By Gina Beavers<\/b><\/pre>\n<\/p>\n
Rush Arts co-founder Danny Simmons (photo: Gene Smirnov, Philadelphia Style Magazine)<\/p><\/div>\n
Rush Arts<\/span><\/span><\/a> is celebrating a triumphant Silver Anniversary this year; 25 years of service to artists and communities throughout New York and Philadelphia. Grand plans were no doubt made to mark this milestone; Rush is known for its amazing and successful fundraisers. The Simmons family, after all, knows a few heavy hitters.<\/span><\/p>\n
The pandemic, however, had other plans. Shuttered businesses, quarantining, economic free fall. It was swift and disastrous for many and much of our collective cheer has been twice tested, our grand plans chastened.<\/span><\/p>\n
But COVID-19 can neither diminish the esteem in which Rush Arts is held, nor dim the direct impact it has had on tens of thousands of people. As co-founder Danny Simmons<\/a> modestly mused in an interview with <\/span>The<\/span>Trove<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/span>, <\/span><\/i>\u201c[Rush Arts] that\u2019s my life\u2019s work, I suppose RPAF has affected thousands of kids and hundreds of artists.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n
Rush Arts<\/p><\/div>\n
Simmons and his brothers, Russell and Joseph \u201cRev. Run\u201d Simmons, co-founded Rush Arts in New York in 1995. The foundation\u2019s mission is lofty: \u201cTo build a community-driven art space that provides opportunities to both local artists and curators, focused on community revitalization and relevance to the people of the surrounding neighborhoods, and arts-based educational opportunities for local youth who can benefit from them the most.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n
The success of their endeavor is indisputable. Tens of thousands of children have benefited from the foundation\u2019s infusion of the arts into classrooms throughout New York. It was the success of this model that led Danny Simmons to broaden his base to Philadelphia\u2014North Philly to be exact \u2013 an economically challenged area where at-risk kids would greatly benefit from Rush\u2019s arts-based educational model.<\/span><\/p>\n
Rush Arts Philadelphia<\/span><\/a><\/span> opened its doors in 2016 and the once abandoned building on the corner of Old York Road in the Logan neighborhood of North Philly, was beautifully refurbished by Simmons and the gallery was soon bustling with activity — until the advent of COVID19. The impact was swift and devastating, but like every other cultural institution around the world, Rush Arts had to adapt and modify programming in order to survive.<\/span><\/p>\n
Noah Smalls (photo: Jessica Smolinski)<\/p><\/div>\n
Enter <\/span>Noah Smalls<\/span><\/a><\/span>. Smalls was appointed the Philadelphia gallery acting director in 2018. He and Simmons had collaborated on art shows while Smalls worked as a curator and museum exhibition consultant. Smalls earned his MFA from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia.<\/span><\/p>\n
Since March of 2020, Smalls has successfully upheld the foundation\u2019s mission and has worked diligently to \u201cengage our core audience of child arts students, emerging artists, and art patrons by moving our existing programs to a virtual format.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n
At the helm of the gallery, Smalls clearly recognizes the imperative of keeping Rush Arts Philadelphia alive.<\/span><\/p>\n
\u201cRush is deep in the streets\u2014<\/span>deep<\/span><\/i> in the hood,\u201d he impresses. \u201cWe serve the community of <\/span>Logan, North Philadelphia<\/span><\/a><\/span> at Rush. And it is historically economically depressed and there are a lot of social issues present, but this community is no more or less deserving of having the fine art experience. So, we need to meet them where they are.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
For Smalls, it\u2019s all about equity.<\/span><\/p>\n
Noah Smalls is hard to pin down. His text confirming our meeting proves the point:<\/span><\/p>\n
The Upper Darby Art Gallery (photo: Noah Smalls)<\/p><\/div>\n
\u201cI’ll be deep into my day of gallery and collections work but I guess that’s not the worst thing\u2026.I’m in Philly on the move all day. I’m at Rush now then to Danny’s for an install, then to <\/span>Upper Darby Art Gallery<\/span><\/span><\/a> (his own gallery) before heading back to Massachusetts tonight for WCMA (<\/span>Williams College Museum of Ar<\/span><\/a><\/span>t<\/span>) tomorrow. Let’s check in at 3 and I could at least catch you up on my day.\u201d Shrug emoji. Laugh emoji.<\/span><\/p>\n
