ABOUT US

As a beginning doll collector, I found myself with mostly Oriental and Caucasian dolls. I began this endeavor as a way to involve my granddaughter in a mutually satisfying activity to develop an appreciation for aesthetic beauty, creative expression and a legacy of future value.

A review of the collection showed a vast lack of Black/African-American dolls and their artists. So began a search for Black dolls and their creators. This search took me to New Jersey, Washington, D.C.; Virginia, Atlanta and Philadelphia.

I was amazed at the number of Black doll creators/designers, their range of talented expression,the innovative use of everyday items and the display artistry found in this search.

Surprisingly, I had little-to-no success in locating artists in New York City proper. They would all travel to these other locations and I would travel only to meet other New Yorkers also on the hunt for new acquisitions.

Several attempts to connect the Black artist and the collectors of Black/African-American dolls in New York was met with some success. However, it seems that New York was not conducive to this activity: hotels and other spaces were expensive, community spaces were not readily available, advertising proved to be clumsy, creating and maintaining a mailing list was time consuming.

Hence the idea for an online Museum of Contemporary Black Dolls. This would provide an opportunity for the artists to present their works without the cost of maintaining a store-front space or the expense of entering an exhibition. The Museum would allow the patron to view potential acquisitions at their leisure.