By Ayana Garcia
On February 22, 2024, in the Lincoln Heights neighborhood in Los Angeles, a vibrant crowd gathered in a warmly lit storefront to listen to music, sip specialty drinks, and view art. On display was the exhibition The Love We Give: An Ode to Black and Brown Women and How We Love, a collection of photography archives and other visuals by Black and brown women artists.
Artist Maia Faith Hadaway, a painter, displayed several of her wood cut out paintings at the opening. One of them depicted an elder applying lip gloss on a young girl. Hadaway said this piece was the second part of a series called “Lemme Do It,” which shows individuals from her life demonstrating love through acts of service. The painting was inspired by a photograph of her friend applying lip gloss on her younger sister.
Hadaway said the intimate setting at the gallery made the art show different than any one she’d participated in. People showed an interest in her and asked questions about her work.
“The vibe was so loving,” she said. “It was so for the culture. Everyone was so warm and welcoming.”
And the occasion was just as meaningful as the diverse collection on display. It was the opening of Perri & Ren, a Black and Mexican women-owned and operated gallery—one of the few spaces dedicated to showcasing local Black and brown women artists, and artists of color whose work has often been excluded from galleries and museums.
According to a 2019 Pubmed study titled, “Diversity of artists in major U.S. museums,” 85% of artists within museum collections are white and 87% are men.
Perri Lawler, a Black and Mexican artist, curator, and youth teacher originally from South Central L.A., was raised around creativity—from her mother being an artist to Lawler attending Cal Poly Pomona where she got involved in a Black artist collective.
“I think that’s where I kind of fell in love with art events and curating art shows,” said Lawler. She curated for nonprofits in Los Angeles, including one show called “Art Against Racism” that sold $40,000 of artwork by Black artists.
Ren Hale is a Black and Mexican artist, youth teacher, and entrepreneur from Oregon. After moving to Los Angeles and buying property in Lincoln Heights, Hale wanted to find someone to curate events within the space.
“There’s not a lot of Black ownership in LA,” said Hale, “and I always wanted to hold my space for other Black and brown people, other women, other queer people–other underrepresented groups.”
According to census data, there are only 2% of Black-owned businesses in the Los Angeles area.
A mutual friend recommended Ren attend Lawler’s “Art Against Racism” show for the non-profit Black in Mayberry, knowing Lawler was the perfect person to curate an art space.
Hale and Lawler said when they met, their values aligned and they decided to open the gallery together. They chose a date in February to honor Black History Month.
They said they wanted to make sure the space celebrates the culture in the Lincoln Heights neighborhood, which has seen more development over the years.
“We don’t want this to feel like a superficial gallery space created by transplants,” said Hale, who, like Lawler, has a deep reverence for the predominantly hispanic community because of their Mexican roots and commitment to cultural preservation.
Marcella Lewis, a performing artist from Leimert Park, Los Angeles, attended the grand opening and said she felt inspired. Her positive experience led her to choreograph a dance that was performed at the gallery.
She said that by having ownership of the gallery and control over whose work is shown, Perri & Ren are giving local emerging artists of color opportunities they wouldn’t have without connections to esteemed institutions.
“You feel so proud of being an LA artist or a person of color within LA,” Lewis said.
C. Daniel Dawson, a multi-medium artist and professor at Columbia University, said that historically, people of color have been marginalized from creative spaces, especially when it comes to exposure and opportunities for financial gain.
He said that eurocentrism has dominated the field, oftentimes leaving Black and brown people—or people of color—without a fair outlet to showcase their work.
“The art world is so closed and so monetary. They pay attention if they want, and if they don’t, it has nothing to do with the quality of the art,” Dawson added.
Tiffany Barber, an African American Art professor at U.C.L.A. said that Perri & Ren is continuing a legacy of people of color forming their own avenues of inclusion and exposure.
She compared Perri & Ren to Suzanne Jackson, a Black female creative who opened a gallery in 1968 called Gallery 32 in Macarthur Park, Los Angeles, to give fellow artists of color a space to have their work shown.
“Artists were often responding to white artist establishment and exclusionary practices by galleries and museums that would not welcome them into their spaces to show their work,” said Barber.
Hale and Lawler have each faced their share of challenges in the art world—pushback in decision-making, mistrust, and a lack of financial support due to their identities. Through Perri & Ren, they aim to redefine the art gallery model by challenging traditional norms about how such spaces should be run and who should own them.
As owners of their own creative space, they are determined to reclaim their power and empower the artists and communities they represent.
“It’s important that we make sure that our creativity isn’t just used and capitalized off of, but more so felt and heard and reciprocated and loved,” Lawler said.
The two are committed to ensuring that their space goes beyond art—that it serves as a hub for community, service, and activism. For their one-year anniversary art show in February 2025, they decided to donate a portion of the proceeds from sales to families of color affected by the recent Los Angeles fires.
Ayana Garcia is an M.S. candidate at Columbia Journalism School. She is a Los Angeles native dedicated to amplifying the voices and stories of her hometown.