For many of us even the thought of this fevered hustle might be too much to bear, but Smalls realizes that although \u201cfun,\u201d the day\u2019s pace was \u201crelatively impractical and definitely unsustainable.\u201d He jokes at one point that he\u2019s going to have to retire soon. He\u2019s only 42.<\/span><\/p>\n
When I catch up with him, his masked face appears opposite mine on our Zoom call.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
\u201cI just finished up at Danny\u2019s and I\u2019m heading to the Upper Darby Gallery,\u201d he says blithely. He\u2019s in a Lyft traveling through North Philly, his hometown; a place to which he\u2019s found his way back more than once.<\/span><\/p>\n
It is difficult to assess someone you\u2019ve never met when half their face is concealed, and it makes listening all the more important \u2013 not only to the words but also to the muffled inflections. But I could immediately sense Smalls\u2019 generous nature and authentic kindness, for in spite of the breakneck pace of his day, he could still laugh easily.<\/span><\/p>\n
I asked him to tell me about himself, and our ensuing conversation revealed someone quite extraordinary. If you were to ask, \u201cwhat is the essence of Noah Smalls?\u201d The reply would be: \u201cthe ability to love deeply, stand loyally, embrace freely, and share generously.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n
Let\u2019s talk about Noah Smalls.<\/span><\/p>\n
SmalIs was immersed in the world of art and privy to its inequities early in life.<\/span><\/p>\n
“Shoot for the moon” Robert Smalls, 1985 (photo: Noah Smalls)<\/p><\/div>\n
\u201cI\u2019m from North Philly originally….I was the [mixed race] son of a black oil painter [<\/span>Robert Smalls<\/span><\/span><\/a>, a product of the <\/span>South Street Renaissance<\/span><\/span><\/a>] in the early 80s, which means he had no outlet or exposure for his work. He had been turned away by the gallery he was a member of which was the <\/span>Painted Bride<\/span><\/span><\/a> on South Street\u2026He didn\u2019t have any outlet outside of them\u2026.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n
As a result, the Smalls family made their own opportunities to show and sell Robert\u2019s paintings, including \u201chi-jacking\u201d the <\/span>Philadelphia Museum of Art<\/span><\/span><\/a> walking tour.<\/span><\/p>\n
The family home in <\/span>Northern Liberties<\/span><\/span><\/a> was an historic site and part of the Philadelphia Museum of Art bi-weekly walking tour. The elder Smalls decided to create his own gallery in the living room, and as Museum patrons made the tour, they would see Robert Smalls\u2019 exhibit.<\/span><\/p>\n
Noah was put in charge of negotiating sales in the family kitchen. The logic was \u201cthey wouldn\u2019t cheat a 7 year old kid… I sold a lot of paintings for $14 or $15 back then,\u201d he jokes. \u201cBut it really was an immersion in being an independent curator in a way and a kind of collections manager.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n
He held onto those lessons and as a teenager at the Philadelphia Art Institute, he arranged for his father to have one of his first solo exhibitions. Afterwards, \u201cI went all around the city getting his work into wherever I could show it. Any gallery that would give me the time of day, we worked it.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
As a self-professed, teenaged runner of streets, Smalls was engaging in his own creative outlets. Unlike his father\u2019s refined pieces, the younger Smalls\u2019 aesthetic was being forged in the rough hewn furnaces of hip hop and graffiti.<\/span><\/p>\n
It was his Romanian mother who took him to break dancing clubs at 6 years old. And as <\/span>The Golden Age of Hip Hop<\/span><\/a><\/span> unfolded, Noah Smalls\u2019 identity and artistic vision were being carefully crafted by a potent combination of filial devotion and a love of Black culture.<\/span><\/p>\n
Hip Hop legends Jason Mizell, Darryl McDaniels and Joseph Simmons of Run DMC (Wikimedia)<\/p><\/div>\n
As Smalls reveled as a Philly b-boy, <\/span>Russell <\/span><\/a><\/span>and <\/span>Joseph Simmons<\/span><\/a><\/span> were leading a revolution from Hollis, Queens. The stunning arrival of<\/span> RUN-DMC<\/span><\/a><\/span> had thrust Hip Hop center stage with a crossover success that was redefining all of American culture.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
Their 1984 eponymous debut album was the first rap album to reach gold status. The 1985 follow up <\/span>King of Rock <\/span><\/i>went platinum. And the 1986 <\/span>Raising Hell <\/span><\/i>made Addidas (sans laces) the shoe of choice.<\/span><\/p>\n
