Back to the Easel

It’s time for Barbara Wesson to do her own thing.

An unsuspecting catalyst in the recent popularity of African American art, Wesson, 54, announced that this year’s “Artists’ Salute to Black History Month” exhibit--which opens today at Plaza Pasadena--will represent her last stint as a promoter.

After 15 years of stress over her wildly popular annual exhibit, the visual artist said she is returning to her easel and her original passion--painting.

“I have to wake up at 2 a.m. because the phone starts with a vengeance at 8,” she said of her four-day show. “I stop painting after August. It takes me almost a year to put on this exhibit. Fifteen years is long enough. I’m not going to miss it.”

But longtime friend and fellow artist Synthia Saint James, 47, dismissed Wesson’s tough talk, saying, “She kept hating to give up what she started. It was her baby.”

Now that the baby is 15 years old, Wesson realized “he should be able to get to school on his own,” Saint James said, laughing. “I just want her to get back to painting.”

Now may be the perfect time to do so. The public’s appreciation for African American art has grown up with--and some artists said because of--Wesson’s baby. Currently among the most sought-after genres, African and African American-themed artwork was once virtually unwelcome in galleries.

“My fellow artists had no place to exhibit, no venues to display their work,” said Wesson, who began her career 30 years ago in an otherwise all-white exhibit tour that traveled to mostly white suburbs.

In the early ‘80s, the fiery, confident creator pulled together more than 300 minority artists to form the Bunker Hill Art League, a Los Angeles group that met to discuss the business side of art.

From there, the salute naturally developed.

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It began at the Fox Hills Mall in Culver City, attracting droves of visitors to the shopping center. At its peak in 1995, the artists’ salute drew 400,000 visitors to its new location in the fledging Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza, officials said. Both malls have since emulated the show Wesson introduced and now hold their own exhibits during Black History Month--a legacy that is bittersweet, Wesson said.

“It was not an easy parting,” she said of leaving her two previous locations. Wesson said she felt mall officials were elbowing in on her exhibition. But the move drew criticism from many African Americans.

“Some people said I abandoned the Crenshaw area to move to a ‘white area,’ ” she said. “They don’t know it hurt me to my heart to have to leave that community.”

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Through the gossip and controversy, Wesson’s true supporters never wavered. Former football player and revered artist Ernie Barnes has “nothing but applause” for the pioneer exhibitor.

“I mean what can you say? The girl has worked her butt off to give exposure to artists,” he said. “Even to the point of ignoring her own creativity.”

Not anymore.

Wesson is leaving the running of her show to her planning committee, and she’s getting back to painting. Famous for her soft, gentle depictions of African American women, the artist said she plans instead to concentrate on exploring the rhythms of colors in nature--and selling her work at galleries and exhibits.

“I want to go to the marketplace and watch promoters struggle,” Wesson said with a mischievous smile. “I’m going to give them hell too.”