Open Air: An Artist Conversation with Dare Coulter + KOLPEACE

Coulter is an award-winning painter, muralist and sculptor. KOLPEACE is an artist.educator.activist. Join them in conversation with curator Dexter Wimberly for the next edition of Open Air. Before the talk, see and enjoy their work this weekend in the Gantt's first biennial, Visual Vanguard: An Exhibition of Black Carolina Artists.

How To Participate

This free virtual program will be streamed on the Gantt Center's official YouTube channel.

About Open Air

Open Air is a monthly series of virtual studio visits and intimate conversations with Black artists across the United States. Historically, African-American artists have been compelled to make their own way within the art world, challenging traditional ideas of cultural representation and creating their own systems of merit, criticality and reward outside of the mainstream. Join us as we get a behind-the-scenes look at exciting new art as it's being created, while connecting the makers' works to some of the most pressing issues of our times.

Dare Coulter's mission is to create positive and magical imagery of Black people and families and to create works that cut directly to the core of the human experience. In 2019, she was commissioned by the National Trust for Historic Preservation to paint a portrait of singer Nina Simone to help raise funds to restore the singer's childhood home. Coulter's image became the face of the fundraising campaign supported by John Legend, Yusuf/Cat Stevens, Talib Kweli, Mahershala Ali and Issa Rae. She has illustrated five children's books to-date, with another two in development, and Coulter is currently the first-ever artist-in-residence for the city of Raleigh, North Carolina. She graduated from North Carolina State University with a Bachelor's in Art + Design, but considers herself a graduate of Meredith College's art program, as well.

Christopher Johnson aka KOLPEACE has approached his many community based projects and events with intention – to bring neighbors, who otherwise would have remained strangers, together through conversation during his riveting, interactive live painting sessions and newly found passion for moral storytelling. Johnson earned his Bachelors in Graphic Design from Charleston Southern University and is currently pursuing his MFA in Community Arts at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA). He has worked with high profile artists including Big Krit, Quest Love, Cardi B, Keke Palmer and Rapsody and is currently Artist-in-Residence at the Greenmount West Community Center in Baltimore.

Dexter Wimberly is an independent curator and entrepreneur who has organized exhibitions and developed programs with galleries and institutions throughout the world including The Third Line in Dubai; Contemporary Art Museum CAM Raleigh in North Carolina; The Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD) in San Francisco; Koki Arts in Tokyo; and the Museum of Arts and Design in New York City. His exhibitions have been reviewed and featured in publications including The New York Times, Artforum, and Hyperallergic; and have received support from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. Wimberly has also served as Director of Strategic Planning at Independent Curators International in New York City.

Prior to his curatorial career, Wimberly was the managing partner and CEO of the advertising agency, August Bishop, representing a diverse array of clients, including Adidas, The Coca-Cola Company and, HBO. Wimberly is a Senior Critic at New York Academy of Art. He is also the founder of ART WORLD CONFERENCE, a business and financial literacy conference for visual artists. He and ART WORLD CONFERENCE co-organizer, Heather Bhandari were recently listed in the Observer's "Arts Power 50: Changemakers Shaping the Art World in 2019.”