The eldest Simmons, <\/span>Danny<\/span><\/a>, was an emerging writer and abstract painter. Through their combined talents, the Simmons brothers established <\/span>Rush Arts Foundation<\/span><\/span><\/a>. Rush Arts was something unique and electric; the worlds of Hip Hop and art collided and paved the way for the Hip Hop street-rooted beats, lyrics, and styles to co mingle with the curators and art patrons at the peak of the art industry.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
Rush was also committed to opening doors for emerging artists of color who would otherwise be shut out of arts and exhibition opportunities.<\/span><\/p>\n
Around the same time a 20-year-old Smalls was still dedicated to exhibiting his father\u2019s works. \u201cI was trying to sell my dad\u2019s work to the African American Museum\u2026I was trying to get somebody from the African American Museum to see my dad\u2019s work.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n
Smalls had moved into a basement apartment he shared with his cousin.\u00a0 He turned the modest apartment into a gallery devoted to his father\u2019s works.<\/span><\/p>\n
\u201cI had the track lighting, I had the little labels\u2026I didn\u2019t know what I was doing!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n
Smalls installing work byMing Smith in Simmons’ Philadelphia home.
Also pictured: Works by Derrick Adams, Renee Cox, and Michalene Thomas (photo Keia Carter)<\/p><\/div>\nA friend\u2019s aunt managed to get <\/span>Dr. Diane Turner<\/span><\/a><\/span> , the curator of collections and exhibitions from the<\/span> African American Museum of Philadelphia (AAMP)<\/span><\/a><\/span> to his \u201cgallery.\u201d Dr. Turner curated two pieces into an AAMP exhibit; more importantly, she hired Smalls on the spot, thus introducing him to the world of museum curation and collections.<\/span><\/p>\n
Smalls spent the next five years at AAMP working side by side with <\/span>Richard Watson<\/span><\/a>,<\/span> whom he credits with being his teacher.<\/span><\/p>\n
\u201cHe taught me the skills of the craft, the nuances of how to get things done on a small budget and to adhere to a Smithsonian standard\u2026It was really a deep immersive education I had at the African American Museum, but I never got a job, they never had a position.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n
Chronic underfunding at AAMP (and most black cultural institutions) forced Smalls to continue work as a day laborer. He eventually took his burgeoning expertise to Miami where he and (future wife) <\/span>Shawnette<\/span><\/span><\/a> would carve out a life doing everything from selling his father\u2019s images on t-shirts to promoting dance hall parties.<\/span><\/p>\n
Smalls eventually got his foot in the doors of various Miami museums and institutions including <\/span>Art Basel<\/span><\/a><\/span>, the <\/span>Frost Museum of Science<\/span><\/span><\/a>, the Museum of <\/span>Contemporary Art in North Miami<\/span><\/a><\/span>, and the <\/span>Miami Children\u2019s Museum<\/span><\/span><\/a>. But in spite of his knowledge and curatorial prowess, he could not find a way forward in the museum system.<\/span><\/p>\n
Smalls was subsequently accepted to the <\/span>University of the Arts in Philadelphia<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u2019s Museum Exhibition and Design program on fellowship. He and his new family returned to Philadelphia, and in his last year of graduate school, he began his second stint at AAMP this time volunteering for his mentor Richard Watson.<\/span><\/p>\n
Noah Smalls has reached the Upper Darby Art Gallery. He apologizes to his Lyft driver for talking his ear off, and then mentions he\u2019s going to have to break-in to the building because he doesn\u2019t have the key. Fortunately, Shawnette is working on the other side of their establishment in her fashion atelier.<\/span><\/p>\n
Smalls enters the gallery space and, as if by fate, his father\u2019s work is the current solo exhibit. \u201cWe\u2019ve come completely full circle here,\u201d he says as he gives me a virtual tour of Robert Smalls\u2019 paintings. They are beautiful, intricate, and mysterious; his subject matter is often influenced by dreams and astral projection. His palette is brilliant jewel tones.<\/span><\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s an outsider artist to the truest degree\u2026he\u2019s always been kind of outside \u2014 even his own peer groups,\u201d Smalls says wistfully as he wraps up our tour.<\/span><\/p>\n
Smalls settles into the gallery and tells me how he met Danny Simmons.<\/span><\/p>\n
After graduate school, Smalls started his own exhibition design firm to manage the contracts he was securing. At the same time Simmons had begun his move from New York to Philadelphia. He was selling his home and shutting down his galleries.<\/span><\/p>\n
