The Sold Firm Art Gallery’s exhibition titled “Coming of Ages” opens Friday February 7 and displays art from four artists of the Baby Boomer generation. Gallery owner Nataki Oliver is proud to bring these artists’ works into focus. Surprisingly, though, she will not curate this showing. Instead, this will be the debut exhibition of Nia Rae, a junior at Cab Calloway School of the Arts, Delaware’s youngest curator.
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Rae is a major in visual arts and theater at Cab Calloway, and her passion for art goes beyond her own artwork. Through the National Arts Honor Society club, she has been involved in the Wilmington Art Program, which is how she crossed paths with Oliver. This connection gave Rae the opportunity to volunteer, and later to intern, at Sold Firm, and now she’s the gallery’s first guest curator.
“I hope this exhibit will help connect the younger and older generations of artists,” she says.
The Sold Firm has always been about creating opportunities and connections. Before opening her gallery, Oliver managed artists in Wilmington and was shocked by how difficult breaking into the larger institutions was.
“I started writing proposals and talking to them. The responses I was getting, they weren’t nice. So, I decided, ‘I’m a problem solver, I’ll try to solve this. I’ll open my own gallery,’” Oliver explains. Sold Firm was an online presence until the Artist Ave Station offered the opportunity to take over their location, which she jumped on.
“The Sold Firm amplifies visual artists and is inclusive of who those artists are,” she says. “Some of the institutions that were hard for these artists to get into have since opened their doors and even collaborated with me. It opened eyes that even small galleries can have a big impact.”
In the “Coming of Ages” exhibition, this small gallery aims to highlight the artwork of the Baby Boomer generation rarely seen in larger venues. As Rae’s first shot at curating, there was some stress about doing a good job. “I was teetering on logic but also gut feelings,” she says. “I had to trust myself a lot and let it go.”
One of the biggest surprises for her was learning that, “many of these artists were not expecting to want to be seen or chosen. I thought they’d feel more comfortable with the idea. It falls back in line with how galleries don’t look for older artists.”
Oliver had surprises, too. She says, “I wasn’t surprised how Nia stepped up, but by how I could step back some. I got to be an assistant and let my curator anxiety slow down a little. It doesn’t feel bad!”
Both Oliver and Rae hope this exhibition will help bridge the gap between younger and older artists and get them talking.
“The best way to start that conversation is to talk about the older artists of today,” Rae says. “They have so much to tell and so much to share, and I think it’s important to hear from them.”
Join the conversation at “Coming of Ages,” opening Friday February 7 and running through May 2. This exhibition will be one of many available on Wilmington’s Art Loop in 2025.
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