Panel Starts: 7 PM (Theater Doors Open: 6:30)
Reception in Showroom Bar: 8 - 9:30

Connect + Collect is a new initiative brought to you by BmoreArt's Cara Ober and Jeffrey Kent, an artist and curator based in Baltimore, designed to create awareness and momentum among new and experienced collectors, and to promote a culture of collecting in Baltimore.

Our second panel is with DC-based collector Darryl Atwell, founder of Kinetic:Conversations in Contemporary Art at American University and NY-based Independent Curator Dexter Wimberly, Founder and CEO of the upcoming Art World Conference to be hosted in NY in April 2019. Topics to be discussed include differences between collecting art directly from artists or purchasing through galleries, how to form collecting communities and groups, and best practices for building ethical, respectful, productive relationships between artists and patrons.

We welcome artists to this conversation who want to strengthen relationships with collectors, as well as those who want to build private and public collections, including curators, collectors, gallerists, and art professionals.

Our panel will be followed by a reception in The Showroom and each ticket includes an adult beverage at the bar.

Panelist Bios:

Darryl Atwell lives in Washington, D.C and has been an arts patron for the past ten years. He developed a love for art while residing in Cleveland and began attending events at the Cleveland Museum of Art as a social outlet. Since that time he has focused on contemporary works from the diaspora. He has created Kinetic:Conversations in contemporary art at American University and ongoing programming at the National Gallery of Art to help promote diasporic artists and themes in the DC area. His collection was most recently shown at the Harvey Gantt Center entitled Simple Passion Complex Vision. He hopes his passion will inspire other collectors, and increase the visibility of artists of color.

Dexter Wimberly is an entrepreneur and independent curator who has organized exhibitions and developed programs with galleries and institutions throughout the world including The Third Line (Dubai); Koki Arts (Tokyo); Contemporary Art Museum, Raleigh, NC; and the Museum of Arts and Design (NYC). 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 served on the board of the New York-based arts nonprofit, The Laundromat Project, and actively supports other arts organizations. Prior to developing his curatorial practice, Wimberly was the founder and CEO of the pioneering marketing agency, August Bishop. He has also served as Director of Communications for The Museum for African Art, NY; Director of Strategic Planning at Independent Curators International, NY; and Executive Director of Aljira, a Center for Contemporary Art in Newark, NJ. In 2018, Wimberly founded ART WORLD CONFERENCE, a professional development company for visual artists and arts professionals, and serves as its CEO.