\u201c[Danny] somehow negotiated to pull off this move by having the African American Museum, take <\/span>all<\/span><\/i> of his artwork into the museum and then move into his home in Philadelphia.\u201d Smalls laughs and continues, \u201cwhich is by far the smoothest thing I\u2019ve ever seen in my life.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n
Contracted to design Simmons\u2019 upcoming exhibit at AAMP, Smalls found himself impressed by Simmons \u2013 the feeling was mutual, and in 2018 (the same year Smalls opened his Upper Darby Art Gallery) he became the acting director of Rush. Within a year of taking over Rush, he was offered a job at the prestigious Williams College Museum of Art as the Director of Exhibition and Collections Management. The collection at WCMA in Williamstown, Massachusetts is worth hundreds of millions of dollars.<\/span><\/p>\n
The economic dissonance between the tiny village of <\/span>Williamstown<\/span><\/a><\/span> and the Logan neighborhood in North Philly couldn\u2019t be greater, but Smalls has always been good at accepting challenges and navigating change.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
And although his love of and expertise in museum curation and exhibition design has landed him the WCMA position, he recognizes that the nearly universal exclusion of black culture from museums has forced the most well-endowed institutions to scramble to embrace Black culture in order to ensure their relevance in the future.<\/span><\/p>\n
In both settings, rich and poor, his mission is to interrupt the systemic inequities in the world of art. And like the Simmons brothers, 25 years later he wants to strengthen the bridge between Black culture and high art. Because regardless of his fine arts education, there remains the Noah Smalls from North Philly who celebrates and champions the b-boys and girls and the power of Hip Hop culture elevated by the Simmons brothers.<\/span><\/p>\n
At WCMA, it is his job to offer a diverse perspective to help them become an \u201canti-racist institution, and help them reinterpret their collections and collection practices. To fully integrate equity into what they do.\u201d But Small\u2019s passion to tell the Black story through art is what keeps him returning to Philadelphia.<\/span><\/p>\n
\u201cWorking under Richard, working under Dr. Turner\u2026they\u2019re from the generation above me. Their focus was on the movements \u2013 the <\/span>Civil Rights Movement<\/span><\/a><\/span> and the <\/span>Anti-War Movement<\/span><\/a><\/span> ultimately. And that interpretation is reflected on the walls of that museum\u2026but the art does not interpret the history, the story, the narrative, of my culture that I grew up in, which is Hip Hop.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n
Smalls\u2019 passion is both professional and personal.<\/span><\/p>\n
\u201cThere are so many stories that have not been interpreted by our vestiges of history, and are desperately missing from the conversation I have to have with my sons about how did we get here and where are we going\u2026. and it\u2019s my turn now to\u2026give my history\u2026how I was breakdancing on the cardboard and writing graffiti; and turned that into what I do now and elevate it ultimately.\u00a0 If they can\u2019t see those stories realized on the walls of our cultural institutions, how will they really internalize that fable?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/media-archive.blackartinamerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/124227057_3904538209571027_3168469191728509452_o-300x300.jpg?resize=300%2C300\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/media-archive.blackartinamerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/rush-arts-philadelphia-gallery-86-1-300x300.jpeg?resize=300%2C300\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/media-archive.blackartinamerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/image0-1.jpeg?resize=314%2C472\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/media-archive.blackartinamerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/IMG-9166-300x225.jpg?resize=300%2C225\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/media-archive.blackartinamerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/IMG-9127-765x1024.jpg?resize=352%2C471\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/media-archive.blackartinamerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/250px-rundmc_2.jpeg?resize=250%2C188\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/media-archive.blackartinamerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/IMG_5515.jpg?resize=690%2C920\")