Creative Summit / NBA All Star Weekend festivities
Black Art In America (BAIA) was in the house in Indianapolis for the recent NBA All Star Weekend festivities! Founder & CEO Najee Dorsey and Curator & BAIA Foundation Director Faron Manuel both presented during BUTTER Art Fair’s Creative Summit. BUTTER is a three-day event organized by GANGGANG, a cultural development and creative advocacy firm advocating for artistic equity. The event showcased Black visual artists and their artwork from Indiana and across the nation.
Dorsey—who, along with running BAIA, is a nationally renowned artist, collector, and arts advocate—was featured in a well-attended forum held on NBA All-Star gameday entitled, “The Art Game: a conversation with Black Art In America Founder / CEO, Najee Dorsey.” That same day, mere hours before tipoff, Manuel moderated “Emerge: Navigating the Contemporary w/ Faron Manuel,” a well-received panel of Indianapolis-based artists discussing the state of Black contemporary art in 2024.
As featured panelists for Butter Art Fair’s Creative Summit, Dorsey and Manuel presented alongside creatives from the worlds of visual art, film, and music. The summit hosted a musical performance by legendary producer Sonny Digital.
During the exciting weekend, Team BAIA took time to have lunch with nationally-acclaimed landscape painter, Mason Archie, and Newfields Museum Board Member, Alan Mills. The team also participated in Kenny "The Jet" Smith’s charity poker tournament to support Jet Academy education programs.
