when I did some research the name, Black Art in America, was available, and that became the start of myself as a publisher. That part really has been transformative. We’ve been ahead of the curve in so many respects,” Dorsey said. “We were the first to start and maintain an online presence for African-American art that’s constantly growing. We’ve built a huge following. We have over 150,000 followers on Instagram, another 130,000 on Facebook. But we’ve actually produced events and experiences for like 11 years. I’ve produced shows in New York, Miami, Houston, Philadelphia and multiple markets across the country.”

Just like that, a small interest first fostered by a mother, and supported by friends and family in Mississippi County, grew into one of the most notable institutions of art in the United States. And through that support came the consistency, mental fortitude and desire to act on the dream.

“I run across people all the time who say I had an idea to do something like Black Art in America. But they didn’t possess those traits. Or sometimes you just don’t know any better. But as long as you’re consistent, adding value and putting one foot in front of the other, opportunities will always present themselves,” Dorsey said. “It’s just a matter of having a vision, having a dream and understanding that you have to add value in order to get value. And whatever that is, it has to be in service to others in some capacity. The more you’re able to service people, and do it at a high level, the more success you're going to have no matter what it is.”

By prioritizing service to others, Dorsey found the true highlights of his journey with art. While building the brand and reaching certain levels of success are vital, art’s impact on people carries the larger load. And in 2021, Dorsey was able to show this in Memphis, Tennessee.

“The Valero refinery was looking to run a pipeline through the Boxtown neighborhood, a black neighborhood. The citizens rose up [against it] and I wanted to stand with them in solidarity and use my art to bring awareness to what they were dealing with. So I ended up taking a 40 foot billboard on I-240 right across from the Valero refinery. It got picked up by Forbes Magazine, MLK 50, the Memphis paper, etc. And in a matter of three weeks of the billboard going up and helping bring attention to an already existing problem, Valero disbanded putting the pipeline in their community. It’s one of the few wins that regular folks in the community have had against major corporations in regards to environmental racism and injustice.”

This instance highlights the importance of representation in art. Situations such as these bring Dorsey back to why Black Art in America was created, and why it must continue for future artists.

Further detailing these needs, Dorsey reminisced on changes in the art industry in just the last ten years alone.

“The largest art fair that takes place in America is called Art Basel. It takes place in Miami every year in December where there’s over half a billion dollars of art being sold. Back in the early 2000s, there weren’t many black people that were even aware of it. You found very few black artists shown at these fairs. But in 2012, myself and the company led a campaign called ‘Do You Basel?’ in an effort to make more black artists aware of what was taking place in the industry, and to go down there and see how they could participate,” Dorsey said.

“Since that campaign, even though it was just one element of what’s taken place over the last decade, you can go to art basel and you’ll think it’s a black family reunion. It’s so many artists shown there that explore, network and build. We were at the forefront of getting more black people even aware of what was taking place. We’ve been very forward thinking and have made some significant moves that ignited a lot of change in this field.”

Reflecting on the journey, Dorsey stated that his journey and life is not an anomaly. But instead, it’s something that can be obtained by the masses.

“My story is one that if you look at the principles and apply those to your individual lives [anything is possible]. Anybody can make it. At the age of 12, I chopped cotton in Mississippi County. I’m an art school dropout. I actually filed bankruptcy. All those things didn’t stop me from building what many can argue is the largest institution built about visual culture in the last 20 or 30 years,” Dorsey said.

“You have to let the passion keep you consistently looking for excellence in what you're doing. It’s going to boil down to how well you execute your craft. Spend more time developing your craft than necessarily building your brand.”