Celebrating African American art and artists this Black History Month

Gerri McCritty said she honors Black art and its power to educate and inspire.

The 65-year-old native of Liberia features African and Afrocentric artwork at PAVAA Gallery, the 632 N. Christian St. art gallery she co-owns with her son Tyrell “TeeTos” Hoff and Marion “CoCo” Coleman in downtown Lancaster.

And while she appreciates this year’s Black History Month theme of “African Americans and the Arts,” McCritty wishes the focus would expand beyond art.

“I would have used themes like Black art, Black chemist, Black inventors from Africa to America and beyond,” she said. “I feel the focus should be on Black people as a whole.”

Black History Month celebrates the achievements of African Americans and their role in U.S. history. It can be traced to 1926, when Carter G. Woodson, founder of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, established Negro History Week during the second week of February. Black History Month was first officially observed in February 1976 by President Gerald Ford. Ten years later, Congress designated February as National Black History Month.

McCritty, who came to the U.S. as a 16-year-old exchange student in Michigan before moving to Lancaster County where she earned an art degree from Millersville University, is a multidisciplinary artist specializing in painting and sculpting.

“I am also a professional DJ and Afro-percussionist and have always searched for a creative way to combine art, drumming and music,” said McCritty, who lives in Lancaster city. “When I hear music, I see colors.”

Her love of music rubbed off on Hoff, who credits advice from his mother with leading him to pursue his love of hip-hop.

“My mom always would tell me and show me to never give up on or ignore my passion, and that if I focused, I could enjoy life doing what I love to do,” said the 40-year-old former Air Force aircraft mechanic and trained machinist.

Like his mother and Coleman, a vocalist who fronts her band CoCo and Company, Hoff says he realized they all love to perform and create, and that music and art are a big part of their lives.

“I love that I have a space where I can express my creativity on my own terms and work on my music and performance,” Hoff, of Lititz said. “That is what I hope to give to the other artists around Lancaster.”

‘We are all creatives and performers’

McGritty said the nature of her work is earthly and rhythmic, aiming to bring out emotions people feel in today’s world.

“My work reflects the experience of my transitions, reflecting my West African roots and the rhythm of life in Lancaster,” McCritty said. “These two rhythms are deeply connected to me.”

McCritty said it’s important that her work reveals racial injustices, promotes environmental awareness and brings out the emotions of happiness, sadness, discomfort and the notion of elegance, dignity, pride and passion.

Coleman, 71, said she always loved to sing and did it on the side no matter what else she was doing in her life.

“I progressed from the Young Adult Gospel Choir in church, to talent shows in college, to an all-girl band during graduate school, and then a ‘70s-’80s R&B band,” Coleman wrote in an email.

Coleman, who lives in Lancaster city, became active in Lancaster’s jazz scene in 1991 by attending a weekly jam session led by the late Jerry Swalla held at a downtown restaurant.

“That jam inspired me. There I met many of the local musicians, both amateur and professional, and was able to hone my jazz chops by sitting in and singing with Jerry’s band and accomplished guest musicians,” Coleman said.

Coleman wrote it was McCritty’s dream to have an art gallery that also included music.

“We are all creatives and performers in our own right,” Coleman said in the email. “We came on board and decided to get a space of our own that featured both visual art and performance.”

The trio also wanted the gallery to reflect their African and African American roots and believed it would add another aspect of diversity to the Lancaster art scene, she wrote.

Coleman noted that the theme “African American and the Arts” excludes Blacks of other ethnicities and nationalities, such as Puerto Ricans, Africans, South Americans, Europeans, Asians, Australians and those from the Caribbean islands.

“I think the word Black is more inclusive, but it still excludes artists who identify as Brown and mix-race who are creating Afrocentric art,” Coleman said.

While Coleman believes that the art scene in Lancaster city is growing in diversity with the support of local organizations, McCritty said that although she has seen improvement in terms of local support for African American art, it has been slow and more needs to be done.

For the first seven years of the gallery, McCritty said, she didn’t have a presence outside of the city.

“In recent years, I’ve been invited to exhibits outside of the county and throughout the central Pennsylvania area. So that’s a start,” she said. “Sometimes we miss each other. We need to hold each other up, connect with each other and support each other for all we have done and contributed. There’s hope.”