This week marked a full month since the launch of The Reading Room, a Black art reference library I created to share my collection of books on Black culture and creativity. Here’s a snapshot of the library’s first month (by the numbers):
29,600+ views on the launch reel
1,060 followers on Instagram
867 visitors to the website
162 visitors to the pop-up weekend and film screening
43 new newsletter subscribers
32 new books in the collection (by purchase and gift)
Because I couldn’t launch with a physical space, I wanted to build a strong online presence through the library’s website. I scanned every book in my collection to get the highest-quality cover images and (with the help of a very talented web developer) designed a gallery/list feature that would make the site’s aesthetic display more functional. The website sorts the books by category and decade. There’s also a resource page that features a calendar, directory and more related content. Website building is iterative and there’s still much to be done to enhance the user experience, but I’m happy the site has been a useful reference point for visitors thus far.
(If you have additional feedback on the website, please send me a note!)
Nearly three weeks after the site’s launch, I hosted a pop-up experience for The Reading Room at Sanman Studios in Houston. I wanted to experiment with how the library’s future space would look, feel and function. I selected 120 texts to spotlight and commissioned custom bookcases that mimic the website’s gallery display. All weekend, visitors came in to sit, read, chat and get inspired.
The pop-up closed with a screening of Black Art: In the Absence of Light (Dir. Sam Pollard, 2021), an HBO documentary that introduces world-renowned African-American artists, exhibitions and museums to a wider public. It’s an inspiring look into the history and legacy of Black visual art production in America. After the screening, I sat with art maven and gallerist Janice Bond to discuss why autonomous Black spaces in the South are SO crucial.
I was filled to the brim by all the conversations I had with natives, transplants and visitors to the city. I knew there was a massive gap in knowledge about Black artists, but hearing firsthand how little people knew made the necessity of my mission so much clearer. It urged the importance of having a space where these interactions can happen consistently.
To wrap up the month, I was announced as the 2023 Lead Research Fellow for Rebirth in Action: Telling the Story of Freedom—a multiyear partnership between the Contemporary Art Museum Houston and the Houston Freedmen’s Town Conservancy.
Starting in May through December, The Reading Room will located in Freedmen’s Town, a neighborhood established in 1865 by over 1,000 formerly enslaved people that is now recognized as Houston’s first Heritage District. In addition to running an IRL space for the library and conducting programs, I’ll be generating research that connects artists and the general public to the legacies Freedmen’s Town.
I couldn’t have imagined such wonderful responses from folks worldwide and the greatest part about it all, this is just beginning.
Love,
Amarie <3