Marques Redd On Stewardship, Memory and Collecting Beyond Value

Established in Macon, Georgia, in 1990, Melgenia and Vernon Redd’s Miracles Art Gallery will continue to house one of the world’s most important collections of Black art. “During the day, my parents worked as telecommunications engineers, immersed in blueprints, cables and network grids. At night and on weekends, they were building an institution,” artist Marques Redd tells the Observer, reflecting on his parents’ commitment to championing and preserving talent. “The collection was fundamental to my development as an artist. It formed the basis of my vision before I had a language for what art could do.”

Today, Marques is the curator of the collection, along with his sister and fellow artist, Marquita Sams. Understandably, their artwork is steeped in collective roles. Marques explains: “Growing up, I was not only surrounded by art, but I meditated thoughtfully and critically on art. “Especially the idea that Black visual culture carries history, philosophy and spiritual teachings.”

With the gallery still in the planning stages, Melgenia and Vernon worked their day jobs while building an art collection from the ground up and taking artworks to the public. “They turned our attic into a freelance studio, built lasting relationships with artists and held workshops in school halls and public spaces,” said Marques. “They cut the glass late into the night so that the work can be seen clearly the next day.” He grew up in the presence of the pieces of Romare Bearden, hailed as “the nation’s leading producer” by the New York Times when he died in 1988; the late Jacob Lawrence (an important member of the Harlem Renaissance movement who described his style of painting and printmaking as “powerful Cubism”); and contemporary artists Kathleen Atkins Wilson, Larry Ponch Brown and Joseph Holston. “Jacob Lawrence’s Life of Toussaint L’Ouverture The series introduced me to history as a movement, struggle and situation. Since its statistics contradict what I now understand as the Plantation Matrix.” Born into slavery in Haiti in 1743, Toussaint L’Ouverture went on to lead the Haitian Revolution against French colonial rule, the first successful campaign to end slavery in modern history.

Flooding, along with Vernon’s deteriorating health, forced the gallery to close in the late 1990s, and the collection was stored in the Redd family home. The COVID shutdown, however, gave Marques time to work on bringing the collection back to the community. He started making digital artworks, and under the Rainbow Serpent, a multidisciplinary arts nonprofit he co-founded with Nigerian-American artist Mikael Owunna, he curated pieces for a collection of Juneteenth celebrations in Pittsburgh and Macon. In 2024, artworks from the Redd Family Collection appeared in the “Pioneers of Purpose” exhibit at Macon’s Douglass Theater and in the Tubman African American Museum’s exhibit “The Water The Wind Will Take Us Home.” The Tubman Museum is also the site of a comprehensive exhibition of works from the collection to date, “Wonders: Selections from the Redd Family Collection of Dark Arts.” “With each exhibition and digital program, the collection continues to move,” Marques said. “It is a river of memory that carries the vision of Black art forward until now.” Marques and his team made a documentary about the show called “Miracles,” which can be viewed for free on YouTube.

Along with serving as the backbone of the Redd Family Collection organization, Rainbow Serpent supports the development of black LGBTQ+ culture at the intersection of African cosmologies, multimedia art and emerging technologies. Marques is working on a biographical book in which he reveals how the collection shaped his career. “Among the more than 800 things my parents put together were pieces that planted a deep seed,” he says. The Dogon masks were pieces of a universe I would fully immerse myself in, and Tutankhamun’s portraits gave me my first glimpses of the ancient Egyptian current that now informs so much of my work. they didn’t understand yet, but I knew they were using a grammar older than English.”

The Redd Family Collection continues to grow. “I have ongoing discussions with a growing international community of artists in the US, Brazil, UK, Nigeria and Romania,” Marques said. “I have been supporting and collecting cultural artists that nurture the Black art scene that my parents promote, while reflecting our movement’s spiritual, political and aesthetic concerns. Artists I am adding to the collection include Devan Shimoyama, Ajamu X and Granville Carroll, among others. The work of these artists is deeply invested in Black queer, relational life, my intimacy​​​​​​and my relationships.”

There’s more to come, as Marques and Marquita discuss new approaches to accessibility. “We plan to continue presenting the work through museum exhibitions and university exhibitions, as well as community-based events in keeping with the collective’s original spirit of meeting people where they are,” he said. “And we’re expanding access through digital platforms. We’re creating a metaverse experience that allows people to experience works from the online collection.” Their goal is to ensure that the collection serves as a living, dynamic source of conversation and cultural connection—both locally and globally.

Marques hopes the collection will teach others about the hard work that goes on to build culture. “I want people to understand that an invisible, unglamorous, deeply committed work is how traditions are preserved,” he concluded. “This collection is truly more than a collection of objects; it is a record of dedication, sacrifice and belief in the need for Black art. I hope it teaches others that institutions do not come from wealth or honor alone. They can be built with love, resilience and an unwavering commitment to creating a place of collective beauty and memory.”

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